RESIDENTS in Heaton and Lostock will recently have received an Autumn 2008 pamphlet from Heaton and Lostock Conservatives devoted to the proposed congestion charge. From this I can only assume that their “Parliamentary Spokesman”, Susan Williams, is a disciple of the late Tory minister Alan Clark famous for his confession of “being economical with the truth”.

For in the pamphlet there is a highlighted statement from Ms Williams that says: “I urge people to vote ‘no’ to this tax that will cost people an average of £1,200 per year”, a quite astonishing statement given that an estimated 90 per cent of Boltonians will pay nothing at all.

Nowhere in the Conservative’s pamphlet does it make clear that the only people affected will be those driving into and out of central Manchester at peak times during the working week.

Even then, allowing for holidays, a full-time worker travelling by car into central Manchester every working day at peak times would be unlikely to exceed 230 days’ charges. This extreme example at the maximum of £5 per day would cost £1,150. Susan Williams’ claim of a £1,200 average is, therefore, nothing but a grotesque distortion of the facts for which she and the local Conservative party should be deeply ashamed.

In the forthcoming ballot, voters should be aware that the £1.5 billion offer of funding for public transport improvements is conditional upon a “yes” vote for the congestion charge. The government have made it absolutely clear that if Manchester votes “no” this funding package will be transferred to other cities within the UK.

It’s a “no brainer” — vote “yes”.

Ian Marshall, Elgol Drive, Ladybridge