IT is sheer unadulterated hypocrisy for Tory candidate, James Stevens, to bang on about how he will 'stand up' for pensioners, disabled people, and the poor, after the colossal damage done to these groups by the Conservatives (BEN: April 17).

Let me give Mr Stevens a few facts to think about.

Under the Conservatives three million people were stuck on the dole. One in five non-pensioner households had no one in work. Interest rates hit 15 per cent. Twelve million people lived on the breadline.

Even today, the Tories haven't learnt their lessons. They have opposed every measure to improve the lives of disabled people, and are pledged to scrap the £200 winter fuel allowance for pensioners.

James Stevens' attempt to reinvent history won't wash. The failures of the last Tory Government hang like a millstone around his neck.

Kevin Meagher

Hereford Crescent

Little Lever

Bolton