I'M glad Mr Winstanley, the Tory wannabee MP for Bolton North East, has come out publicly and stood by the Tories' ill-fated education guarantee.

This is because, at the rate they have been abandoning key aspects of their Commonsense Revolution, voters in Bolton North east would have had nothing to judge him on.

However, now we have it in black and white that Mr Winstanley supports a policy which will, in effect, remove the education of our children from locally-elected, democratically accountable men and women to private companies driven by profit.

He cites as a reason for this ridiculous position that it will free up money for schools.

This neglects the fact that the local education authorities provide a considerable number of services for schools which, if abolished, would have to be purchased from private operators.

Recent headlines in the BEN highlighting the service provided by private bus and rail operators have shown just how beneficial such a policy would be.

The only difference is that, in this case, it would not be irate rail users who suffered, but local children instead.

Despite their melt-down at the last election, the Tories have learned nothing and are still going around telling us that private is best, be it private healthcare, private education or private rail services.

What they will not tell us is, how they will match the massive injection of money in our public services announced by the Government when they have proposed cuts of £16 billion.

Which schools in Bolton will have to make drastic cuts?

How many beds will be removed from Bolton hospital?

And how do they propose to continue to cut crime by spending less?

N Gillatt

Fourth Avenue

Heaton