IN the days leading up to this month's election, I received a number of election addresses from our Tory candidate for St Margaret. I gather from friends in other wards, that they had received the same Tory "personal pledges" from their Tory candidates.

Through your paper could I put on record the following points:

1. He said he wants "Fair and affordable council tax"; Does he know that Swindon Labour council tax is the lowest in Wiltshire.

And, even after this year's increase, is still well below the national average! (Halifax report, EA April 28). How much lower can he go? Will he vote for Ian Duncan Smith's 20 per cent cut in services? If so, where?

2. He said "Immediate improvement in education." Our Labour MPs have already won money for this from Whitehall and improvements show that it is already working! If he follows IDS guidelines, a 20 per cent cut in teachers and schools, how will they fulfil this pledge?

3. He said that he will take "Tough action on crime"; Swindon police have a number of initiatives in place, Swindon borough has already put in place an organisation to deal with anti-social behaviour, and furthermore, (from police statistics), Wiltshire is one of the safest places in all of England and Wales. With IDS's 20 per cent cuts, how will he fulfil this pledge?

4. He said that he will cut "Labour's waste." The lap-tops an idea put into the Lib-Dem/Tory Budget when the Tories briefly took charge of the administration. City Status bid; which, at the time, had all party support, and also had the backing of Swindon Chamber of Commerce! It costs the tax payers 2x£5000, not £100,000.

To make the 20 per cent cuts required by IDS, one must ask: will the Tories close some libraries, as they tried to do last year, and the "wasteful" museums, including the Steam Museum?

I would point out that, with the exception of closing libraries and museums (which the Labour councillors rejected), all of the Tory "personal pledges" had already been achieved by the Labour Group before leaving Office!

The presumption of Mr Van Roon ("when I am elected") in his leaflet, together with his "personal pledges" to do what has already been done by others, shows the contempt with which the Tory Party views the people of Swindon.

M WHEELER

Swindon