This letter is not to tell people how to vote; that is up to each individual.

This letter is simply to ask everyone to vote, that is the most important thing. Anyone anywhere in the world should have the right to do so and we should exercise it wisely.

People fought and died for universal suffrage; each vote is worth the same, be it rich man, poor man, beggar man or thief.

Our votes will determine the future of this nation, our children’s future and our grandchildren’s future.

We owe it to them to use this vote wisely; we should not use it with bitterness, selfishness or hatred but with love for our fellow man.

None of us has all the right answers but we should not cast a vote with hatred, we should cast it with love because love overcomes everything and we should always trust in it.

Love is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, and it keeps no record of wrongs.

Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. (Corinthians 13 -4-7). Think carefully on the 12th when you cast your vote — a lot of people depend on the outcome.

Ian Greenhalgh

Smithills

Bolton