WELL, the Conservatives have really shown themselves in their true colours in the waste collection leaflet that arrived through my door yesterday!

A detailed and quite odious graphic of a waste bin filled to overflowing with putrid matter apparently oozing over the rim. All unbagged and, what’s worse, completely unsorted! Tins and bottles crammed in with paper, food waste, fabrics, etc! Has recycling gone out with the arrival of Trump?

Is scare mongering about festering bins the only message they can offer to inform the truly serious issue of whether or not general waste bins should be emptied weekly? In Germany council tax is reduced the more you fill your recycling bins. For bulging general-waste bins the tax is increased. We need to encourage our citizens to reduce, reuse and recycle waste and to only discard items that cannot be disposed of in any other way.

But no, the Conservatives are playing on fears of disease and squalor by encouraging Southampton’s people to ‘vote’ for weekly general waste collection. I am surprised they did not pop a rat or two into the graphic.

Yours in genuine disgust.

Angela Mawle

Member of Southampton & District Green Party