NOT for the first time, I am thoroughly confused by the messages being sent out by Worcestershire Tories and wonder if, through you, I could invite Peter Luff to tell us what we should believe.

You have fully catalogued the fact that our schools are receiving less funding than almost everywhere else in the country. This is hurting performance, despite the best efforts of our teachers. Parents are angry and say so. Teachers ask only for the national average per pupil.

The Tory county councillors, represented by June Longmuir, tell us we are wrong to focus solely on education, when looking at Worcestershire County Council rates. But education represented a spending of £384 per head last year, and all other county council services only £226. And despite having one of the lowest county council taxes in England, we are one of the six lowest when it comes to running costs - £4.22 per head.

Cledwyn Hughes, Chairman of the Worcestershire Headteachers' Forum, points out that cuts proposed in the Tory budget will lose us even more matching funding, and give a net loss of £ 2.6m.

Peter Luff is a veteran of Worcestershire politics.He welcomed the headteachers and school governors to Parliament recently and claimed to support their campaign.

Will he commit Worcestershire Tories and any future Tory Government to providing our children with funding no less than the national average?

ROBERT BROWNE, Liberal Democrat PPC, Mid-Worcestershire.