The Tory cuts to council budgets

THE TROUBLE the Tories have had in London is well deserved since it is their actions, primarily slashing council budgets by almost half in the past few years, which are causing most of the problems [“New London poll blow for Tories”, March 5].

Squeezed council budgets have affected all aspects of life from social care, to schooling and council housing as well as rubbish collection and road maintenance.

In addition, councils have been forced to sell land to developers, letting them build the monstrous blocks disfiguring central London, and giving foreign billionaires a safe haven for their money while failing to provide affordable homes for the people who live and work here.

Londoners know that Brexit, foisted onto us by this divided party, will be a disaster. The vote in May will tell Mrs May what we think: use it wisely!

David Reed

LORD Ashcroft’s poll finds that only one in three Tory voters thinks of the party as offering good services [March 5]. In some Conservativecontrolled councils, however, the proportion of satisfied Tory voters must be even lower.

In Westminster, for example, the Tories’ housing policy consists of selling off council housing, refusing to provide housing for those in need, prioritising the profit-making projects of speculators and abdicating responsibility for housing management. The elections give us the chance to vote for fairer policies.

Francis Prideaux