IN A recent leaflet, our local Conservative candidates claim that their Party will do more for pensioners in respect of the Council Tax and other matters.

I find this very difficult to accept coming from a party that introduced that tax following its disastrous fling with the Poll Tax.

As an 80 year old with an index linked pension, I feel for those not so fortunate but neither a £200 handout nor a £500 bribe is the answer - especially after Thatcher's lack of belief in the role of Society. So Howard's apparent conversion to the Welfare State lacks credibility for me.

And when we talk of government waste, perhaps we should remember the rising cost of the NHS is increasingly being fuelled by our general reluctance to change lifestyles involving drinking and/or smoking to excess, not to mention obesity.

Two foot forward and one foot back? Blaming the Government for all our ills is the easy way out for some!

P W Blackwell

Alvaston Road

Nantwich