Let me start by saying I strongly believe in equality between the men and women.

But it is completely beyond my comprehension from what I read in the Epsom Guardian over the past two weeks why our borough council - with a majority of Residents' party members - would even consider spending taxpayers money on a memorial to Emily Wilding Davison.

Her acts of protest were in a cause that that had long been undertaken more effectively by The Primrose League and The Women’s Liberal Association.

Universal suffrage in this country came about, as is often the way, because of a massive change in the social structure of the country.

During the 1914/18 war women came forward to work in munitions and to do the jobs vacated by the men who had gone off to the armed forces.

After the war, although the men that survived wanted their old jobs back there was now a large inbalance, with woman out numbering men for that generation due to the high causality rate of the war.

So the lid of Pandora’s box had come off and there was no returning to the pre-war status.

Thus in 1918 with the Representation of the People Act women over the age of 30 gained the right to vote, as long as they were married to or a member on the Local Government Register.

Culminating when women were granted suffrage equal to men under the Representation of the People (Equal Franchise Act) 1928.

The age for women to vote was lowered to 21, and property qualifications reduced to the same as men.

So Epsom councillors: please think again for in these hard times.

Every penny should be a prisoner and used to keep down our council tax, not squandered on projects of this kind.

David Rich Via email

Editor's note: Epsom and Ewell Council has made clear that it does not intend to fund this project with taxpayers' money but will approach companies and grant making organisations for the finance.