TORY Cllr Walter Hall tries to convince us that the Conservative Party would be tough on asylum seekers, yet his claim does not stand up. He says that the Conservative Party would build detention centres to house asylum seekers, while their cases are being heard. At what cost I must ask?

At a time when Michael Portillo is pledging to cut public spending by £16 billion, Tory Cllr Walter Hall is telling BEN readers that they would build detention centres at a cost of over £3 billion. The figures just don't add up. Furthermore, the current government has just applied to build a detention centre for asylum seekers in Kent.

And guess what?

Conservative councillors and the Tory MP, Michael Howard, have opposed it. Clearly, the Tories are saying one thing to one section of the country and something else to the other. I would guess that they have totally given up any hope of winning the next election and are using Cllrs like Walter Hall to make these uncosted promises in the vain hope that it might bring a few extra hard core Tories out to vote on election day and lessen the blow. What does this say about the modern Conservative Party I ask?

Robert Harrison

Halliwell Road

Bolton