I READ with interest the letters of Barry Gandy, husband of the local Conservative Party leader Carole Gandy, and Juliet Brunner, Conservative councillor for Matchborough (Advertiser, February 9).

I will remind them both of a few truths.

It was the Tories who robbed the town of free bus passes only last year.

It was the Tories who threatened to cut umpteen frontline services and cut grants to vital charities that serve the town.

Of course they never promised too, before elected, in fact they promised the opposite.

Now the national Tories are promising to cut an initial £35 billion from public spending and have outlying plans that will take that amount up to£ 200 billion.

This will mean drastically cutting vital services that have been built up by the Labour Government.

It will also mean cuts in our schools, hospitals (and probably more privatisation of the health service) and, of course, the police.

It will lead to recession and all that it brings, business failure, unemployment (with loss of tax revenue and an increase in benefit payments), negative equity and rising crime.

Labour policy has virtually wiped out youth unemployment in Redditch and job creation is at record levels.

We must not let the Tories wreck our local economy.

Robin King

Huband Close

Redditch