LIKE many of your readers, I am confused about where Liberal Democrats stand on congestion charging.

On the one hand, Cllr Hayes (Leader of the Liberal Democrats in Bolton) spoke against the details in the congestion charge package because he agreed with Conservatives that there were too many unanswered questions, but then he supported Labour councillors in agreeing to submit the bid.

Cllr Hayes then criticised Conservatives for speaking out against congestion charges, claiming we did so before having all the facts (The Bolton News, July 26). That is precisely the point. The bid is premature and there are too many unanswered questions, including statements that Bolton is a "possible future charge zone".

Central to the bid is Labour's claim that Bolton will get a new interchange, and local trains will have more carriages. Yet a day later, Ruth Kelly announced both of these as part of the new Railway White Paper.

Why should Bolton drivers pay congestion charges, another stealth tax, when, in other areas, investment will be funded from general taxation? That is just one key question and a point we have made consistently and repeatedly.

As a matter of interest, although Cllr Hayes claims Conservatives in Bolton were premature in rejecting the proposals, his Liberal Democrat colleagues in Stockport also rejected the plan for exactly the same reasons as we did.

I am happy to invite Cllr Hayes and Liberal Democrats to join Conservatives, who really are working for Bolton by opposing Labour's damaging proposals not just on congestion charging, but on so many other issues.

Cllr John Walsh OBE Conservatives Leader Bolton MBC