AN anonymous Tory wrote to the BEN last week trying to allege that the £16 billion spending cuts proposed under William Hague was in fact untrue and part of a Labour smear campaign.

Well, clearly this person does not have a clue about the Tory agenda for Britain because the £16 billion worth of cuts are quite clearly set out in their recently published pre-manifesto "Believing in Britain".

For the record I will point out the facts which the anonymous Tory can look up.

On page eight in the pre-manifesto is says the Conservatives are committed to "real annual increases in spending which are within the trend rate of growth of the economy".

To achieve annual spending increases below the trend rate of growth, the Tories would have to cut around 1.3pc a year off Labour's plans set out in July this year which stands at £440 billion. Under the Tories plans announced by Mr Portillo this would instead be £423.9 billion - £16 billion less.

These are not Labour's figures but Michael Portillo's and unless they have abandoned their pre-manifesto already will be implemented in the event of a Tory election victory.

If the anonymous Tory still doesn't believe me then perhaps they should ask for a copy of "Believing in Britain" and then could oblige us with an apology for their mistaken assumption that the £16 billion of spending cuts (£72 million in Bolton alone) are nothing more that Labour propaganda - an allegation which is blatantly untrue signalling yet another attempt by the Tories to divert attention away from their extreme policies.

P Ferguson

Dentdale Close

Bolton