Further to your piece on secondary schools in Bristol (September 22), it is clear that the Conservative Party's plans for secondary education in Bristol offer no real hope for parents and children.

Tories in Bristol have been falsely holding out the hope to residents in Stoke Bishop, Westbury-on-Trym and Henleaze of a new secondary school at Stoke Lodge.

Bearing in mind that, if elected, they are pledged nationally to make swingeing cuts to the schools budget (calculated to be about 15 per cent), this is not a promise they are able to live up to.

Although there has been some increase in numbers, there is still a surplus of state and private school places in Bristol.

Putting questions of money aside, until that over-capacity is filled there is no scope for a wholly new secondary school in the north of Bristol.

More importantly, what does this campaign say to parents and staff of nearby schools in Henbury and Shirehampton (Oasis Brightstowe)?

These two schools, which still have spare capacity, have both seen recent improvements, strong headteachers and a capacity to improve results.

A new school in nearby Stoke Bishop would act as a hammer blow to these schools.

If the Tories' proposal were to succeed, they would reduce the intake in these schools, snuffing out all the improvements.

I hope Tory councillors in Henbury and Avonmouth wards will support their local school and state publicly they are against this proposal.

All state secondary schools in Bristol have been re-built or massively refurbished over the last 10 years.

Politicians of all stripes should not cause the waste of this investment, but should support existing schools.

Sam Townend Labour's candidate for MP Bristol North West