Candidate should research facts

I was disappointed to see that Alex Lister has resorted to smearing his opponents rather than campaigning on the actual issues facing the Westgate ward [Letters, February 28]. He makes no reference to affordable housing, low wages, congestion and pollution.

His letter promotes falsehoods and misleads readers. He asserts there “is no Tory vote left to beat - in the city centre at least”. There are however five sitting Conservative councillors in the St Stephens and Barton wards.

He suggests that I should spend more time campaigning in Canterbury. I have never met Mr. Lister, nor had any correspondence with him and he does not live in the Westgate ward. It is therefore not clear how he purports to know how I spend my time.

However, I can confirm that I have campaigned against the proposed Station Road West car park and for council action to address pollution, congestion and anti-social behaviour. I also have a substantial amount of casework raised by residents of the ward. Mr Lister seems to want to find me guilty by association, referring to a mythical, scary, hard-left Labour campaign and raising the allegations of antiSemitism and being supportive of Brexit.

For the record, I am not a member of Momentum, which in any case takes no position in backing local candidates, and am totally opposed to racism in any form.

I am also opposed to Brexit and in 2016 campaigned for Remain and held an official position in the “Labour In For Britain” campaign. As part of the Remain campaign I took part in cross-party activities with local Liberal Democrat members. I did not meet Mr Lister at any of those cross-party initiatives. I am certainly not going to descend to making personal, unfounded allegations against other candidates. If Mr Lister is fortunate enough to be elected in May, I wish him well. However, being a city councillor is a responsible position and I would hope that in future he will take the time to research basic facts before forming opinions about people or situations.