BURY recently provided the best evidence possible of just why the stakes are so high for us all at the next General Election. We received visits from two prominent politicians who symbolise what is on offer from the major political parties.

Lord Norman Lamont came to town in support of the local Conservative candidate.

This is the Chancellor who threw away £30 billion of our money on "Black Wednesday" and delivered interest rates of 15 per cent. He was also the politicians who infamously remarked that "unemployment is a price worth paying".

Surely, no one will be fooled by his attempts to make political capital out of the Elms precinct scandal. Our local MP, Ivan Lewis, could not have done more in his efforts to solve this long-running saga and his efforts are in stark contrast to those of previous Tory MP, David Sumberg, who did nothing as the precinct went into sharp decline. I warn our Tory candidate from Hertfordshire that local people will not take kindly to any attempts she makes to turn the Elms into a party-political issue.

The other prominent political visitor to the area was current Chancellor, Gordon Brown.

He was at Cams Lane school in Radcliffe to highlight the significant extra capital investment which allow the school to build two new classrooms and improve existing facilities.

This is the Chancellor who has delivered the lowest level of inflation since records began, one million new jobs, interest rates at six per cent and mortgage rates at £1,000 per year less than the Tories. His economic policies mean that, in the next few years, the Government will spend record amounts on schools, the NHS, police and transport.

To those who claim all politicians are the same, I ask you to compare the respective records of Norman Lamont and Gordon Brown.

Now do you understand why the stakes will be so high at the next General Election?

JEAN JAMES,

Whitefield.