John Stevens, writing in last week's Gazette, signs himself as chairman of the Devizes Conservatives, yet he appears to be reporting from a parallel universe.

The picture he paints of underfunded schools, community policemen weighed down with body armour and asylum and immigration policies "in disarray" is not an accurate reflection of anywhere in Britain today, let alone the constituency in which he is politically active.

It was a nice irony that this fantastic tale of woe appeared in the same issue of the Gazette as your report on the new science facilities at Devizes School, and a separate item on the new classrooms to be built at Wansdyke. Four miles away in Market

Lavington the comprehensive school which my daughter attends is achieving record exam results and eagerly awaiting the building of a new sports complex built with Government-controlled New Opportunities Fund cash.

We have a new computer centre built with money from the Government and Europe, and new facilities for young people have been installed by the parish council with more Government money from the Community Safety Partnership.

The national picture is one of solid and accelerating improvement in the two things that people care about most schools and hospitals.

In 2003 the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development reported that children in the UK were now among the best-educated in Europe.

The recent independent NHS annual report said that a turnaround in the NHS is now "sustained and accelerating", thanks to the sustained investment of our Labour Government. The number of patients waiting more than six months for an operation has plummeted from 189,000 to 78,000 over the last year. This is faster than anyone thought, and shows that the money Labour put into the health service from 2000 onwards is having a real impact.

Sharon Charity

Parliamentary Spokesperson

Devizes Labour Party