SIR: The recent multi-million pound smear campaign orchestrated by the Tories - "New Labour New Danger", is a farce. Only six months ago we were being told that the Labour Party remained 'Old Labour', now it is said to be new but dangerous. How much money will the Conservatives spend before they make their minds up?

If anything is to be feared, then it is a Tory fifth term. Privatisation of the Royal Mail, removal of the right to appeal against unfair dismissal, privatisation of roads; the list is endless. Are we to believe that under a Tory fifth term it will still cost 26 pence to post a letter to Cornwall once it is privatised? Will the Tories do anything about job security, or the widening gap between the haves and the have nots? The answer is no. The recent leaked Treasury document showed the direction that this government intends to go. No state pension, no state benefits, no state funding for 16 plus education and a further replacement of councils by unelected government organisations. The shift to the right by this government is something that should be feared by everyone.

Marc Schmid,

Old Vicarage Mews,

Daisy Hill,

Westhoughton, Bolton.

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.