WITH the election campaign now entering its second week, people here in the North-East are getting ready to deliver their verdict on a Government that has failed to deliver on its most basic pledges.

Across Britain, people feel betrayed by Tony Blair, the Government and their broken promises. People like you, who have paid Labour's stealth taxes, but did not expect longer hospital waiting lists, a four day week in our schools, chaos in our asylum system, rising crime, and a transport system at a standstill as well.

A Conservative Government will govern for all the people of the North-East, because we trust the people and we trust their common sense instincts.

We trust hard working families on tax. Any family knows that you cannot go on forever spending more than you earn. Labour plans to keep increasing spending, at a rate faster than the economy grows. That can only mean higher taxes.

This Government has already increased taxes on the typical working family by £670 a year. We will reverse that trend, scaling back the waste and bureaucracy that has grown up like a fungus under this Government. I will lead a tax cutting Government, with £8bn of tax cuts for those who have been hardest hit by Labour's stealth taxes.

We will give a major boost to families with young children by increasing Children's Tax Credit by £200 a year. We will make the Widowed Parents' allowance tax free. We will provide a new Married Couples' Allowance, worth nearly £1,000 a year, where one parent chooses to stay at home to look after their children.

Labour has given Britain the most expensive petrol and diesel in Europe. Those huge increases in tax on fuel have hit those who can least afford it the hardest. We will cut tax on fuel.

We will cut taxes for pensioners and savers - people who save all their lives so that they enjoy a little independence from the state in their retirement. We will abolish taxes on savings and dividends altogether, except at the higher rate. We will take more than a million pensioners on modest incomes out of income tax altogether.

The same people who are paying all Labour's extra taxes are also asking where all their money has gone, because our public services just aren't getting any better. You've paid those taxes. So where are the police? Where are the teachers? Where is your hospital operation?

We trust parents and patients who want first class health care and the best education for their children. So we will match Labour's proposed spending on education and health. But, unlike Labour, we know it will take more than just extra spending to deliver real improvements to standards in the classroom and care on our hospital wards: we need to reform our public services too. So we will give parents more choice, set teachers free to teach and give head-teachers more power to run their own schools. We will end political interference in our hospitals and make sure the sickest patients are treated first.

We trust the people's instincts on crime. Britain will never defeat crime until we put more police on our streets and give them the support they need to do their job. But police numbers have fallen by 1,600 under Labour and 90 police stations are closing every year.

A Conservative Government will go to war on crime in the North-East. We will end Labour's criminal early release scheme, which has seen thousands of serious criminals released early from prison, reverse the cuts in police numbers and support the police where Labour has undermined them. We trust the people on asylum, who want Britain to be a safe-haven and not a soft touch. Labour's failed policies have left Britain the asylum capital of Europe, with more people claiming asylum in Britain last year than did in Germany or even the United States.

Under the next Conservative Government all new asylum seekers will be held in secure reception centres. Their cases will be dealt with quickly and fairly. Genuine refugees will then be welcomed into the country and supported. Those with unfounded claims, who form the great majority, will be taken from the Reception Centre and deported immediately. Our system will be fairer both for genuine asylum seekers and for local people.

We trust the overwhelming instincts of the British people that Britain must keep the pound. Tony Blair wants to scrap the pound and join the Euro within two years. We are the only party that believes in Britain in Europe not run by Europe. We are the only party who promise to keep the pound.

At the heart of New Labour is a liberal elite that simply does not understand the needs of people here in the North-East. The next Conservative Government will stand up for hard-pressed families here in the North-East.

Only by voting Conservative will you be voting for lower taxes, for a war on crime, for higher standards in the North-East's schools and hospitals, for a fair and firm asylum system and for our nation's independence.