I am touched that Warren Morgan sees me as such a threat to Labour that he has to resort to smears (Letters, July 1).

For the record, unemployment in Brighton and Hove is twice the average for the South East and average wages are low, as Labour Minister Ivor Caplin recently admitted.

Brighton and Hove's house buyers have just suffered a fourth rise in interest rates and one in five children in this city is living in poverty.

Compared to the national average, residents in Brighton and Hove have a higher chance of being the victim of a violent crime, a burglary or a theft from their car.

While criminals are taking liberties, the Labour council increases council tax by three times the rate of inflation yet again, while rubbish piles uncollected in the streets.

Did pensions, wages or benefits increase three times the rate of inflation, Mr Warren? Is it any wonder so many pensioners are living in poverty?

Brighton and Hove residents are paying higher mortgages, higher rail fares, higher council tax and another 60-plus stealth taxes brought in by Tony Blair and Gordon Brown.

All that's before Labour increases NHS dental charges to £100 a visit.

If Mr Morgan wishes to talk about cuts, let's count the number of post offices closed in Brighton and Hove.

Or the number of community and voluntary groups which suffered cuts in council grants. Or the number of regiments which are to be scrapped under cuts to the overstretched defence budget.

It's little wonder Labour Party membership is now half what it was when Blair became Prime Minister.

In contrast, the Conservatives are constructing imaginative new policies on education and health, free to all regardless of social background or income, providing choice alongside a guarantee to improve frontline public services.

Michael Howard is holding out the prospect of higher education and health spending than Labour, investing in patient care rather than political targets.

Mr Morgan and his Labour colleagues should start facing up to the realities of the real world in 2004.

Am I serious about getting rid of this nasty, nannying, tax-grabbing, arrogant government? Absolutely.

David Gold

-Sudeley Terrace, Kemp Town