D R Smith’s latest attack on Conservative candidate for Southampton Itchen and councillor for Harefield Royston Smith has many inaccuracies that need correcting.

I don't know where Mr Smith’s figure of £20,000 for holding a referendum comes from, as like all his figures he doesn’t provide a source.

Mr Smith also repeats the claim made by the Labour candidate that the money spent on a referendum could be used by the council elsewhere, when Royston Smith has already stated that the cost of any referendums would be paid by Southampton Itchen Conservatives, not Southampton City Council.

If Mr Smith was online he would have been able to find out that 77 per cent of adults in the UK have a broadband connection (ofcom.com).

He won’t be disenfranchised in any referendum though, as Royston Smith has said he will use traditional media such as the Daily Echo alongside digital media to gather public opinion.

As far as I am aware Royston Smith has never said being local is the “extreme priority” for a candidate.

He has pointed out that having spent his life in Southampton he has a clear idea of the priorities of residents, something his Labour opponent cannot have gained in the few months she has lived in the city.

There are MPs from all parties who don’t have personnal ties to their constituencies but who do an excellent job.

However, in the case of Southampton Itchen, the choice is between a candidate who knows the city and its residents and wants to work with them to make Southampton a better place to live, or a candidate who has recently moved here in order to get a job as an MP.

M MARKHAM, Southampton.