The Tory package—by Mrs. Thatcher

Tax cuts, law and order and education will form main planks in Conservative strategy for the next election, Mrs. Margaret Thatcher, Leader of the Opposition, told party workers in Stockport yesterday.

Mrs. Thatcher, who has been on a two-day tour of the north-west, emphasised the number of people who had stopped her to complain of the effect on take-home pay of high levels of taxation. “Even if people worked hard, they pay too much tax. People with extra skills must get extra rewards and extra work must not be nullified by higher tax,” she said.

She has visited key marginals, including yesterday, Bolton, where Labour holds one seat with a majority of 906.

In Bolton she visited a textile factory and the town hall, where she was cheered by 300 people.

On law and order, Mrs. Thatcher said crime had increased much faster than the community's capacity through the police to deal with it. The Conservatives would increase police pay and return wider powers to magistrates for sentencing young offenders.

The Conservatives opposed a uniform education system and would restore the direct-grant school lists. All schools must concentrate on developing the standards and values of every child, Mrs. Thatcher said.