JEAN Allison (Your Letters, Jan 28) should recall that between 1979 and 1997, before Labour came to power, crime doubled under the Tories and they had no drugs strategy either. Many seeds of the present crime problem were sown in those dark days!

Les Arnott's news-bite (Jan 28) will also convince few people that they have become "disenfranchised". He should remember that more than 20 million voted for the major parties in 2001, parties committed to tackle the issues he refers to and many others.

J. HOLDEN,

St Paul's Street,

Ramsbottom.