Fylde election candidates quizzed by voters

Lancashire Post

The Blackpool Gazette, Lancashire Post, Lancashire Lead, Blog Preston and the Local Democracy Reporting Service invited all seven candidates standing for the Fylde constituency at this week's general election to a debate in which they fielded questions from voters.    Topics covered ranged from the controversial Morgan and Morecambe energy project to the importance of integrity in politics.   Four of those on the ballot were able to take part in the event.   In order of appearance from left to right on the stage (with the time of their first contribution) they are:   Featured candidates (from left-to-right on the stage, with time of first apperance):   Anne Aitken - Independent (2\'41)   Tom Calver - Labour Party (4\'00)   Mark Jewell - Liberal Democrats (5'43)   Andrew Snowden (7'11)   The other candidates standing in the Fylde seat - who were unable to make the event at the Lowther Pavilion - are:   Cheryl Morrison - Alliance for Democracy and Freedom   Brenden Wilkinson - Green Party   Brook Wimbury - Reform UK

Transcript

00:00:00Good evening, everybody, or good afternoon, I should say, and welcome to this filed election

00:00:16hustings debate brought to you by the Blackpool Gazette, Lancashire Leave and Block Preston.

00:00:21My name is Paul Faulkner, I'm one of Lancashire's local democracy reporters, and I'll be steering

00:00:26you through the next 90 minutes, two hours, maybe, at the outside of what will hopefully

00:00:31be a lively and, I'm sure, certainly informative debate, and with England currently coming

00:00:37to the end of the first half, all I can say is, aren't you the dedicated ones for coming

00:00:41out and doing a bit of democracy while England are in action?

00:00:44Well, you'll be glad to know you'll be hearing far less from me than the people that you've

00:00:47actually come to see and hear and quiz, who are the candidates, or certainly some of them,

00:00:53who are vying for your vote on Thursday to be filed next MP. I will introduce them to

00:00:58you in just a moment.

00:01:00Now, looking out at such a civilised crowd, I know I don't need to say this next bit,

00:01:04but I've got various bosses in the room and I've had my orders, so I'll wisely stick to

00:01:08them and say we obviously want this to be an enjoyable and respectful event, so if you

00:01:14can resist the temptation to shout out and talk across anybody, then we'll all get the

00:01:19most out of it and that would be much appreciated.

00:01:22I'm sure you'll find polite ways to signal your appreciation of anything you hear.

00:01:27Now, one other thing, we're not expecting a fire alarm, so if it sounds then you do

00:01:30need to follow the signs to the nearest exit.

00:01:33Now, you've already heard far too much from me, so let's get down to the reason that

00:01:37you're all here and welcome to the stage the candidates in alphabetical order from

00:01:42your left to right.

00:01:43We have Anne Aitken, who's standing as an independent, Tom Carver, who's here for the

00:01:48Labour Party, Mark Jewell for the Liberal Democrats and Andrew Snowden for the Conservative

00:01:54Party.

00:01:55Now, there are seven candidates standing in the Fyre constituency at the general election.

00:01:59We did of course invite them all, three of them unfortunately were unable to make it

00:02:04and send their apologies.

00:02:06They are Cheryl Morrison for the Alliance for Democracy and Freedom, who is away on

00:02:10holiday, Brendan Wilkinson, who had unforeseen personal circumstances at the last minute,

00:02:15meant he was unable to attend, and also Brooke Rimbree, who's standing for Reform UK and

00:02:21was unfortunately unable to make it due to a pre-arranged meeting.

00:02:26So we thought we'd start by giving each of you 90 seconds, sorry, each of our candidates

00:02:3090 seconds to make their pitch to the people of Fyre.

00:02:34So nice and simple, in alphabetical order, we will start with Anne Aitken.

00:02:38Anne, your 90 seconds, whenever you're ready.

00:02:40Start now.

00:02:41Hello, thank you.

00:02:42Welcome.

00:02:43I'm Anne Aitken.

00:02:44I'm not a politician.

00:02:46I'm also not the person who, someone should stop me, did you become a Tory councillor?

00:02:51I've never stood on the council.

00:02:53What I am is a nurse of 40 years, a resident of Fylde, a mother of three, and a grandmother

00:03:01of two and a half, with one on the way.

00:03:05The reason I'm here is because I love the Fylde.

00:03:09I've grown up with the farmers, I've grown up with the fishermen.

00:03:13I know what the issues are.

00:03:15I've never put myself out as being a politician, but I suppose what you could say I am is a

00:03:20diplomat.

00:03:21And that's what all mothers are, and that's what all nurses are.

00:03:24I have retired from nursing, but I've gone back two days because of no staff.

00:03:29And I just thought, what is happening to the NHS for my grandchildren and our children?

00:03:35So that's the reason I'm here today.

00:03:37I can't profess to answer all your questions, but I have spoken to a lot of people in the

00:03:41Fylde, and I've learned more in the last four weeks about the Fylde than I have in

00:03:46the six to two years that I've lived here.

00:03:49So thank you very much for welcoming me.

00:03:51And thank you for your wonderful time.

00:03:53Thank you very much for your time.

00:03:58Tom Carver for Labour.

00:03:59Tom, whenever you're ready, you have 20 seconds, start now.

00:04:01Good evening, I'm Tom Carver, I am standing for Labour.

00:04:04And a vote for Labour in the Fylde is a vote to reduce our NHS waiting lists, which have

00:04:08risen 1,800 in the past year alone.

00:04:11And to improve access to community health and dental care.

00:04:14It's a vote to reverse the decline in teacher numbers, so all our children get a decent

00:04:19education.

00:04:20And for more support for young people, both at school and in the community.

00:04:24It's a vote for more police undoing cuts that mean 90% of crime now goes unsolved.

00:04:29And a vote for economic stability, tackling energy prices, mortgage rates and spiralling

00:04:35rents.

00:04:35And it's a vote to end the disgusting practice of sewage dumping carried out by United Utilities

00:04:40choking our waters, fouling our beaches.

00:04:44Now, none of this is going to be easy or quick.

00:04:46There's a difficult economic legacy that we'll have to overcome, but we have the focus and

00:04:51the commitment to do it.

00:04:52My leadership and me.

00:04:54And if elected, my job is going to be to use my knowledge and skills from over 20 years

00:04:59in public services to ensure we get our share of those new opportunities.

00:05:04To challenge plans as well, like the current wind farm infrastructure that threaten disruption

00:05:08and damage across this constituency.

00:05:11And a vote for me is also a vote for integrity and transparency.

00:05:15You'll know what I'm doing, you'll know who I'm talking to, you'll know how I'm voting

00:05:18and I'll tell you why.

00:05:20There'll be no slush funds and no secrets.

00:05:22I won't be calling anyone at 3am because I've been locked in a room by bad people.

00:05:28But if you call me, I'll be there for you.

00:05:31Thank you.

00:05:32Hello, my name is Mark Jewell and I am your Liberal Democrat candidate.

00:05:46I am a Preston city councillor representing an area that was within the Fylde constituency

00:05:51before the boundary changes.

00:05:53I live within that ward on the west side of Preston on the boundary with Fylde.

00:05:57I have worked for a local aerospace company for the past almost 39 years and know Fylde

00:06:02well.

00:06:03I've not been parachuted in.

00:06:05I'm incredibly proud to be standing as your Liberal Democrat candidate.

00:06:09Our manifesto is bold, ambitious, fully costed plan to save the NHS and fix the care crisis.

00:06:16The Conservatives have plunged the NHS into crisis, failing to deliver the new hospitals

00:06:22and making people wait for an ambulance, weeks to see a GP or months for urgent cancer treatment.

00:06:30They have let people down and taken Fylde for granted for far too long.

00:06:35In May, we had a by-election in the Fylde, in an area of Kilgrimel, where the Liberal

00:06:40Democrats narrowly lost to the Conservatives by just 41 votes.

00:06:44Labour did not even turn up and fill the candidate.

00:06:48Their website also identified Fylde as a non-battleground constituency.

00:06:53It is the Liberal Democrats who are challenging the Conservatives here.

00:06:57I want to bring integrity as Fylde's MP and stand for a fair deal for Fylde.

00:07:02Thank you.

00:07:03Mark, thank you very much indeed.

00:07:06And finally, Andrew Sheldon from the Conservative Party.

00:07:09Andrew, whenever you're ready.

00:07:10Away you go.

00:07:11Good evening everybody.

00:07:12It is fantastic to be here and it is humbling to be representing an area

00:07:19in this election for the Conservative Party that I have known my whole life.

00:07:23In fact, one of the first pieces of casework I will get if I am elected as this MP is from

00:07:27my dad, who used to be one of the professional cricketers at St Ann's Cricket Club.

00:07:32He's deeply perturbed that he's only on the record board in the clubhouse for one season.

00:07:38His view is he turned up the second season.

00:07:40He might have been rubbish, but he actually came along and should be on it as well.

00:07:45And as police commissioner and as a county councillor and lead member for highways and

00:07:49transport, I've been working as part of Fylde and delivering investments for Fylde for the

00:07:54last seven years.

00:07:56People don't have to believe promises in leaflets from me because I delivered the things I promised

00:08:02to Fylde.

00:08:03When I was elected as police and crime commissioner, I said I would reopen to the public the stations

00:08:07that have been closed, including right here in Fylde, which I did.

00:08:11I said I would put back the neighbourhood policing teams which had been removed from

00:08:15the more rural areas of the county, including here in Fylde, which I did.

00:08:22And I have delivered all my promises because I believe that local, hardworking MPs should

00:08:28be in touch with the constituents they serve, should know the issues and should be out there

00:08:34and be visible.

00:08:35Since being selected as the candidate, I've knocked on nearly 6,000 doors across the Fylde

00:08:40with my team.

00:08:41Andrew, I'm going to have to stop you there.

00:08:42I'm sorry you've got to be drunken scrupulous with the time on these opening things.

00:08:46But thank you for all the candidates for the opening statements.

00:08:50So, this is how it's going to work.

00:08:52Basically, the evening will be split into two parts.

00:08:55A lot of you very kindly submitted questions in advance.

00:08:58Far too many to ask them all individually, but it's enabled us to draw together some

00:09:03themes that reflect the issues that seem to matter to the people of Fylde.

00:09:07So, we will pick a couple of representative questions or an amalgamation of them for each

00:09:11of those themes, and we'll go through half a dozen or so of those.

00:09:15But if you don't get your particular question or your particular issue of concern raised,

00:09:19then don't worry because in part two, we'll open the floor up to you yourselves and you'll

00:09:23be able to put the politicians on the spot.

00:09:27Now, each candidate will have around a minute to make their initial response to each of

00:09:31the questions, and then we'll open it up for a bit of debate between them.

00:09:35And by far, the most common question, the most popular issue that was raised by the

00:09:40people who registered to come along this afternoon was the Morgan and Morecambe energy proposal.

00:09:46So, the offshore wind farm and the onshore substations that are connected to the National

00:09:52Grid.

00:09:53Several people have submitted questions saying that they note that the candidates are against

00:09:58the disruption to Fylde of these particular proposals and that they are perhaps against

00:10:04the land route for the wind farm cables.

00:10:07But a lot of people are asking, what are you actually going to do in practical terms about

00:10:12this application, which is pending?

00:10:15And it's a national infrastructure project designated as a national infrastructure project

00:10:19as well.

00:10:20So, we use developments with a lot of local interest, and it seems from the questions

00:10:24that we've received, local concern as well.

00:10:28So, we'll put that to each of you, and maybe as you outline your thoughts, maybe if you

00:10:32could start by telling me whether you agree in principle and support this scheme in principle

00:10:38before you go on to explain exactly what you propose to do as it comes forward.

00:10:43And we'll start with Mark on this one.

00:10:44Mark.

00:10:49So, I was at the original consultations back in, I think it was October, that was undertaken

00:10:56across the Fylde.

00:10:58And when I saw the plans and spoke to residents, particularly around the Newton, particularly

00:11:04that Newton-Kirkham sort of area, it was really clear.

00:11:08I was actually looking out of someone's bedroom window where the substations are proposed.

00:11:14Now, that affects the immunity of those people.

00:11:18Talking to the farmers, it affects their livelihoods and their land, and it is cutting a furrow

00:11:24right across Fylde.

00:11:26And I think that has occurred because the previous MP, quite frankly, was asleep at

00:11:31the wheel.

00:11:31He had an opportunity to influence this at the pre-statutory stage.

00:11:36And it arises because there hasn't been sufficient thought about the infrastructure of wind

00:11:46generation plants offsea, offshore, and just thinking you need to bring it to the nearest

00:11:53one at Pembroke.

00:11:54So, when this first arose, I couldn't immediately answer, what would you do different?

00:12:00But since then, having done a bit of research, you look at the Doggerbank farm, which is

00:12:06the largest wind farm in Europe off of the northwest of England.

00:12:11You look at other schemes on the continent where a lot of the stuff is done at sea, slightly

00:12:17more, it's alleged, expensive schemes.

00:12:20But I am now convinced there are alternatives to what we can do.

00:12:25And as such, one of the first things I would do, if elected as your MP, is to understand

00:12:30who do I need to talk to to go and influence this, and understand what is the below the

00:12:35line items around this scheme, and how we can influence it to do something different.

00:12:40There are options out there, and I think we need to pursue them.

00:12:44I have to stop you there, we have obviously let this particular one go on quite a bit

00:12:49because it's the most common subject, but we've got to keep everybody in to a fair

00:12:54amount of time.

00:12:55So can I just ask you very briefly in a word, do you support it in principle?

00:13:01I support wind farms and renewable forms of energy, but that is needed.

00:13:06Not this particular scheme, because I don't think it's been thought through, and there

00:13:09are alternatives available.

00:13:11Andrew, if we come to you next on this particular one, that question of whether you support

00:13:16it in principle, and then your thoughts in general about how you would influence it,

00:13:19if and when it does come forward.

00:13:22No, I don't support it in principle.

00:13:23I think it is being planned to go through the route of least possible resistance, and

00:13:30therefore it's what's easiest for the developer, rather than what's right for the local area.

00:13:35I've been out and met many of the businesses and people that will be affected by it, and

00:13:39people are genuinely incredibly worried and stressed around what it will mean for their

00:13:44livelihoods, the farmers, in terms of the disruption, the levels and depths of which

00:13:48the cables will be laid, the damage it will do to the greenbelt, the size of the substations,

00:13:53and the disruption that it would cause across the find.

00:13:56I think there are more alternative cabling routes if I'm elected as the MP.

00:14:02I don't promise things to people that you can't deliver, because people then come back

00:14:05and say, well, you said you'd do this, and you'd have a magic wand, and you don't.

00:14:09The number one power a backbench Member of Parliament has is to use their voice in Parliament

00:14:15and the statutory implements they have in Parliament.

00:14:17And therefore, if elected, I will attempt to table a debate in the House of Commons

00:14:22on the issue, to force the Secretary of State to get answers from the company about why

00:14:27they've chosen this route, what other routes have been assessed, and what more alternative

00:14:32and appropriate routes that would cause less damage.

00:14:34There are plenty of brownfield sites along the Fylde coast, which are already in some

00:14:39cases used for energy production, that would make a more appropriate route.

00:14:43And the one thing that I would not do, which we've already voted in the papers over the

00:14:47last few weeks, is what's in the Labour Party manifesto to reduce the requirements for the

00:14:54climate situation for infrastructure in the greenbelt.

00:14:58I will fight to protect the greenbelt as the MP, and I will vote against any proposals

00:15:03that are brought in to reduce the powers of local people and local authorities to protect

00:15:09their countryside.

00:15:10Thank you.

00:15:10So just to be clear, Edwin, on that one, it's completely your opposing principle.

00:15:14You oppose the route, but the extra concept you're ignoring.

00:15:17Absolutely.

00:15:17And if anything, the Ukraine conflict has shown us that energy security is an incredibly

00:15:21important issue alongside food security.

00:15:23But what we need to do is make sure that as we build that, we do it in a way which doesn't

00:15:29destroy the very things we're trying to protect in the first place.

00:15:32Tom, I'll come to you next on this one.

00:15:34Your thoughts on the principle of the scheme, and obviously I'm sure you'd want to come

00:15:38back on what Andrew said about Labour Party policy and when you're permitting the greenbelt.

00:15:46Labour Party policy and plan is quite simple.

00:15:47It needs strengthening, and we're going to put funds into it.

00:15:50But let's talk about this scheme specifically.

00:15:52I support the development of offshore wind off our coasts.

00:15:56I've yet to speak to anybody in this constituency who disagrees with that.

00:15:59That does not mean that the onshore infrastructure needs to go the way that it's going.

00:16:04But let's be clear, it's not the developers of Morgan & Morgan who picked that route.

00:16:08It was National Grid with the agreement of government ministers.

00:16:12That's the line that Morgan & Morgan are following.

00:16:14It was long before the consultations that Mark referred to that that line was picked,

00:16:19and that was when our local MPs should have been getting involved with a major national

00:16:23strategic project.

00:16:30Read the document.

00:16:31National Grid say this has got minimal community impact and that's why we've picked it.

00:16:36Well, bollocks to that.

00:16:43So I agree.

00:16:44Asleep at the wheel.

00:16:45Several people asleep at several wheels, in fact.

00:16:49So what can we do differently?

00:16:50Well, I could stand up, I could shout.

00:16:53But here's the thing, they'll most likely be a Labour government.

00:16:55So what I'll do, as soon as we know who the Labour Energy Secretary is,

00:17:00is I'll go and buttonhole them and start asking them about it.

00:17:03Because the alternative involves getting the developers, our local representatives,

00:17:09other MPs here in the Files, National Grid and the department together to come up with

00:17:16an alternative.

00:17:17Now, I've been handed a plan by a man who's done a lot more thinking about this, frankly,

00:17:21than I think any of us here have, certainly more than I have, to be honest.

00:17:25And we can look at an alternative connection to an existing National Grid line that would

00:17:32need upgrading.

00:17:33Clearly, that needs some funding to do.

00:17:36Clearly, there's got to be a decision about who does that.

00:17:39But it's about looking for alternatives, engaging constructively.

00:17:43Because as I said, nobody doesn't want offshore wind.

00:17:46We just want it to be done far more fairly for our communities and our people.

00:17:52So I'm thankful for that.

00:17:53And that's why it's needed a full funding and a proposal for an alternative.

00:17:58Thank you.

00:17:59Of course, like the boys, I'm all for windfarm.

00:18:02We all want green energy.

00:18:04I do oppose the route, strongly oppose the route.

00:18:08And I've only been at it four weeks.

00:18:11But there are different routes.

00:18:13The summer, which is only five kilometres in, we are trying to do a route which is 25

00:18:20kilometres across greenbelt, across farms, across people's land, across people's businesses.

00:18:27I mean, I know you're all trying to score points.

00:18:30But to be honest, how has it got to this point in the first place?

00:18:33I absolutely don't get it.

00:18:35It's no good slagging off the last MP.

00:18:37We've got to start from scratch now.

00:18:41We have to listen to the people of Fylde.

00:18:42There's lots of different groups that are opposed to it.

00:18:46And I feel they all need to band together as one big group for a start-off.

00:18:51It won't work.

00:18:52There's 300 on a petition here, 300 there.

00:18:55We have to be listened to as a group in Fylde.

00:18:59I've had farmers, I went on to the farm at Lake Cox.

00:19:02She's already had 15 acres that's been ploughed into to show everybody what it's like.

00:19:11The equestrian centre are going to lose the business at Great Green.

00:19:14So it's all right shouting about what we're going to do,

00:19:17but we've actually got to this point and nobody's done anything.

00:19:21The fact I'm not with the party is a massive plus

00:19:26because I don't have to follow the party line.

00:19:28Unfortunately, they say they'll vote, but they have to follow the party line.

00:19:33I am totally opposed to the route and I'll fight for it.

00:19:36I'll just say, amidst the slew of questions,

00:19:45people clearly had issues with the routes.

00:19:47There was one question which asked how each of you would ensure

00:19:50that the Fylde goes benefits and grows from the Morgan Windfarm Power proposals

00:19:54whilst avoiding the adverse issues.

00:19:56But then set against that, we've got questions which talk about it ruining our lives,

00:20:01causing huge disruption to Fylde.

00:20:04As it stands, the scheme is set to destroy hundreds of acres of farmland

00:20:09and the 25-mile long land corridor will be the width of a six-lane motorway.

00:20:14So just very briefly, and just go back to you all,

00:20:17how would you secure the benefits without the adverse measures?

00:20:20And also, do you understand the strength of feeling

00:20:23that people have against this particular route?

00:20:26Absolutely the strength of feeling.

00:20:28Funnily enough, BP on Friday said that they were going to stop all windfarm,

00:20:34the new windfarms.

00:20:35I don't know if that means our windfarm, they haven't put that down,

00:20:40but they have stopped it at the moment because there's so much opposition

00:20:43going across people's hands.

00:20:46I just think it can't be just one party that sorts it.

00:20:51Why can't it be a cross-party policy and everybody gets together

00:20:57There has to be some other other way to do it.

00:21:01So I'm just coming to you.

00:21:02Obviously, the Labour Party policy is to decarbonise the National Grid by 2030

00:21:07on projects like this and the inevitable consequences of that policy.

00:21:10Things need to be done quickly.

00:21:13I don't think doing that level of damage is inevitable.

00:21:16I think that's about choices and all politics is about choices

00:21:19and you can choose better.

00:21:21I think there's a few ways that we could benefit from this.

00:21:25First is we should be looking at those future manufacturing jobs.

00:21:28We have people who are already working with advanced materials in this constituency.

00:21:32That's what we make wind turbines out of.

00:21:34It's about time we looked at how we develop those skills

00:21:37and make sure that we build on our actually quite extensive

00:21:40manufacturing base in this constituency.

00:21:42If we were to choose a route through, say, Stanner,

00:21:45that would put a large amount of clean power into the Hill House enterprise zone,

00:21:50not in this constituency, but certainly within commuting distance of it.

00:21:54That gives that enterprise zone something to attract industry.

00:21:57At the moment, it's something of a quiet site

00:22:01when you look at what it's supposed to be doing.

00:22:05But above all, I think we have an opportunity here to show a time

00:22:10when, as you say, the grid needs decarbonising.

00:22:12That means more projects to show that this can be done better

00:22:17and to set an example for the rest of the country

00:22:19so that as the Labour Party develops its plans for net zero,

00:22:23which is supported by the vast majority of people,

00:22:25we can show that the file leads,

00:22:28that the files can demonstrate how to get those benefits.

00:22:33On your point about unity across politics,

00:22:35I think it's really important we understand these are long-term projects.

00:22:40These are projects that will last well beyond a parliament

00:22:43and we do need some cross-party consensus on what we're going to do.

00:22:47Yet, I'm happy to take lumps out of the previous MP for his poor showing,

00:22:51but I need to work with people from all political parties

00:22:55to make sure that the future is better for all of us.

00:22:58Okay, Tom, thank you.

00:23:05I don't know if we can come back to you on this one.

00:23:08Tom, after cross-party consensus, has he found it with you?

00:23:11Well, for me, I think the key thing is there is no benefit

00:23:14that could potentially come from this scheme

00:23:16that will outweigh the damage that it will do.

00:23:19We've all seen, as planning goes through,

00:23:22and section 106 monies, whatever,

00:23:24agreed as part of planning approvals for various schemes,

00:23:27there is very, very, very rarely any planning scheme of this nature

00:23:33that any benefit that can be offered from the company

00:23:35will outweigh the damage that would be done.

00:23:38And I think a starting point, a real clear starting point,

00:23:43has to be we can't start talking about

00:23:46what the potential benefits in the future might be,

00:23:48because we look like we're already accepting it, and we're not.

00:23:51And therefore, for me, you've got to hold the line

00:23:55that there are no benefits that will outweigh those businesses

00:23:58that will be lost, those farmlands and those parts of Aberdeen

00:24:02that will be irreversibly damaged.

00:24:05And that has got to be the line that we hold on this.

00:24:09In terms of cross-party working,

00:24:11as police and crime commissioner, as a county councillor,

00:24:14I've always worked across parties to deliver what is needed

00:24:19for the public and for the betterment of public services.

00:24:22And that has always got to come,

00:24:24that sense of public service and duty

00:24:26is what should drive a politician,

00:24:28not the sense of political point scoring and ego.

00:24:32And for me, therefore, on this scheme,

00:24:34and on all the issues affecting the finance,

00:24:37I will work with anybody, if I'm elected,

00:24:40who wants to work with me to stop this scheme,

00:24:42but also then to make the fields

00:24:44an even better place to live and work.

00:24:46Absolutely.

00:24:47Andrew, thank you.

00:24:48Mark and Mary-Anne,

00:24:49a big round of applause for the issue of cross-party consensus.

00:24:52And also, do you understand the strength of feeling

00:24:54of what seems like the vast majority of people in this room?

00:24:57So, looking at the overall benefit of this,

00:25:01climate change is the biggest challenge that we all face.

00:25:05And I'm not against renewable forms of energy or wind farms.

00:25:09The issue here is the infrastructure needs to change

00:25:13from onshore generation to offshore generation

00:25:17with wind farms.

00:25:18That requires a different solution.

00:25:21It is a longer term solution.

00:25:22And yes, that will need cross-party support.

00:25:27In terms of other benefits,

00:25:29some of the benefits in some of the other areas,

00:25:31up in the North East,

00:25:32I mentioned earlier about the Dogger Bank scheme.

00:25:37Some of the benefits they have there

00:25:39is further funding for education in STEM subjects,

00:25:44the attraction of jobs, et cetera, et cetera.

00:25:48But whatever you do in terms of addressing climate change

00:25:52and getting to a net zero,

00:25:54you've got to take people with you.

00:25:56And you can't ruin lives on the way.

00:25:58And as I said in my earlier response,

00:26:00I'm now convinced there are alternative solutions.

00:26:03I'm not a technical expert,

00:26:05but I would certainly seek out,

00:26:08and it will probably be the Labour minister,

00:26:11to understand how we can move this forward

00:26:15and put forward a different scheme that works for farm.

00:26:21Thank you, Mark.

00:26:21And thanks to the key responses on that one.

00:26:24Might be the last we've heard of energy issues tonight.

00:26:27That's certainly a question a little later on

00:26:30that I think we'll be coming back to.

00:26:31But for now, we'll move on to another issue

00:26:33that's hugely important to the people of Fylde,

00:26:35and you won't be surprised to learn that's Fylde itself.

00:26:39Several questions here about what each of the candidates

00:26:42would do for the benefit of the borough,

00:26:45proving what us journalists secretly know

00:26:48but don't like to admit,

00:26:48which is that the public asks the best questions.

00:26:51Here's one for each of you.

00:26:52What is the first thing you will specifically do

00:26:54for the Fylde that is not about towing the party line,

00:26:57but actually for the good of the Fylde?

00:26:59And Anne, go for your list one.

00:27:01So I am a member of Fylde Coast Against Sewage.

00:27:05I'm absolutely incensed that untreated sewage

00:27:09is going into our seas.

00:27:10We're a tourist area.

00:27:12Our rivers are full.

00:27:14It's just disastrous.

00:27:16So my main thing, I'm absolutely adamant

00:27:21that we have to do something about the sewage bills.

00:27:23We have to make the United Utilities accountable

00:27:27and we have to make sure that we're not

00:27:30At the moment, I am in partnership with the council

00:27:34and we are testing the seas.

00:27:36So we do that once a week

00:27:37and we're going to just see how bad it is

00:27:40and then hopefully we can all work together.

00:27:42But that is the one thing that I'm adamant about

00:27:45that I've got to sort out for the Fylde.

00:27:48Thank you.

00:27:48I suppose in a fairer view,

00:27:53I don't think we have a lot of party lines at all,

00:27:54but we'll come to Tom next.

00:27:56How would you reject the party line

00:27:58in favour of Fylde if the opportunity or the need arose?

00:28:01Let's be clear, the first thing we need to do

00:28:03is propose a wind farm project

00:28:04that's going to be going for development consent

00:28:06later this year.

00:28:07So in terms of sheer urgency,

00:28:10that's got to be the first thing.

00:28:12But I agree, it's about sewage

00:28:14and Labour Party has a plan for sewage,

00:28:16which means I can tow the party line

00:28:17and still be looked after for this constituency.

00:28:20It's about automatic fines for water companies,

00:28:25installing independent monitoring

00:28:27so that water companies can't get away

00:28:28with misreporting the spills that they're committing.

00:28:34It's about ensuring that water company executives

00:28:36don't take home whacking great bonuses

00:28:38while fouling our seas, our beaches, our waters.

00:28:42And it's about going through criminal prosecutions

00:28:44if people don't get the message from all that.

00:28:46But yeah, absolutely, we have a water company

00:28:50that is owned massively by overseas investors.

00:28:54They're never going to come to our beaches.

00:28:56They're never going to come and look at our countryside.

00:28:59They just simply don't care

00:29:00because it's not in their backyard.

00:29:03We need to ensure that we have the financial penalties

00:29:05that actually land exactly close to home

00:29:08and then we can have cleaner beaches.

00:29:11And the funny thing is, when I first said this,

00:29:12United Utilities were on my email almost instantly saying,

00:29:16we'd love to have a conversation about this.

00:29:18And this is where it isn't politics.

00:29:21This is where it's not about a party line.

00:29:23These are the beaches my children play on.

00:29:26And you can think again

00:29:27if you think you can dump shit all over them.

00:29:30I'm not sure that the Liberal Democrats

00:29:47within a manifesto say anything specifically

00:29:50about the Morgan & Morecambe scheme

00:29:52other than we want to invest in our energy infrastructure.

00:29:56But that clearly is the item of urgency.

00:29:59That would be the first thing that I would do as your MP.

00:30:03But referring also to the sewage scandal

00:30:06where our beaches along the Fylde have been rated as poor,

00:30:11the Liberal Democrats would make our water companies

00:30:14a public benefit company.

00:30:16And the regulator, we would just scrap off what?

00:30:19And introduce a clean water authority

00:30:22that had real teeth in keeping our waters clean.

00:30:26We would also ban, for those bosses who don't deliver,

00:30:30we would ban the bonuses for them.

00:30:33And we would extend the blue flag status

00:30:36that we currently have for beaches

00:30:38to our waterways as well.

00:30:40So it is in that way

00:30:41that the Liberal Democrats would address the scandal

00:30:44of the Conservatives dumping sewage in our waterways.

00:30:48Mark, thank you.

00:30:49And finally, Theo.

00:30:51Thank you very much.

00:30:52If you believe me, I'll actually answer the question for you,

00:30:55which is where would we be willing to break our party line

00:30:58if we were elected?

00:31:00And one area that I have great concern about

00:31:02and have been talking to many residents and business people

00:31:05is around farming in Fylde

00:31:08and the future of the farming business

00:31:10and the farming community.

00:31:12There are too many central directives

00:31:15that issue around subsidies for rewilding land,

00:31:19allowing farms to be broken up into small holdings

00:31:23around development onto farmland.

00:31:26For me, farming is an absolute fundamental part of rural life.

00:31:32If you took farmers out of our countryside,

00:31:34it would not be the beautiful, well-maintained

00:31:37and glorious place that it is.

00:31:39It is part of the fabric of our countryside.

00:31:42And I don't think we do enough

00:31:44to support our farmers and the countryside.

00:31:47Something that I will campaign on heavily

00:31:49is that we have a complete readdressing

00:31:52of the subsidy system

00:31:54that is perversely paying farmers not to produce food.

00:31:59It is wrong.

00:32:00It is against our food security as a country.

00:32:02It's something I feel deeply passionate about.

00:32:05And I know it is affecting our farming community

00:32:08in Fylde and beyond.

00:32:10And it is something that doesn't seem to be bubbling

00:32:12very close to the headlines,

00:32:13but is causing serious issues in the farming community.

00:32:18And to answer the question,

00:32:19is there an issue that I really can see

00:32:21where I will have with the party line?

00:32:24I don't know what the Conservative party line

00:32:25is going to be when we eventually discuss

00:32:28these issues of subsidies,

00:32:29but it is an issue that I will raise

00:32:31and I will fight for

00:32:32because we have to keep fighting farming

00:32:34and we have to keep and protect our greenbelt.

00:32:37As one farmer said it to me the other day,

00:32:38it's a beautiful area,

00:32:40but the farmers make it beautiful.

00:32:42It's to stand up for them too.

00:32:43A topic of huge concern is the lack of progress

00:32:53in a plan for social care.

00:32:55If elected, how would each candidate

00:32:57propose to address this?

00:32:58From your point of view,

00:33:00isn't that something the Conservative party

00:33:01should have addressed in the 14 years

00:33:03that they've been in power?

00:33:05The Conservative party have done

00:33:06a significant amount of work

00:33:07on addressing the social care challenges.

00:33:10It's been part of the manifesto

00:33:12for a number of years.

00:33:14You're not convinced?

00:33:16Well, the introduction of the social levy,

00:33:19allowing county councils

00:33:21and primary health authorities

00:33:22to be able to raise the funds

00:33:24to be able to support the social care sector

00:33:27and the manifesto of the Conservative party

00:33:29contains billions of pounds of further investment

00:33:31that is needed in the social care system.

00:33:34And it's a huge challenge.

00:33:36We have an ever aging population.

00:33:39The average age of the UK is increasing.

00:33:42And with that, people are living

00:33:43for longer and longer,

00:33:45which is obviously absolutely fantastic.

00:33:47And therefore that comes

00:33:48with significant cost challenges

00:33:50for how we provide social care.

00:33:52And it is beyond just cost and budget.

00:33:54It is about the workforce.

00:33:56It is about an ever increasing demanding workforce

00:33:58that is in competition

00:34:00with other public sector workforces

00:34:02and therefore making sure

00:34:04that the profession itself

00:34:05is as attractive as it can be.

00:34:07The manifesto contains further significant investments

00:34:11into social care following the money.

00:34:13And let's not forget the NHS

00:34:15and healthcare projects have been re-fenced

00:34:16out of any austerity for the last,

00:34:19since 2010.

00:34:20We have billions of pounds.

00:34:22It's a fact.

00:34:23It is a fact.

00:34:25And it might be that the supporters

00:34:27of all parties don't want that fact to be known,

00:34:29but that is a fact.

00:34:31You only have to look at the 2010 spending charts

00:34:34to where they are now.

00:34:35Is there significant more work to do?

00:34:37Absolutely.

00:34:38That's what's set out in our manifesto.

00:34:41Tom, are you really proud to stand

00:34:43on ladies on the manifesto

00:34:44after saying about social care?

00:34:46It seems very light.

00:34:48Yeah, they're not cost challenges.

00:34:49They're people.

00:34:52And that's what we need to remember.

00:34:54I've worked in social care.

00:34:56There were some resources

00:34:57and we did some amazing things.

00:34:58We kept people out of hospital.

00:35:00We got people out of hospital

00:35:01sooner than they would otherwise be.

00:35:03So their minds remained sharp

00:35:05and their bodies remained active.

00:35:07And they went on to lead meaningful lives.

00:35:10And we knew in 2010

00:35:11when the Conservatives went

00:35:12after local government first,

00:35:15because that was easy

00:35:16because ministers don't need to make decisions

00:35:18on cuts when you go after local councils.

00:35:20Nobody really loves their local councils.

00:35:23That's easy.

00:35:24But also you put the decisions,

00:35:26the hard decisions onto councillors,

00:35:30onto council officers

00:35:31and we had to start cutting stuff.

00:35:33I was an austerity cut, by the way.

00:35:35Um, that's not why I oppose the Conservative party.

00:35:40But it comes down to this.

00:35:41Our national care service

00:35:43will be locally delivered as now.

00:35:45It will have, however, national standards

00:35:48that we will enforce

00:35:49so that all people delivering care

00:35:50do better for everyone.

00:35:52We will have a single pay deal

00:35:54across social care.

00:35:56So we improve the terms and conditions

00:35:58and the pay for our workers in social care

00:36:01because it's absolutely ridiculous

00:36:03that people are doing backbreaking work

00:36:04and they're some of the lowest paid in our society.

00:36:07That's not the people I want caring for my family.

00:36:10I want people who are engaged

00:36:12and people who are enthusiastic.

00:36:14It's not going to be easy.

00:36:16It's not going to be quick

00:36:17because there's a lot that has gone wrong

00:36:19and a lot that we're going to have to repair.

00:36:21Part of it will be a long-term workforce plan

00:36:24that goes across both health and social care.

00:36:26Finally, recognising that the two systems

00:36:29are actually interrelated

00:36:30and one cannot get by without the other.

00:36:33And I hopefully see some improvements from that.

00:36:37But the other thing we're going to do

00:36:38is give local government

00:36:39multi-year budget settlements.

00:36:40The ludicrous situation we've had for too many years

00:36:43where local government

00:36:43has to balance the budget in year

00:36:46which leads to the stupidity

00:36:47of new road markings on pothole roads

00:36:49because we've got to get the budgets balanced.

00:36:51All that nonsense we see around February and March,

00:36:55we can set that aside

00:36:56and we can invest long-term in social care.

00:36:59And by the way, putting a social care precept on

00:37:02to repair the damage you did with your austerity cuts

00:37:05isn't tackling social care,

00:37:06it's just pushing the problem onto local communities

00:37:09and still not dealing with the resource issues.

00:37:12And that's what we need to do.

00:37:14Just very briefly,

00:37:15very briefly,

00:37:16but you say it's not going to be quick,

00:37:19isn't the reason it's not going to be quick

00:37:20is because there's very little flesh on the bones

00:37:22of Labour's policy in its manifesto itself.

00:37:24Are you going to start talking about it

00:37:26beyond the election?

00:37:26It's got a name, the National Care Service,

00:37:28but has it got any detail?

00:37:30It's got name,

00:37:30it's got plans for setting standards,

00:37:34it's got plans for setting a pay negotiating body.

00:37:37Why has it not got more detail?

00:37:39Because this is an incredibly complex system

00:37:41with lots of players,

00:37:42both public, private, charitable,

00:37:45and we need to make sure that they're all working together.

00:37:47And if we don't do that,

00:37:49it will be a mess from the off.

00:37:50And it goes back in fact to Andrew's point

00:37:52about everything being done to farming.

00:37:54If we just wade in with new schemes

00:37:56and new initiatives without talking to people

00:37:58into a system that is already fragile,

00:38:01all we'll do is break it.

00:38:03And so I'm proud that we're not going,

00:38:06here's the solution that we're going to impose on you

00:38:08because that's the wrong way of doing it.

00:38:10It's about working with the providers,

00:38:12it's about working with the employees,

00:38:14the care workers,

00:38:14it's about working with communities,

00:38:18it's about working with interest groups as well

00:38:20to make sure everybody's represented

00:38:22so we get the best possible service.

00:38:24Thank you very much indeed.

00:38:25Thank you.

00:38:29Well, here's the thing.

00:38:30I've worked in the NHS for 42 years.

00:38:34It's underfunded, you all know that.

00:38:37It has gone down the neck.

00:38:39And why has it?

00:38:41A, there are 10,000 shortage of GPs

00:38:45and we're 40,000 shortage of nurses.

00:38:48We've not been employing people,

00:38:50we've not been pushing people to go into nursing and care.

00:38:53And I think the reason these people

00:38:55don't want to go into nursing care

00:38:57is we've got the lowest pay in the whole of Europe.

00:39:01And those poor people that work in nursing homes,

00:39:04they earn less than somebody in Aldi.

00:39:07And I know we don't want the junior doctors

00:39:09to go on strike, we don't.

00:39:11They earn 14 pound an hour.

00:39:15So it isn't sustainable.

00:39:18Now nurses, it used to be a vocation,

00:39:21it isn't now.

00:39:22It can sometimes be the only person in the house

00:39:25that's looking after children

00:39:27and trying to run a household on minimum wage.

00:39:31So it has to start right from the word go.

00:39:35We've got to start encouraging our doctors,

00:39:38our nurses, A, to stay in the country.

00:39:41I'm training nurses and the first thing they say to me is,

00:39:44I've got a job in Australia.

00:39:47Why the hell have you got a job in Australia?

00:39:49We need to start looking, why is Australia so good?

00:39:53Why is Sweden so good?

00:39:55We're going to have to look around

00:39:57and see where we've got it so wrong.

00:39:59I know probably Conservatives want to privatise it

00:40:02and they have privatised parts of it.

00:40:04The GPs are under the umbrella of privatisation,

00:40:08so are the school nurses.

00:40:10So it is being fed off, but that isn't fair.

00:40:14It's the National Health Service.

00:40:16I'm passionate about it.

00:40:18We can't let it go.

00:40:20We've got to keep it going for our children,

00:40:24but we have to raise the bar.

00:40:27We can't say I can't get a doctor's appointment.

00:40:29You can't get a doctor's appointment.

00:40:31I work in a surgery, 25,000 patients,

00:40:34and we've got four GPs.

00:40:37It's untenable.

00:40:39So something has to change

00:40:41and we all have to work together to change it.

00:40:44You can't start saying, we'll do this.

00:40:47Andrew, you can't say, we're doing this.

00:40:49For 14 years, they've done nothing.

00:40:51They've run it into the ground.

00:40:53So obviously, you can't bring it into the ground,

00:41:01but I'm quite passionate about it, so yeah.

00:41:04Mark, I'm sure you're going to tell me

00:41:06about the Lib Dem policy on free social care.

00:41:09Is it fully costed?

00:41:10Is it affordable?

00:41:11Is it deliverable?

00:41:12Yes, yes, yes.

00:41:14Let me tell you why.

00:41:15So under the Conservatives,

00:41:18we've seen our NHS really plunge into crisis.

00:41:22On the specific issue of social care,

00:41:24I'm sure you've all seen Ed Davey on telly

00:41:28and his very personal story

00:41:31about caring for his mother when she had cancer

00:41:34when he was a young boy

00:41:36and how he now cares for his son,

00:41:38who is severely disabled.

00:41:40A really personal story,

00:41:42but that's not for a sympathy vote.

00:41:44That is reflecting the actuality of lives,

00:41:47millions of people across the country.

00:41:50So the NHS and social care

00:41:52is a real cornerstone of the Liberal Democrat manifesto.

00:41:57We want to make social care an attractive profession.

00:42:02We would increase the entry point for social care

00:42:06to two pounds an hour above the minimum wage.

00:42:09Then people can look to social care

00:42:12as a desirable route,

00:42:14make a real career path of it.

00:42:17That then helps to free up beds from hospitals,

00:42:21a point that Anne touched on as well.

00:42:24Then you can begin to address

00:42:27some of the backlog issues as well.

00:42:30And you need to invest in the NHS,

00:42:34which is a key part of what the Liberal Democrats are saying.

00:42:37Retaining our current GPs and nurses,

00:42:40but also putting,

00:42:41so retaining 4,000 is what we're aiming to,

00:42:44and also putting an additional 4,000 through medical school.

00:42:47That needs money, it needs investment.

00:42:50If you value it, you have to stack up the money for it.

00:42:54So where would the money come from?

00:42:56Well, the Liberal Democrats would reverse

00:42:58the tax cuts on banks.

00:43:01We would restructure the capital gains tax

00:43:05so that billionaires and multimillionaires

00:43:07would pay more tax

00:43:09than their cleaner cleaning their mansions.

00:43:12It would not impact upon someone in Lithuania or St. Anne's

00:43:16with a very modest capital gains on their property.

00:43:20So the Liberal Democrats, I think,

00:43:23present a fantastic manifesto on this

00:43:28in improving social care and investing in our NHS.

00:43:32Mark, I think there's a couple of critiques

00:43:34of conservative performance.

00:43:36I don't know if you particularly want to come back on very briefly.

00:43:40I think in particular, to make the point,

00:43:43what we said at the start about funding,

00:43:44and I agree that the issues are complex,

00:43:47they are complicated,

00:43:48and it is predominantly around attracting

00:43:50and retaining the right people into the workforce.

00:43:52The conservative manifesto contains a commitment

00:43:55for 91,000 additional nurses

00:43:56and over 20,000 additional doctors.

00:43:59The key thing is, one thing that isn't challenged

00:44:02is the NHS budgets have gone up year on year on year,

00:44:05and the commitment in the conservative manifesto

00:44:07is that it will continue to go up above the rate of inflation.

00:44:12There is no disputing the hard-cold fact

00:44:15that the NHS is one of the most well-funded

00:44:18healthcare systems per GDP capita in the world.

00:44:22It is.

00:44:23Those budgets are huge,

00:44:25and they've gone up by billions under the Conservatives.

00:44:29However, the issues are complicated,

00:44:31and it's easy, as Tom did, for Labour to do,

00:44:35to point and say,

00:44:36where's the magic answer?

00:44:37Why has it not been done?

00:44:38But then when we ask what the alternative plans are,

00:44:41the answer is there's no magic answer,

00:44:43because it is a deeply complicated

00:44:45and a deeply difficult issue to do.

00:44:48And I have no problem with you shouting at me,

00:44:50there's no problem at all.

00:44:52We get on all right,

00:44:53but you can buy me a wine another time.

00:44:56But the key thing, the absolute key thing,

00:44:59is that the Conservatives don't want to privatise the NHS.

00:45:01There is no plan in the manifesto to privatise the NHS.

00:45:04There isn't, there isn't.

00:45:08And they are facts.

00:45:09It's in the manifesto.

00:45:10If anyone would like to point to me

00:45:11on which page of the manifesto

00:45:13that says we will privatise the NHS,

00:45:15happily sit next to me.

00:45:17Andrew, thank you very much indeed.

00:45:18I said we'd return to energy at some point,

00:45:22and it's the F word, I'm afraid, fracking.

00:45:26Can I just remind you,

00:45:28being asked to remind you,

00:45:29we are live streaming this online.

00:45:31So yeah, if we could keep the language

00:45:33just a little temperate, if that's okay.

00:45:36And on fracking, we have a question here

00:45:38from somebody who is asking,

00:45:40can any candidate say here today,

00:45:42sorry, any candidates here today,

00:45:44please assure the community

00:45:46that this will not happen here in Lancashire

00:45:48or anywhere else for that matter.

00:45:50So that's fracking.

00:45:51Can you give a cast-iron commitment it won't happen?

00:45:54Tom.

00:45:55I apologise for my language as well,

00:45:57because I think that one was aimed at me.

00:46:02We said we'll ban fracking,

00:46:04we'll have no new coal.

00:46:05We are moving to net zero

00:46:07while we open new fossil fuel sites.

00:46:09So when it comes to the Port Arilla sites here

00:46:11in the file,

00:46:12they can clean up those sites

00:46:13and then they can clear off.

00:46:15Thank you.

00:46:25Um, definitely I don't want fracking.

00:46:28And at Christmas,

00:46:30I read the voting history of our MP

00:46:34who stood on the fracking side

00:46:35and then voted for fracking.

00:46:38So I just hope that we're going to run,

00:46:42whoever gets in is fair,

00:46:44is truthful and vote for how we want it.

00:46:48But no fracking in the file.

00:46:55Completely agree.

00:46:56And I would be against fracking in the file

00:46:58anywhere else in the country.

00:46:59I think what we need is a long-term solution

00:47:03for our energy security.

00:47:05And therefore looking at effectively

00:47:08what is not fully proven

00:47:10and test bed sites for future energy

00:47:13is not the way to give us

00:47:14the rapid deployment of energy security

00:47:17that we need.

00:47:17And we need to be looking

00:47:18at more nuclear plants in my answer.

00:47:21So no industrial style plan to ally fracking

00:47:24if there was local support in that unlikely event.

00:47:26I'm incredibly surprised it's taken this long

00:47:28in the hustings for someone

00:47:29to bring up this trust actually.

00:47:31But indeed,

00:47:32absolutely no industrial style plans.

00:47:40So I campaign against fracking

00:47:43here in Lancashire

00:47:44when I was a county councillor.

00:47:46A Lancashire county councillor.

00:47:47I voted against it

00:47:48when it came to the county council.

00:47:50Within the Liberal Democrat manifesto,

00:47:52it explicitly says we are against fracking

00:47:56and any new coal mines as well.

00:48:03There are plenty of questions

00:48:05certainly from some of you

00:48:06about integrity in politics.

00:48:08So I think a couple of representative ones

00:48:14out from the list that we have.

00:48:17Somebody asking,

00:48:18they want an opinion

00:48:20for all the candidates

00:48:21on public service versus self-interest first.

00:48:27Mark, stay with you on that one.

00:48:29Public interest versus self-interest.

00:48:33Or public service rather versus self-interest.

00:48:36Yeah, there are a set of principles

00:48:38that all politicians should work to.

00:48:42I'm not going to take any swipe

00:48:44at anyone here

00:48:45because I'm sure they're all outstanding

00:48:48and of the highest integrity.

00:48:50But it undermines our democracy,

00:48:55I think,

00:48:56when politicians do act

00:48:59in an unprofessional way,

00:49:03if I can just put it like that.

00:49:06Because what we all get painted with

00:49:08is you're all the same

00:49:10and I don't believe they are.

00:49:11I believe everyone up here

00:49:13on this table is doing this

00:49:15because they want the best

00:49:18from their perspective

00:49:20and given their values and policies

00:49:23and they want to try and do the best.

00:49:25So to me,

00:49:31one of the things

00:49:32that is really fulfilling

00:49:33as a politician

00:49:34is when you get stuff done.

00:49:37When you achieve things,

00:49:38when you improve people's lives,

00:49:40and that must surely trump...

00:49:42It is a really selfish position

00:49:44to say I'm going to do this

00:49:45for my own benefit.

00:49:47And those known principles,

00:49:49I think they are,

00:49:51put out those principles

00:49:52by which politicians should behave

00:49:55and they should be held to account

00:49:56and they should have

00:49:57the most severest consequences

00:50:00if they do not hold to those principles.

00:50:02Because people are putting their trust in you.

00:50:05And I will always hold your trust.

00:50:10And integrity in politics.

00:50:15I think we can honestly say

00:50:18all four of us,

00:50:19I think we're fair.

00:50:22You don't know who you're voting in.

00:50:24You don't really know us.

00:50:27But you do hope

00:50:29that you're going to vote

00:50:30somebody in who's fair.

00:50:31But you might take somebody

00:50:32on as a job at work

00:50:34or in the nursing

00:50:35or at the post office.

00:50:36And they might not turn out

00:50:38to be how you want them to be.

00:50:40You just have to look at the person,

00:50:43hope we're fair.

00:50:44I think all four of us are fair

00:50:46and I hope we play by the rules.

00:50:50But yes, politicians

00:50:51should be held to account.

00:50:53It shouldn't be brushed under the carpet.

00:50:56And if any of you all do

00:50:57get to Westminster,

00:50:59don't be like the schoolyard

00:51:01or as though you're all in the zoo.

00:51:03I think we all need to just

00:51:04come down to brass tacks,

00:51:06work for the people

00:51:07and stop trying to get

00:51:08points off each other.

00:51:09Tom, do you have any views on

00:51:14integrity in politics

00:51:15and its importance?

00:51:17I think it's hugely important.

00:51:19And one of the sad things

00:51:21the last 14 years has been

00:51:23the decline in standards.

00:51:25And because when you start

00:51:26to accept low standards yourself,

00:51:27you start to accept it

00:51:28from everyone else as well.

00:51:29And that's when regulators

00:51:32start regulating

00:51:33and so it starts flowing.

00:51:34To give you an example,

00:51:38it has to be about

00:51:39service before self.

00:51:40It has to be about

00:51:41constituency before career.

00:51:43It has to be about

00:51:44country before party.

00:51:46So it's not just the

00:51:47integrity of individuals,

00:51:48it's the integrity

00:51:50of parties as well.

00:51:52I think we're overdue

00:51:54Labour's proposal

00:51:56for a statutory standard system

00:51:58for MPs and ministers.

00:52:00It's time that's bottom footing

00:52:02that can't be interfered with

00:52:03by party politics.

00:52:07One of the things for me is

00:52:09I've got two kids

00:52:10in this constituency.

00:52:11I don't want to give them a mess

00:52:14because we have a substandard MP.

00:52:18But it's not just on me,

00:52:19even if I'm elected,

00:52:20it's not just on me.

00:52:21It's not on the 649 other people

00:52:24in the House of Commons.

00:52:24It's not on the far too many

00:52:27currently in the House of Lords.

00:52:28And that's another thing

00:52:29we're going to address.

00:52:31It's on all of you as well.

00:52:33Hold us to account.

00:52:35Don't snipe on Facebook.

00:52:37Come round and tell us

00:52:38exactly what's wrong.

00:52:40Make sure that you turn out and vote.

00:52:42Now, by now,

00:52:43you might have decided

00:52:44you're going to vote for me.

00:52:45If so, please vote

00:52:46and tell your friends.

00:52:47By now you might have decided

00:52:48I'm the last human being

00:52:49who should ever go to Westminster.

00:52:52In that case,

00:52:53vote for one of these other people,

00:52:54not the ones who didn't turn up,

00:52:56because frankly,

00:52:56turning up is an important

00:52:57part of the job.

00:53:01And when you choose to vote for them,

00:53:08tell your friends,

00:53:09because this election

00:53:10might well be that close.

00:53:12So it's important.

00:53:14Voting is just the start of it.

00:53:15It's about being held to account.

00:53:18Read your local paper.

00:53:19I'm sure you'd like me to say that.

00:53:20I can't get grubby that easily.

00:53:24Read your local paper.

00:53:25We're having to fund people like Paul

00:53:27from bits of the BBC licence fee.

00:53:29Stop it now.

00:53:31Because there's not enough interest

00:53:34in what's going on locally and nationally.

00:53:37The electorate has responsibilities too.

00:53:40It's not down to any one of us

00:53:42if we're elected,

00:53:43because by now you've decided

00:53:44not to vote for the people

00:53:45who didn't turn up.

00:53:47It's down to everybody,

00:53:48because a better society

00:53:50doesn't start in Westminster.

00:53:52It starts in Wheatney.

00:53:54It starts in Wharton.

00:53:55It starts in Freckleston.

00:53:56It starts in Liverpool, St Anne's.

00:53:58It starts in Portland.

00:53:59On your street.

00:54:00It starts in your house

00:54:02with the way you choose

00:54:03to behave to other people,

00:54:05because you can set a standard

00:54:07that the rest of us have to follow

00:54:09from where you are.

00:54:10And done right, MPs should set

00:54:16a much higher standard

00:54:18from the apparently lofty heights

00:54:21of Westminster,

00:54:22but it's all of us together,

00:54:24because as some Prime Minister said

00:54:26before he decided to leave

00:54:28after a small inconvenience,

00:54:30we're all in this together.

00:54:32We really are.

00:54:3270 million of us in this country.

00:54:34We can all be part of the solution

00:54:36or we can all be part of the problem.

00:54:38I know which I choose.

00:54:49Has your party made that

00:54:51a harder task for you?

00:54:53Is it harder for you to get a hearing

00:54:54as a result?

00:54:55I think one of the things

00:54:57that's quite often amusing to watch,

00:54:59and which is why I don't partake in it,

00:55:00is from either of the parties

00:55:02when someone from the other party

00:55:04gets caught doing something

00:55:05they shouldn't have done,

00:55:07and then everyone piles on social media

00:55:09to try and score some points out of it.

00:55:10The press do some digging

00:55:11and it turns out someone

00:55:12from the other party's also been up to it

00:55:14and everyone ends up

00:55:15with egg on their face

00:55:16and politics looks poorer for it.

00:55:19So for me, actually,

00:55:20part of it is not about,

00:55:22it's about not getting involved

00:55:23in that mudsliding,

00:55:24that cheap swiping at individuals.

00:55:27Actually, sometimes how you treat people

00:55:28when they get something wrong in the day

00:55:30is actually more attestable

00:55:31to your character

00:55:33than it is when you treat people

00:55:35on the up.

00:55:36And for me,

00:55:38about integrity in public life

00:55:39is what drove me into politics.

00:55:42I started out as a candidate

00:55:44in district council,

00:55:45then I became a county councillor,

00:55:47then I became the police commissioner,

00:55:48and now I'm stood here today

00:55:50vying to be your next member of parliament.

00:55:53I've worked my way up

00:55:54from grassroots community politics,

00:55:56where actually,

00:55:57it's about whether the dog poo

00:55:59gets cleaned up

00:56:00and the potholes get filled in

00:56:01and you're dealing with the things

00:56:02that matter to people

00:56:04day in and day out,

00:56:06and not considering yourself

00:56:07to be this aloof, aloft,

00:56:10senior person

00:56:10who's dealing with things

00:56:12far more important

00:56:13than what matters to individuals.

00:56:15Like I said earlier on,

00:56:17I've knocked on,

00:56:18with my team,

00:56:19we've knocked on about 6,000 doors

00:56:20around Fylde now.

00:56:22I actually believe

00:56:23politicians often hide

00:56:25from the public too easily.

00:56:26You should be out there

00:56:27talking to the people

00:56:28that you serve.

00:56:29You can't go to Westminster

00:56:31and be claimed to be representing

00:56:33and be the voice of a constituency

00:56:35if you're not talking

00:56:36to your constituents.

00:56:38I would like to say, actually,

00:56:39that this has been

00:56:41a clean election in Fylde.

00:56:43It has actually been a pleasure

00:56:45to debate already tonight,

00:56:47but also throughout this election.

00:56:49The first time I met Anne,

00:56:50she gave me a massive pug

00:56:51and a glass of wine.

00:56:53And it has been

00:56:55a really clean election.

00:56:56And actually, for me,

00:56:58that is actually the key part of it

00:57:00that is on us as politicians.

00:57:01Yes, as individuals.

00:57:02I don't doubt the integrity

00:57:03of any of the people on this stage.

00:57:05I don't doubt

00:57:06that people are in it

00:57:07for the right reasons.

00:57:08But it's also on us

00:57:10to keep the discourse clean

00:57:11and to keep it about the policies

00:57:14and not about the people.

00:57:17And here's my colleague, Anne Gould.

00:57:19Thanks.

00:57:21Very specific question here

00:57:22on transport.

00:57:24Does each of the candidates

00:57:25think the train service

00:57:26in Lytham and Fylde

00:57:27more broadly needs improving?

00:57:29And if so, how would you sort it?

00:57:31I think you're getting

00:57:32a reading from the room.

00:57:34Anne, we'll start with you on that one.

00:57:36The train service in Lytham

00:57:37and Fylde more broadly.

00:57:40So, where do we start?

00:57:43So I have met with the people

00:57:45Tony Ford, who wants to get

00:57:48a link system sorted

00:57:50up at Kirkham.

00:57:52We are a tourist area.

00:57:55We want good rail links.

00:57:57However, when I spoke to these groups,

00:58:00they have been fighting for 10 years.

00:58:0310 years to get a good rail service

00:58:06on the Fylde.

00:58:07That was so depressing to me.

00:58:10So it has to be with National Rail.

00:58:14There was the other day

00:58:14I went to St Anne's.

00:58:16I was talking to a load of people

00:58:18and 90 children came

00:58:20from King Edward School

00:58:21and they were going to go to Preston.

00:58:23And they had to wait for three hours

00:58:25on the train station

00:58:26because they were all cancelled.

00:58:28So it's nationally

00:58:30that we want them to understand

00:58:32we're not a backwater.

00:58:33We want good rail links.

00:58:35We need to be able to get out

00:58:36to Poulton, Wheaton, Kirkham.

00:58:39We need them regularly.

00:58:41We need them not to be cancelled.

00:58:44I haven't got the answer to that.

00:58:46And I don't think anybody else has

00:58:47because it's been going on for 10 years.

00:58:49But I just hope whoever gets in

00:58:52fights for a rail,

00:58:54you know, that's affordable,

00:58:56that's clean and that's regular.

00:58:59And that's all I'm asking.

00:59:01I will fight for that.

00:59:02But how many years it will take,

00:59:04I don't know,

00:59:04because it's already taken 10 years

00:59:06and we're no nearer.

00:59:07Thank you.

00:59:08Tom, have you got a timetable

00:59:10for an improved rail services plan?

00:59:13I think it's two parts

00:59:14an improved rail service

00:59:15for South Farm particularly

00:59:17because of course,

00:59:18people in Poulton and Kirkham

00:59:19are also on the North Farm line.

00:59:22The plans for a loop line

00:59:24could double our service

00:59:25but they'd also provide

00:59:26some extra resilience

00:59:27if things go wrong.

00:59:28But a double service of cancelled trains

00:59:31is just twice as many cancellations.

00:59:34What we need to do

00:59:35is address the fact

00:59:36that Northern and in fact,

00:59:37most of the rail franchises

00:59:39since privatisation

00:59:40have failed to deal

00:59:41with issues of staffing

00:59:43except by posting a complaint.

00:59:48And what's happened with that

00:59:50is that we still have a system

00:59:52where Northern is trying to staff

00:59:54its Sundays from volunteers.

00:59:56Funnily enough,

00:59:57when England were playing

00:59:58the last Sunday,

01:00:00there was no rail service

01:00:01in the whole of the North West

01:00:02and indeed much of the North East

01:00:04for well,

01:00:05anyone really operates 8pm at night.

01:00:07I can't quite work out why.

01:00:11It's about bringing those franchises

01:00:13back into public ownership,

01:00:14back into public control.

01:00:16GB Railways,

01:00:17a conservative idea,

01:00:18I should say,

01:00:19but one we support

01:00:22is about getting people

01:00:23to understand railways

01:00:24rather than the Department for Transport

01:00:25who don't frankly,

01:00:27to start specifying the service

01:00:28and making sure that it's integrated.

01:00:30So you don't have to look for a situation

01:00:32where you get on a train,

01:00:33a long distance train

01:00:35and then discover

01:00:36that all the connections

01:00:37to Blackpool North and South

01:00:38have disappeared

01:00:39about five minutes previously

01:00:40because that's bad enough.

01:00:42It's about making sure

01:00:43there's no longer any incentive

01:00:44to post staff

01:00:45so we have the right number

01:00:47so we're actually able to run a service

01:00:48because the South Fylde

01:00:49is often the line that gets cut first

01:00:53and then we can look at

01:00:55better services from there.

01:00:56But let's deal with

01:00:57those fundamentals first.

01:01:00The other part of this

01:01:01is the power to franchise buses

01:01:02that we're going to give back

01:01:04to local authorities

01:01:06because a good rail service

01:01:07is only as good

01:01:09as your ability to get

01:01:10to the railway station

01:01:11in the first place

01:01:12and if we can integrate

01:01:13public transport

01:01:14right across buses and rail

01:01:16and indeed for those

01:01:18going to Blackpool Trans too

01:01:19then there is an opportunity

01:01:21for a better service

01:01:22and when you've got

01:01:23a more reliable service,

01:01:24not just a faster one

01:01:25but a more reliable service

01:01:27then you can start

01:01:28to extend your horizons

01:01:29because you can look at the jobs

01:01:31that are slightly further away,

01:01:32you can look at the days

01:01:34that are slightly further away

01:01:35and that's good for everybody

01:01:37in this constituency

01:01:39and when you've got

01:01:39a reliable service

01:01:40you can finally choose

01:01:42to leave the car at home

01:01:44because there is a realistic

01:01:46alternative for you

01:01:47and that's part of dealing

01:01:49with our move to net zero as well.

01:01:52So it's about the organisation

01:01:53of our rail companies

01:01:55not just the infrastructure

01:01:56of our current rail lines.

01:01:58Thank you, I appreciate that Richard.

01:02:00It's a very valid service

01:02:02for Fife and London.

01:02:04Absolutely, and some of these issues

01:02:06have been going on

01:02:06for well more than 10 years

01:02:08they're multi-government,

01:02:10multi-generational issues

01:02:12around investment in rail.

01:02:13I mean, I was when I was

01:02:14the Inventor of Highways and Transport

01:02:15at LCC we were asked

01:02:17to go to them and pretend

01:02:18to discuss transport strategy

01:02:21and the point I made

01:02:23was that it's no good

01:02:24improving the connectivity time

01:02:26to London by 20 minutes

01:02:27if you can't get a train

01:02:28from any of the regional railways

01:02:30reliable to connect you

01:02:31to high-speed rail.

01:02:33And actually my view

01:02:34has been all the way along

01:02:35on something that I have

01:02:36passionately advocated for

01:02:37all the way along

01:02:38is that actually the investment

01:02:40is needed in the east-west

01:02:42regional railways

01:02:43before it is needed

01:02:45in further expanding

01:02:46the high-speed rail routes.

01:02:48These are incredibly

01:02:50expensive projects

01:02:51and you can't do them

01:02:52all at once.

01:02:53They have to be staged

01:02:54all the periods of time.

01:02:56GB Rail is as Thomas highlighted

01:02:59is a conservative policy

01:03:01around looking at

01:03:02how the oversight of railways

01:03:04happens from the correct experts

01:03:06and make sure that

01:03:07the correct drive is there

01:03:09behind the railway strategy.

01:03:11But the investment has to go

01:03:12into regional railways.

01:03:14It has to make it easier

01:03:15for people to go about

01:03:17their day-to-day lives

01:03:18in a reliable way.

01:03:20The passing loop

01:03:21on the South Island line

01:03:22is absolutely critical investment

01:03:24and actually whilst it would

01:03:25probably be in the tens of millions

01:03:28it would not be in the grand scheme

01:03:29of how much rail costs

01:03:31that expensive a project

01:03:32for a more reliable

01:03:34and more frequent railway line.

01:03:36That would vastly increase

01:03:38the connectivity.

01:03:39We all know that there are

01:03:40major employers

01:03:41moving to central Lancashire

01:03:42in particular

01:03:43the new cyber headquarters.

01:03:45It is absolutely critical

01:03:47that people from Fylde

01:03:48particularly young people

01:03:50from Fylde starting their careers

01:03:52can access those

01:03:52highly skilled jobs

01:03:54that are moving into Lancashire

01:03:55and a reliable rail network

01:03:57will be absolutely critical to that.

01:03:59So GB Rail in terms of

01:04:01looking at the way

01:04:02the companies are structured

01:04:03and looking at the way

01:04:04in which railways are managed

01:04:06the investment I would want

01:04:08to champion here

01:04:09is around getting those

01:04:10half-hourly services

01:04:12on the safe Fylde line

01:04:14and then continued improvements

01:04:16across the rail network

01:04:17regionally before we start

01:04:19looking at the connectivity

01:04:21for an extra 20 minutes of speed

01:04:23between Manchester and London.

01:04:24And I know before anyone points about

01:04:25it's also about capacity

01:04:27but the capacity can manage

01:04:28and the regional railways

01:04:30hopefully generate more job ecosystems

01:04:33take the demand that the argument is

01:04:34you have to travel to London

01:04:36to get a high paid job.

01:04:38Andrew thank you

01:04:38and Mark can I leave it to you.

01:04:39Yes I do.

01:04:49Yeah I do know Tony Faulk quite well

01:04:52so I'm aware of the passing loop

01:04:56which as Andy said

01:04:57the inevitable scheme of things

01:04:59that's a relatively

01:05:00small investment really

01:05:01but I think as was also

01:05:03already been mentioned

01:05:04there's no point really

01:05:06putting that infrastructure in

01:05:08if you don't have the capacity

01:05:10within the rail network

01:05:12to run more reliably.

01:05:15So that clearly needs

01:05:16to be addressed as well

01:05:18and a part of the Liberal Democrats

01:05:19manifesto is to invest

01:05:23in our infrastructure

01:05:25extending electrification

01:05:26improve our stations

01:05:28and simplify ticketing.

01:05:32And it is that joined up

01:05:35transport option

01:05:36that people can have

01:05:38there's not just the

01:05:39cyber security aspects

01:05:40we've got BA systems

01:05:41we've got nuclear fuels as well.

01:05:46And the North West

01:05:48is really a vibrant

01:05:51attractive place

01:05:52for people to come to

01:05:53and so we have to build

01:05:55those transport networks up

01:05:56so we would also for example

01:05:59boost the bus services

01:06:00by putting them into

01:06:02local authority control

01:06:03so that they have some

01:06:04control over that franchise.

01:06:07So that's our overall context

01:06:08a joined up system

01:06:11but we also need to address

01:06:12the reliability issues

01:06:14around our trains.

01:06:16Mark thank you

01:06:16one more from me

01:06:18well they're all from you

01:06:18but one more

01:06:20put to the politicians by me

01:06:21before you'll be glad to hear

01:06:22it's over to you

01:06:24and it's on the issue of housing

01:06:26what are the plans

01:06:27for increasing affordable housing

01:06:29which is accessible to people

01:06:30who have a connection to files.

01:06:34Andrew start with you.

01:06:37I think the absolute key thing

01:06:39around house building

01:06:40is that it is done

01:06:41in a responsible way

01:06:43and the key thing for me

01:06:44is yes we need to build

01:06:45more affordable homes

01:06:46but we also need to protect

01:06:49our greenbelt across the file

01:06:51to make sure that we don't do that

01:06:52at the expense of countryside

01:06:54that once we have built on

01:06:56we can never get back

01:06:58and therefore the conservative strategy

01:07:00around freeing up more brownfield sites

01:07:02around looking at redevelopment

01:07:05of existing sites

01:07:06is what we need to absolutely back.

01:07:08There's been about 2.5 million homes

01:07:11being built since 2010

01:07:13so the number of homes

01:07:15that have been built is significant.

01:07:17The demand will always continue to increase

01:07:20as our population grows

01:07:22is another reason why I believe

01:07:25the immigration controls

01:07:26are correct as well

01:07:27because we've got to have the housing

01:07:30we need the infrastructure

01:07:31that we need as well

01:07:32and therefore I support

01:07:33the conservative manifesto

01:07:35around redevelopment

01:07:36of brownfield sites

01:07:37and the strategy around that

01:07:39because we have to do this

01:07:40in a responsible way.

01:07:41Just very briefly

01:07:42how can you ensure that

01:07:43affordable homes in suburb like Fylde

01:07:45are genuinely affordable

01:07:47to local people

01:07:47and haven't just got the affordable badge

01:07:50planted on them?

01:07:54And it is a fair challenge

01:07:55and that is why

01:07:56that they put the affordable homes

01:07:58shares into new development sites

01:08:00because at the end of the day

01:08:01the Fylde is a beautiful

01:08:03wonderful place

01:08:04and it is a desirable place

01:08:06and is therefore expensive

01:08:08and it's about striking that balance

01:08:10between making projects viable

01:08:12and about giving people

01:08:15the homes that they want

01:08:16because there are lots of people

01:08:16who want to move to Fylde

01:08:18and buy expensive homes as well

01:08:20so it's about doing it in balance.

01:08:23Mark I'm with you

01:08:24on this particular one

01:08:25the provision of affordable housing in Fylde

01:08:28is it an issue as you see it?

01:08:30It is, it's an issue

01:08:31not just in Fylde

01:08:32but it isn't right

01:08:33that people can live in housing

01:08:35that damages their health

01:08:37and what we would like

01:08:39is a fair deal

01:08:42is a fair deal for renters as well

01:08:44it's not just about home ownership

01:08:46it is about renting

01:08:48and we would immediately ban

01:08:51no-fault evictions

01:08:53with default three-year tenancies

01:08:56and a national register

01:08:58of licensed landlords

01:08:59that is one way

01:09:00to start to begin

01:09:02to address the rented area.

01:09:04We would also abolish

01:09:05residential leaseholds

01:09:07and the capping of ground rents

01:09:09to a nominal fee.

01:09:12I must admit

01:09:14it was probably a few years ago

01:09:16I first came across this

01:09:17canvassing a certain area

01:09:18where people were telling me

01:09:20that they kind of had the freehold

01:09:22that it was kind of leasehold

01:09:24and they could be charged

01:09:24for loads of other stuff as well

01:09:26really confusing

01:09:27just that overall

01:09:30residential leasehold

01:09:31should be abolished

01:09:32simple.

01:09:34And I think the other aspect as well

01:09:37around home building

01:09:38is house building

01:09:39is not for it to be done to you

01:09:42that I think communities must lead

01:09:46those developments

01:09:46and be a part of those developments

01:09:48so they are all cornerstones

01:09:49of what the Liberal Democrats

01:09:51would bring to housing.

01:09:54Tom can you tell me next on this one

01:09:56is it affordable housing

01:09:57in its current form

01:09:58fit for purpose in your view?

01:10:00Clearly not

01:10:01when people haven't moved away

01:10:03to afford a home.

01:10:05So what are we going to do?

01:10:07Priority for first-time buyers

01:10:10increased stamp duty

01:10:11for overseas investors

01:10:12who are stacking up homes

01:10:15as a simple investment opportunity

01:10:16denying them to people who live here

01:10:20holding local government to account

01:10:22on having properly consulted

01:10:23properly laid out local plans

01:10:26that pick the right locations for housing

01:10:28and then make sure

01:10:29that those locations housing are built in

01:10:32that additional stamp duty

01:10:33on overseas buyers

01:10:34will go to support

01:10:35more planning officers

01:10:36so that developers aren't able to ignore

01:10:39the conditions that are imposed

01:10:41by planning around affordable housing

01:10:43so that we actually hold them

01:10:45to account on that.

01:10:47We will scrap leaseholds

01:10:51everyone will have the freehold

01:10:52of their home when they buy it

01:10:53and four blocks of flats

01:10:54that would be commonholds

01:10:56so that instead of having to pay

01:10:58another company for your building

01:11:00it would be held in common

01:11:01with the other people there

01:11:03but the other thing

01:11:04Mark's alluded to

01:11:05is where your developer

01:11:08has signed a contract

01:11:10apparently on your behalf

01:11:11for maintenance services

01:11:12with opaque charges

01:11:14and you just get a whacking great bill

01:11:15for a bit of grass cutting

01:11:16and hedge trimming

01:11:18on common areas on an estate

01:11:20no that will be given into the control

01:11:22of people living on those estates

01:11:24and they will have the option

01:11:25to find a better supplier locally

01:11:28do it themselves

01:11:30what won't happen

01:11:31is they will not be tied

01:11:33into these contracts

01:11:34with often quite big companies

01:11:36who don't really care as well

01:11:38that's all about making

01:11:39housing affordable

01:11:40there's also social housing

01:11:42there has been too much

01:11:43to and fro on schemes

01:11:45for funding social housing

01:11:46I was talking to

01:11:47a couple of social housing providers

01:11:50the other day in Bolton

01:11:51they're building some new homes

01:11:52but what's the problem

01:11:54every time small pots of money

01:11:56that they have to go chasing

01:11:57all they need is some trust

01:11:58and some stability

01:12:00so that they know

01:12:01what they're doing long term

01:12:02they can bring forward projects

01:12:03and they can assemble land

01:12:05that will help affordability too

01:12:07with some of the products

01:12:08that they have

01:12:09to help people onto

01:12:11owning by rent to buy

01:12:13staircase and a number of other schemes

01:12:17that's all part of making it affordable

01:12:19but the other thing has to be

01:12:21that we deal with things like

01:12:23energy prices

01:12:24we make sure those are low and stable

01:12:26because the cost of owning a home

01:12:27aren't just the cost of buying it

01:12:29we need to tackle the cost of living too

01:12:32Tom thank you

01:12:32and I just like to hear the challenge

01:12:34of providing affordable housing as well

01:12:37Totally agree actually Tom

01:12:38with most things you said

01:12:41but we're filed

01:12:42everyone wants to live here

01:12:44so we're building houses

01:12:47but we're not planning

01:12:49we're not putting anybody to

01:12:50you know we're not

01:12:52the building houses

01:12:53the farmers are getting the fields flooded

01:12:56they're not doing it correctly

01:12:58another thing is

01:12:59they're not putting in

01:13:00infrastructure

01:13:02we're bringing all these people

01:13:03into the field

01:13:04we're not building any more schools

01:13:07we've no more GPs

01:13:08we've got less dentists

01:13:10so we're just making everybody come here

01:13:13without thinking about

01:13:14what we're doing

01:13:16I'm not too happy about

01:13:17over developing it

01:13:20we want our children

01:13:21to work in the field

01:13:23if they do

01:13:23and have affordable housing

01:13:26I'm not really happy about

01:13:27people having a second home

01:13:28use it as an airbnb

01:13:30not be used

01:13:31I just think the whole thing

01:13:33needs to be thought out

01:13:34as filed

01:13:35and how we are in file

01:13:37we're a small area here

01:13:39we're a beautiful area

01:13:40everybody wants to move here

01:13:42but we can't just keep

01:13:43building and building and building

01:13:45without any infrastructure

01:13:46but yeah Tom

01:13:47you've got that

01:13:48what you said

01:13:49at least I totally agree with you

01:13:51about all that

01:13:52but I'm not really happy

01:13:55about over developing

01:13:57I'm sorry if you don't agree with me

01:13:58I'm glad you're able to agree

01:14:01and now as I promised

01:14:02it is over to you

01:14:03so if you'd like to raise your hands

01:14:04anybody who's got a question

01:14:06that hasn't been asked through me

01:14:08or an issue that they'd like to raise

01:14:10just based on what you've

01:14:12you've heard so far this afternoon

01:14:13there's a lady just at the front here

01:14:15doing the question time bit here

01:14:17with my boss

01:14:17so I'm dodgy brown

01:14:19but yeah you've heard

01:14:23I'd like to ask the people up there

01:14:28what they have done

01:14:30on a voluntary basis

01:14:32to improve the lives

01:14:34of the people of the farm

01:14:37I'm not talking about your jobs

01:14:39I'm talking about voluntary work

01:14:42I told you the public

01:14:43asked the best questions

01:14:45I don't know who to go to first

01:14:47on this one

01:14:47I apologize in advance

01:14:48for picking Andrew

01:14:50well I'll answer that

01:14:51but I do think that's fair

01:14:53and fair on the boys

01:14:55who probably haven't lived here

01:14:57as long as me

01:14:59so I have done a lot of volunteering

01:15:01I was instrumental

01:15:02in building Parkview for You

01:15:04for the children of Lytton

01:15:06and I helped start Lytton in Bloom

01:15:09and I've volunteered on many things

01:15:13I'm always volunteering

01:15:14if it had anything to do with the youth

01:15:17I like to volunteer and do that

01:15:19but it's a great question

01:15:21because it's a great question for me

01:15:22because I've lived and worked here

01:15:24and done a lot of volunteering

01:15:25maybe a little unfair for the boys

01:15:28who don't actually live here

01:15:30so go on

01:15:31bang on it

01:15:32and what have you done?

01:15:35That was coming as it sounded

01:15:36and there was suspicion in the audience

01:15:39Tom

01:15:43I think what a lot of people have forgotten

01:15:44about this constituency

01:15:46including your own confirmation emails

01:15:48by the way

01:15:48it's not just Farm Borough

01:15:50it's also wire

01:15:52important

01:15:53Hello

01:15:54Hello Bob and Ben

01:15:55there you go

01:15:59I think you said five

01:16:01You did say five

01:16:01so let me tell you what

01:16:02I have been an enterprise advisor

01:16:05at a local high school

01:16:08helping to develop their careers provision

01:16:10for young people

01:16:11that was in fact in the wire file

01:16:13that was in Fleetwood

01:16:15and that was a huge opportunity

01:16:16to look at how we were giving young people

01:16:19more sense of the opportunities

01:16:21that they could have

01:16:22and it's why it's something

01:16:22that's really important to me

01:16:26however I also volunteered

01:16:27to help Fleetwood file

01:16:28well for seven years

01:16:29before I went full-time

01:16:30I was a Royal Air Force Reservist

01:16:32and that was all about

01:16:33defending the entire country

01:16:34the file is definitely

01:16:36very much part of that

01:16:46You certainly got us thinking there

01:16:48the current boundaries are filed

01:16:50I'll be straight with you

01:16:51I haven't done any voluntary work

01:16:53in the current boundaries of file

01:16:55but in the previous boundaries

01:16:56of filed in Alea and Cotton

01:16:58and I mentioned earlier

01:16:59how I represent that area

01:17:00and I'm right on the border

01:17:01of the precedent filed

01:17:03I have been a football coach

01:17:04I've also coached some boxing as well

01:17:08so they're the sorts of things

01:17:10I've done

01:17:12I think engaging youngsters

01:17:15into sport is a really fantastic way

01:17:18of building their character

01:17:19building their sense of teamwork

01:17:21and the teams that I coached

01:17:25weren't going to be sort of

01:17:28premier elite footballers

01:17:30but seeing them develop

01:17:31and in their confidence

01:17:32was really quite fulfilling

01:17:34so that's one of the voluntary things

01:17:36I have done in a former part of file

01:17:42I am not going to try and jump hoops

01:17:44and handle the backwards

01:17:45and try and sell a story here

01:17:47that would be disingenuous

01:17:49because it would go in the face

01:17:51of everything I said earlier

01:17:52about integrity and honesty

01:17:54and I believe that you should be

01:17:56honest with the public

01:17:58that you are seeking to represent

01:17:59I live in Lancashire

01:18:00a pro-Lancastrian

01:18:02my connections with the filed

01:18:03like I said go all the way back

01:18:04to when I was a wee young lad

01:18:06do I currently live in the filed?

01:18:07No I don't I live in Lancashire

01:18:10I would obviously move to the filed

01:18:12if I was elected

01:18:13very very much an area

01:18:15that I have loved

01:18:17and it's wonderful to see my son

01:18:19going around the parks

01:18:21and places I used to go around

01:18:22and do anything

01:18:22just to avoid watching my dad play cricket

01:18:26my volunteering work

01:18:27I have volunteered in many many different roles

01:18:29in many many different places

01:18:31including we used to do

01:18:33an odd aged pensioners Christmas party

01:18:35in our local pub

01:18:36where when I was the county council

01:18:38where I used to serve dinner

01:18:41to all of our pensioners

01:18:42to make part of it

01:18:43it was about tackling loneliness

01:18:45at Christmas time

01:18:46particularly people who had no one around them

01:18:48volunteered for key events

01:18:51with the Royal British Legion in the area

01:18:52around putting on events

01:18:54for our veterans

01:18:55to make different places

01:18:57to mark different points of history

01:18:59I've done all sorts of things over the years

01:19:01I used to fundraise for dairy and housing

01:19:03children hospice

01:19:04and a particular subject

01:19:05very very close to my heart

01:19:07due to family connections there

01:19:10and it's also about the role of a politician

01:19:13is about supporting the voluntary sector as well

01:19:15it's not just about the volunteering that you do

01:19:17it's about how you empower and support

01:19:18the voluntary communities that you support

01:19:20and I'm right here

01:19:21in the file as police commissioner

01:19:24a lot of the money that we

01:19:25the police used to seize off criminals

01:19:27used to go into different police pots

01:19:29to pay for different things

01:19:30the treasurer takes a 50% top slice

01:19:32as they do nearly every income stream

01:19:34any government's treasury can do

01:19:37but I decided that

01:19:39actually all of that money

01:19:40that was seized off criminal gangs

01:19:43was seized because it was a profit

01:19:44that was made by exploiting the people

01:19:47and areas of Lancashire

01:19:49it was made profit from selling drugs

01:19:52or using young kids to do drugs running

01:19:54it was made as criminal gangs

01:19:57that worked in areas

01:19:58and caused antisocial behaviour and violence

01:20:00it was about the way in which gangs

01:20:02use sexual violence to intimidate

01:20:06women into sex work

01:20:07got me slightly off topic here

01:20:09I'm going to get to the point

01:20:10the key point is

01:20:11that that money

01:20:13was made with the profits of criminality

01:20:16and I wanted to give that money

01:20:18back to the local community

01:20:19through volunteer community projects

01:20:22that can help rebuild communities

01:20:24that have been affected by crime

01:20:26but also divert kids

01:20:28and other people away

01:20:29from a potential life of crime

01:20:30so we gave around £86,000 in grants

01:20:33from that money seized from criminals

01:20:35to support community projects

01:20:36and community safety projects

01:20:37right here in the file

01:20:39thank you very much

01:20:40I'll get the next question

01:20:43I won't get the positive buzz

01:20:44what does the lady just on the end there

01:20:53can you tell me

01:20:54when you decided to stand as RMP

01:20:58and what was the most

01:20:59what was your motivation for standing

01:21:03okay to each of you

01:21:05start with Tom

01:21:13I don't know if there was an exact point

01:21:21my experience in public services

01:21:25all of them

01:21:25was that people often make bad choices

01:21:28because they had nothing

01:21:29but bad choices to make

01:21:31and that's not something

01:21:33you can change

01:21:34working in the organisation

01:21:36because too often that comes from policy

01:21:38so it's been

01:21:40in something that's been on my mind

01:21:43I think for a very long time

01:21:45probably throughout my entire career

01:21:46in different ways

01:21:49why did I decide to stand here

01:21:51well it was the constituency I lived in

01:21:54and I never thought

01:21:55that I would ever stand anywhere

01:21:56but the constituencies that I lived in

01:21:58it didn't become a constituency

01:22:00I lived in until the boundary changes

01:22:02which only came a little while ago

01:22:04so when did I decide to stand for filed

01:22:08when the boundary became such

01:22:10that I was in file

01:22:12but this is the area in which

01:22:17I've chosen in my life

01:22:18chosen to raise our children

01:22:20this is where she came from originally

01:22:28there was no great moment

01:22:29I went aha

01:22:30the answer is being an MP

01:22:31just a kind of dawning realisation

01:22:33that if you want change

01:22:35you have to go to the places

01:22:36where people change things

01:22:39and start from there

01:22:41but one of the key things

01:22:44is not that decision

01:22:48it's the decisions that come after

01:22:49if I'm elected

01:22:50and making sure I never lose touch

01:22:52with this constituency

01:22:53making sure I'm always informed

01:22:55by what you're telling me

01:22:56and what your concerns are

01:22:59so I remain from the filed

01:23:02and not off Westminster

01:23:07I can give you a date and a time

01:23:11it was the 1st of January 2024

01:23:15in a fabulous flat

01:23:16not far from Westminster

01:23:17with a group of friends from Lytton

01:23:20and I don't know

01:23:21it sounds exceedingly boring

01:23:22and I don't know why we did it

01:23:24but we decided to look at

01:23:25the voting history of our MP

01:23:29don't ask me why

01:23:30and I noticed that for four years running

01:23:32you voted to put untreated sewage in the sea

01:23:36and from that moment on

01:23:37I thought I have to do something

01:23:40so it was the 1st of January 2024

01:23:43and then there became a general election

01:23:45and I'm sitting up here

01:23:46wondering what am I doing

01:23:49but hopefully I just thought

01:23:51I've got to do it for the people

01:23:55I'm just a mum and a gran

01:23:57and I want to change things

01:23:59I don't think I want to be a politician

01:24:02but I would do my best if I got in

01:24:04but I just feel I couldn't have an MP

01:24:07that was voting to put untreated sewage in the sea

01:24:09so that's exactly why I'm a date and time

01:24:12thank you

01:24:13no thank you

01:24:14Mark

01:24:16maybe she owes you the cake

01:24:20such mutual support

01:24:21you're getting mics thrown at you

01:24:22that's right in the centre

01:24:25I'll answer first of all

01:24:26my entry into politics

01:24:28and then specifically filed

01:24:30so my entry into politics

01:24:32was quite late

01:24:32I was quite late in my 30s

01:24:34and it was during the time of Charles Kennedy

01:24:37I found him really inspiring

01:24:39I looked at what each of the parties stood for

01:24:42I liked what we were saying about

01:24:45the falsehood of the Iraq war for example

01:24:49I work in the local defence industry

01:24:52I've worked on file for almost 39 years

01:24:56and at the last election in 2009

01:25:00as quite a late candidate

01:25:02I was adopted as the candidate for file back in 2019

01:25:08this time we've made a campaign we can be proud of

01:25:15and I was adopted formally back in September of 2023

01:25:20so my reasons for being here

01:25:22I've worked here for almost 39 years

01:25:24and I wanted really to give the people of file

01:25:30that opportunity to vote for the Liberal Democrats

01:25:33and for the policies we have

01:25:35the values we hold

01:25:36to bring services closer to communities

01:25:39and invest properly in our NHS and social care

01:25:48I've been on the approved parliamentary candidates list

01:25:50for the Conservative party

01:25:52since just after the 2017 general election

01:25:56and I can give you a long positive history

01:25:58of my entry into politics from a decade ago

01:26:03with a question specifically about file

01:26:06first and foremost

01:26:08my family always come first

01:26:09I've been married to my wife for 10 years this year

01:26:12instead of 15 years

01:26:14we've got a little two-year-old called Walter

01:26:16I was having a little...

01:26:17Ann called me in the car park

01:26:18a little meltdown in the car

01:26:19because my wife had run in to let me know

01:26:21Walter had been sick all over the back of the car

01:26:24but family comes first for me

01:26:26and although I wanted to be a member of parliament

01:26:28I wanted to stand for the values of the Conservative party

01:26:32my wife and I made that pledge

01:26:33that we would not upend to anywhere

01:26:35that we do not have connections to an area

01:26:38that we don't love

01:26:39to an area that is not known to us

01:26:41and therefore having been on the Conservative party

01:26:44parliamentary candidate for 2017

01:26:46I have not stood in any other constituency than Highwood

01:26:50because for me it is about representing an area

01:26:53yes in a modern British political system

01:26:55people move from areas

01:26:56people move from jobs in all walks of life

01:26:59because they want to put themselves forward

01:27:01for the best person to do a particular job

01:27:04but for me in politics

01:27:06that's got to come with an affection and affinity to an area

01:27:09and therefore when I was no longer the police and crime commissioner in May this year

01:27:13and the final vacancy was advertised

01:27:15many people got in touch with me to encourage me to go for it

01:27:18my wife and I decided to take some time to think about it

01:27:23and it was a Saturday evening in May

01:27:26where the very first person I told I was going to find

01:27:29was my wife Caroline

01:27:30who has been wonderfully supportive ever since

01:27:32it's always been a very stressful time

01:27:33because we're living separately

01:27:35but I can't pay her a fine

01:27:37Don't worry, you're on the phone to me actually

01:27:39You've not told her that!

01:27:42I'm on the floor, it's done for

01:27:45I'll give you the pen

01:27:46and the evening takes an unexpected twist

01:27:50If we don't want to miss the people

01:27:52I'm going to come at the back there

01:27:53so gentlemen with this hand up

01:27:55just to the side of that there

01:27:58Good afternoon

01:28:00At midnight on Thursday

01:28:02we were aware of an altercation outside of our house

01:28:04where someone threw a bottle at our house

01:28:07What then happened was

01:28:09a young lady was under the threat of domestic abuse

01:28:13between my wife and I

01:28:14we were able to call 999

01:28:16and bring her into our house

01:28:18but she was in a very stressed position

01:28:20very upset, very ill

01:28:22It took just over two hours

01:28:26for the police to turn up to an emergency call

01:28:29At this time the young lady

01:28:32unable to stop herself

01:28:34harmed in our house

01:28:35stabbed herself

01:28:36We managed to get her outside

01:28:38We called 999, 111 a number of times

01:28:41She collapsed, convulsed

01:28:43and stopped breathing before the police arrived

01:28:47I really want to say that the police officer

01:28:49who passed us before

01:28:50said I'm very sorry I'm on another call

01:28:52I can't stop

01:28:54did save her life

01:28:55and the credit to the Lancashire Police

01:28:57and all of the blue light services is astonishing

01:29:00I work with the NHS

01:29:02I totally respect the blue light services

01:29:04but for God's sake

01:29:06what would you do locally

01:29:07to make sure we have the effective blue light services

01:29:11we need

01:29:12A two hour wait for a young lady aged 21

01:29:15who is in considerable danger

01:29:17and could have died that evening

01:29:19is not acceptable

01:29:20and she did die

01:29:21she stopped breathing

01:29:22her heart had stopped

01:29:23police officer brought her back

01:29:25What would I ask ladies and gentlemen

01:29:26you do locally

01:29:28to make sure we have those blue light services effectively

01:29:31Thank you

01:29:32Mark, we're going to go to Mark first

01:29:38So in all of those sort of domestic abuse

01:29:42and mental health aspects as well

01:29:46the Liberal Democrats want to see

01:29:48specific trained people in those areas

01:29:51so that they can respond

01:29:53so that hand over

01:29:55the power to the police

01:29:57and to the police

01:29:58so that they can respond

01:29:59so that hand over of those with mental health issues

01:30:03so there is quicker response to domestic abuse

01:30:06because when it kicks off

01:30:07and I've seen it first hand

01:30:10down the street where I was

01:30:12and I've got to say

01:30:14I've not seen quite so many police cars in one area

01:30:19there was a kind of almost comical aspect to it

01:30:23fortunately no one was harmed

01:30:25no one's life was endangered

01:30:27as in circumstance you've just explained sir

01:30:30but I think that has to be the case

01:30:33where you have trained personnel

01:30:35within those blue light services

01:30:37who respond and prioritise those types of incidents

01:30:43Andrew, you're the obvious person for me to come to first

01:30:46which is why I didn't turn around

01:30:50Well first of all thank you sir

01:30:51for the way that you handled that situation

01:30:54that lady obviously owes an awful lot

01:30:56while she's still here to you

01:30:58and we should be proud of that

01:30:59and thank you for taking the time

01:31:01to thank the individual police officers

01:31:03for what they did

01:31:04because quite often in these circumstances

01:31:06the work of the individual officers

01:31:08the paramedic goes amiss

01:31:10and actually some of these officers

01:31:11I've had the privilege

01:31:13the last three years

01:31:13of attending the police bravery awards

01:31:16and the bravery of officers

01:31:17and the sacrifices they make are unbelievable

01:31:20local based policing for response times

01:31:22is absolutely critically important

01:31:25for the three years

01:31:26I was police and crime commissioner

01:31:27we increased significantly

01:31:29the number of officers

01:31:31in the area district

01:31:33neighbourhood and response teams

01:31:35so there were a number of areas in Lancashire

01:31:37that were operating

01:31:39what was called the hybrid model

01:31:40which basically meant there weren't enough officers

01:31:43in this effectively

01:31:44what are the smaller

01:31:45and less demand areas for policing

01:31:47we are privileged to be living

01:31:50and talking about

01:31:52Fynd which has some of the lowest crime rates

01:31:55in Lancashire

01:31:57however that does not mean

01:31:58that Fynd does not deserve

01:32:00the basics

01:32:01and does not pay for

01:32:02through the precept

01:32:03the basics of policing services

01:32:06and they were not there in place

01:32:08so making sure there was an open police station

01:32:10that people can go to

01:32:11but equally making sure that

01:32:12a significantly increased number of officers

01:32:14were based from Kirkham

01:32:16was absolutely critically

01:32:18part of that work

01:32:19that I did as police and crime commissioner

01:32:21two hours is not an acceptable wait time

01:32:23in those circumstances

01:32:25having been police and crime commissioner

01:32:27for three years

01:32:28I have learned the hard way

01:32:30that it is not right

01:32:31to just to take judgment

01:32:32on individual cases

01:32:34because until you go away

01:32:35and look at it

01:32:36and deal

01:32:37want to know what else

01:32:38the police were dealing with

01:32:39at that moment in time

01:32:40I think it's very difficult

01:32:41to provide a specific answer to the case

01:32:43but for me

01:32:44local policing

01:32:46in each of the districts of Lancashire

01:32:47has been something that I've invested

01:32:49millions in already

01:32:50as police and crime commissioner

01:32:51and is something I would continue to advocate

01:32:54all of the main parties

01:32:55have pledged more police officers

01:32:57in their manifestos

01:32:59and I would continue to advocate

01:33:00that that goes towards making sure

01:33:02that response times are cut

01:33:04by local police officers

01:33:06Tom do you have a very specific question?

01:33:11First of all I was talking earlier about

01:33:13it being on everyone

01:33:15to make society better

01:33:17and there's a great example

01:33:19of being presented

01:33:20with a very difficult choice

01:33:23a very difficult situation

01:33:24and doing the right thing

01:33:27it's very easy sometimes

01:33:28to just lock your doors

01:33:30and hope the problem passes on by

01:33:33so thank you very much

01:33:37I was talking even more recently

01:33:39this evening

01:33:40about people being forced

01:33:42into a number of bad choices

01:33:45and not being able to make a good one

01:33:47and police response comes down

01:33:49to having enough police officers

01:33:51to respond first of all

01:33:52and that's why Labour is planning

01:33:54to have 13,000 more police officers

01:33:57and police and community support officers

01:33:59because we need more people out there

01:34:02to answer those calls

01:34:04when it comes to domestic violence

01:34:06what we need is more specialists

01:34:08too often it's an area that is neglected

01:34:11too often frankly

01:34:13violence against women especially

01:34:15is an area that's too often neglected

01:34:18not just in case of domestic violence

01:34:20so we are going to have

01:34:21domestic violence specialists

01:34:22in police call centres

01:34:25so that they can get across those calls

01:34:27and make sure that they're being given

01:34:28the priority they need

01:34:32it goes further though

01:34:33it goes to making sure

01:34:34that those who perpetrate domestic violence

01:34:37are dealt with properly

01:34:38we are going to have specialist units

01:34:40that will do that

01:34:42when we have more officers

01:34:44and it's also about making sure

01:34:45that we are prosecuting these cases

01:34:48effectively as well

01:34:50because too often

01:34:51perpetrators when they are brought

01:34:52into a courtroom

01:34:54don't see the inside of the cell

01:34:55and that has to stop

01:34:57we need to do more to protect women

01:34:58in our society

01:35:04I also believe there needs to be training

01:35:07on the people that actually take the call

01:35:09they need to be trained

01:35:10they need to know how to triage correctly

01:35:13it's no good sending an ambulance

01:35:15to a repeat offender

01:35:16who keeps calling five times a day

01:35:19and then nobody can get an ambulance

01:35:20to somebody who really needs it

01:35:22we need more rapid response

01:35:24we need community policing

01:35:26but training needs to come

01:35:28from those people

01:35:29that are actually on the phone

01:35:31who can realise that it is an emergency

01:35:34and get that ambulance

01:35:35and the police there

01:35:36it's no good being in a list waiting

01:35:40or while they've gone to see

01:35:41the chap who's got his finger

01:35:43because that does work

01:35:44that does happen

01:35:44my friend's a paramedic

01:35:46and it's absolutely frustrating

01:35:48so I would definitely put more training

01:35:49into people that are going to triage

01:35:52community policing

01:35:54so they can get there on time

01:35:55and more rapid response

01:36:08My question is just for Mr Calgary

01:36:10if that's okay

01:36:12I am a lifelong Labour supporter

01:36:14I've lived on the fire for 20 years

01:36:17so that's quite depressing for me

01:36:19as a Labour supporter

01:36:22but what I want to know is

01:36:24I think we all know

01:36:25regardless of our feelings on politics today

01:36:28and what party we support

01:36:29there's little doubt that on Friday

01:36:32we're going to wake up to a Labour government

01:36:36so what I want to know Mr Calgary

01:36:38is what are you doing

01:36:40to ensure that people

01:36:42who could potentially split the vote

01:36:44by voting for the other candidates

01:36:46with no disrespect meant

01:36:49what are you doing to make sure

01:36:51they vote for you on Thursday?

01:36:58I'm working with some of the

01:36:59tactical voting sites

01:37:02and the other thing you may have seen

01:37:03at my local theatre

01:37:04just come through your door

01:37:05is I am very clear

01:37:07that if people lend me their vote

01:37:10and in this constituency

01:37:11if I win

01:37:12it will be a number of people

01:37:13lending me their vote

01:37:14certainly Liberal Democrat supporters

01:37:16quite probably Green supporters

01:37:18indeed probably a few people

01:37:19who would consider themselves

01:37:21lifelong Conservatives

01:37:22may choose to do that as well

01:37:26my responsibility

01:37:27to all of those people

01:37:29is to make sure that that loan

01:37:30is repaid with interest

01:37:32and if I see that tactical vote pattern

01:37:34in the votes I get

01:37:35again if I win

01:37:37and then I will ensure

01:37:40that I work with local representatives

01:37:42from all parties

01:37:44and independents as well

01:37:46so that we all can work together

01:37:49to do the best

01:37:50for this constituency

01:37:53and the people in it

01:37:56and there's a lot of people

01:37:58keep telling me I'm going to win

01:37:59and I'm a bit sick of it to be honest

01:38:02because I don't take that result for granted

01:38:04and the reason I don't take that result

01:38:07for granted is one

01:38:09actually you've all got your own minds

01:38:12and some of them haven't been made up yet

01:38:15I don't believe that national swings

01:38:18necessarily do it

01:38:19but the main thing is this

01:38:20if I stop for a moment at this stage

01:38:22and take you for granted

01:38:24what the heck will I be like as an MP?

01:38:27because I'm I'm not dissing for this role

01:38:29at the moment

01:38:29I've got my suit on

01:38:30because this is a job interview

01:38:32I'll always work with everybody

01:38:36to support the people of this area

01:38:39because that's the right thing to do

01:38:42and if you lend me your vote

01:38:44I will ensure you do not regret it

01:38:46and if you start to regret it

01:38:47come find me and tell me why

01:38:49I appreciate that as a policy specific person

01:38:53that was a very indiscriminate

01:38:55and just a couple of lines of what to say

01:38:57so that was a very indiscriminate

01:39:00and just a couple of lines of what to say

01:39:02what you're doing to persuade people to vote for you

01:39:04or you can tempt me to squeeze another question

01:39:06and instead of going through that

01:39:08another question?

01:39:09very fair

01:39:10lady down at the front right here

01:39:18hi

01:39:20as the previous lady

01:39:21I am a lifelong Labour voter

01:39:23who's going into this election

01:39:24extremely undecided

01:39:26based on Labour's support

01:39:29for the ongoing Gaza crisis

01:39:32and I know this is a local debate

01:39:34but I do feel as a constituent of this area

01:39:37and as a humanitarian

01:39:39and as what you said before Mr Carver

01:39:41we need to be united

01:39:43hate breeds hate

01:39:44and we've seen that a lot

01:39:45with the member who's not here

01:39:48not present at the party that they represent

01:39:50but I would just like to know your opinions

01:39:52especially you Anne

01:39:53as a former

01:39:54oh as a nurse

01:39:55you know

01:39:55you swear a pledge

01:39:57to serve humanity

01:39:59and I would like to know

01:39:59what you would do going forward

01:40:01I'm really disinterested

01:40:02in what conservatives have to say on this matter

01:40:04because we've seen for the last nine months

01:40:06that Israel is their master

01:40:08but I would like to know

01:40:09what your view is on that now

01:40:12I'm afraid you've just guaranteed

01:40:13we're going to hear from the conservatives

01:40:14after that

01:40:15that's fine

01:40:16but Anne we'll start with you

01:40:17sorry

01:40:17so this is perfectly true

01:40:19my husband's best friend

01:40:21lives in Palestine

01:40:23he's a Palestinian

01:40:24I do have Jewish friends

01:40:27you know

01:40:27we live in St Isaac

01:40:28I have very very good Jewish friends

01:40:31however

01:40:32you are so right

01:40:33it's a humanitarian crisis

01:40:36I want peace

01:40:39I just want peace

01:40:40we want to end it now

01:40:42same with Ukraine

01:40:44it has to be the same with Ukraine

01:40:45we can't just think about Israel and Gaza

01:40:48however

01:40:48it's humanitarian

01:40:50we're all humans

01:40:52Reform UK

01:40:53sorry

01:40:54you know

01:40:55immigration

01:40:58we can't even

01:40:58we've got to think about that as well

01:41:00I am totally

01:41:02for a total ceasefire and peace

01:41:06Tom your question

01:41:07Derek if you want to do so

01:41:08away you go

01:41:09absolutely

01:41:10I share my partner's position

01:41:11which is an immediate ceasefire

01:41:12for humanitarian reasons

01:41:14and a two-state solution

01:41:15with a secure Israel

01:41:16and a secure Palestine

01:41:17living alongside each other

01:41:19that is very difficult to achieve

01:41:21from where we are at the moment

01:41:22but it is always an aspiration

01:41:24that we should have

01:41:25and it's an aspiration we should have

01:41:26for one very simple reason

01:41:27one it was agreed

01:41:29and two

01:41:31however much extremists

01:41:33and there are extremists on all sides

01:41:35however much extremists

01:41:37think they can murder their way

01:41:38to what they want

01:41:40we must not waver in saying

01:41:43that what has been agreed

01:41:44is what will be delivered

01:41:46a secure Israel

01:41:47a secure Palestine

01:41:49next to each other

01:41:50but first the killing needs to stop

01:41:52and that is a matter

01:41:54for the Israelis

01:41:55and for those controlling Palestine

01:41:57and asked especially

01:41:58who knew exactly

01:41:59what they were doing

01:42:00when they launched these attacks

01:42:02they knew exactly what would happen

01:42:04they have peddled hate

01:42:05and they've been supported

01:42:06in doing that by other countries as well

01:42:09enough

01:42:10children are dying

01:42:12enough

01:42:14so I'm just very briefly saying

01:42:15if you know that it takes

01:42:17a few more times

01:42:18to get to a position of a ceasefire

01:42:20and if it didn't get there quickly

01:42:21your party took a few somersaults

01:42:23your party took a few somersaults

01:42:25to get to a position on the ceasefire

01:42:26it didn't get there immediately

01:42:28and certainly not as quickly as

01:42:30as many people wanted

01:42:33what about the hostages

01:42:34nobody's mentioned the hostages

01:42:35that are still there

01:42:36they have to go home as well

01:42:38it's it's a solution

01:42:39that has to be for everybody

01:42:40absolutely

01:42:41how do you get

01:42:42how do you advocate

01:42:43getting the hostages

01:42:43well they're bombing

01:42:44well can we just

01:42:45just let just

01:42:46we can just let them

01:42:47answer the first question first

01:42:50a ceasefire has to include

01:42:51the return of people

01:42:53obviously

01:42:54in terms of my party's position

01:42:56yeah we took a lot of getting there

01:42:58it's not our fires down

01:43:00by any stretch of the imagination

01:43:03okay

01:43:05I think we should be

01:43:07more prepared to take positions

01:43:09on this

01:43:09and on other matters

01:43:11faster

01:43:12on the whole

01:43:13I think we have a leadership

01:43:14that is quite decisive

01:43:15on these things

01:43:15I don't know why they're waiving on that

01:43:17my job if elected

01:43:18is to make sure they make

01:43:19the right decision faster

01:43:21and just use the conservatives

01:43:23and their closeness to Israel

01:43:26which was

01:43:26it might be

01:43:27in my opinion

01:43:28but in a country of free speech

01:43:30other people are

01:43:31and have a right to hear it

01:43:32and I don't believe

01:43:38you know at the end of the day

01:43:39I don't believe Israel

01:43:40are our masters

01:43:41I think that's one way of

01:43:44peddling conspiracy theories

01:43:45and alternative truth

01:43:47that exists online

01:43:48Israel is an ally of the UK

01:43:51and we have risen to respond

01:43:53to the defense of an ally

01:43:55of the United Kingdom

01:44:02and as Tom highlighted

01:44:04Hamas is a terrorist organization

01:44:07that started

01:44:08an infiltration into Israel

01:44:11murdered civilians

01:44:12and you full well

01:44:13what would happen

01:44:14in retaliation to that

01:44:15and shielded behind

01:44:16the civilians of Palestine

01:44:19once the Israeli military happened

01:44:22Hamas is a terrorist organization

01:44:24we don't negotiate with terrorists

01:44:25end of

01:44:36thank you very much indeed

01:44:37Mark your thoughts

01:44:38on the original question

01:44:39and also the issue of

01:44:41Israeli hostages

01:44:42yeah so the attacks

01:44:45on the 7th of October

01:44:46absolutely horrendous

01:44:47I don't think there's any debate

01:44:48about that

01:44:49Hamas are a terrorist organization

01:44:51and yes

01:44:52that needs to come to an end

01:44:55and yes Israel has a right

01:44:56to defend itself

01:44:58but it feels really uncomfortable

01:45:02seeing so many

01:45:03innocent Palestinians

01:45:05not all Palestinians are terrorists

01:45:06so many innocent Palestinians

01:45:09slaughtered basically

01:45:13there is a real humanitarian

01:45:15crisis there

01:45:17the Liberal Democrats

01:45:18I think were quite fast

01:45:19to say they wanted

01:45:20an immediate ceasefire

01:45:22and they would recognize

01:45:23a two-state solution

01:45:24with Palestine

01:45:25back to the 1967 borders

01:45:30that is all very fine

01:45:31for me to talk about

01:45:32up from a stage

01:45:33at the Louvre Pavilion

01:45:35it's on the ground

01:45:38making that happen

01:45:40so I think what Israel needs to

01:45:42to recognize

01:45:47is the international outrage

01:45:48about the extent to which

01:45:50they have basically bombed Gaza

01:45:54and I think the West

01:45:56and this might become

01:45:57a little bit

01:45:59I think the West

01:46:02the whole situation

01:46:03of Israeli settlers

01:46:05going into the West Bank

01:46:06and if you see a map

01:46:08of Palestine

01:46:09back to the 1967 borders

01:46:11and you see a map of it now

01:46:13it's a bit like a cheese

01:46:14with lots of holes in it

01:46:15where all the settlers have gone

01:46:17and there has to be sanctions

01:46:18against those

01:46:20peoples and settlers

01:46:21going into the West Bank

01:46:22and you have to restore

01:46:23the 1967 boundaries

01:46:25for Palestinians

01:46:27and Israelis

01:46:28to live together

01:46:30and on the hostages?

01:46:31oh sorry

01:46:31in the hostages

01:46:32that's a bit of a problem

01:46:33the hostages

01:46:35as part of that

01:46:36immediate ceasefire

01:46:37that has got to be a part

01:46:39of that ceasefire arrangement

01:46:42Tom?

01:46:45if you didn't get a chance to

01:46:46to answer that

01:46:47I think I did answer that

01:46:48and I say

01:46:48yeah I apologize

01:46:49I apologize

01:46:50too busy for

01:46:51yeah I apologize

01:46:53and Anne?

01:46:54oh yes sorry

01:46:55I think I did say

01:46:56if the hostages were released

01:46:58with a ceasefire

01:47:00immediate ceasefire please

01:47:02thank you very much indeed

01:47:03one more

01:47:04and we will go

01:47:06for somebody at the back

01:47:07surely there's somebody

01:47:08at the back now

01:47:09lady just on the

01:47:10just behind you

01:47:11just there

01:47:12right

01:47:14if it's quick

01:47:15we might get one more in

01:47:16I'm getting

01:47:17daggers from the front here

01:47:19do you support

01:47:20the right

01:47:21for demonstrations

01:47:22and protests?

01:47:23and the reason I ask that

01:47:25is that at Preston

01:47:25you rode the fracking site

01:47:27the police present

01:47:28was very heavy-handed

01:47:30100 police

01:47:31dragged in

01:47:31all over the country

01:47:33and last week

01:47:3427 people

01:47:35were arrested

01:47:36on suspicion

01:47:37that they were planning

01:47:38a just stop war event

01:47:40so if people

01:47:41the wind farm

01:47:42starts the infrastructure

01:47:43in the wrong place

01:47:45can we go and demonstrate

01:47:46or will we be arrested

01:47:48over our cornflakes?

01:47:50very specific question

01:47:51absolutely

01:47:52absolutely

01:47:54because we've said that

01:47:55when I met Amy

01:47:56the groups of the wind farm

01:47:58we're going to protest

01:47:59and we're going to walk

01:48:00to Westminster

01:48:01peaceful protest

01:48:02we're a free country

01:48:04free speech

01:48:05we must protest

01:48:09anyone else on this?

01:48:14yeah absolutely

01:48:15we live in a free

01:48:17democracy

01:48:18where protest

01:48:19is a part

01:48:20of the way that people

01:48:21can express their views

01:48:22I'll put a slight caveat to that

01:48:25I particularly remember

01:48:26there was a stop oil

01:48:28protest

01:48:30across the roads

01:48:31that stopped some emergency services

01:48:33getting to

01:48:34a particular case

01:48:37I think

01:48:37yes

01:48:38peaceful protest

01:48:40but

01:48:40impinging emergency services

01:48:43slightly different issue

01:48:46but

01:48:46I don't think that should cloud

01:48:48the fact

01:48:49that people have the right

01:48:50to protest

01:48:52however inconvenient it is

01:48:54Andrew the right to protest?

01:48:57unqualified?

01:48:58for you?

01:48:59absolutely not

01:49:00whilst I was police commissioner

01:49:01I don't believe anybody

01:49:02was arrested over cornflakes

01:49:04but for protesting

01:49:05for me it is

01:49:06absolutely

01:49:07about the right

01:49:08to free speech

01:49:09and about the right

01:49:10to be able to protest

01:49:11against something you don't

01:49:12but if you cause

01:49:13absolute carnage

01:49:14on the road network

01:49:15how can you discriminate

01:49:17between

01:49:17what is holding up

01:49:18an ambulance

01:49:18a mile down the road

01:49:19and what is

01:49:20just a mile of traffic

01:49:22I'm actually on the side

01:49:23of a lot of working people

01:49:24who for the vast majority

01:49:25of it

01:49:25want to go about

01:49:26their daily base

01:49:27they just want to get on

01:49:28with their lives

01:49:28they want to be able

01:49:29to do the things

01:49:30to earn the money

01:49:30and put the bed and bacon

01:49:31on the table

01:49:32and therefore yes

01:49:34peaceful protest

01:49:35absolutely

01:49:36but being able

01:49:37to disrupt

01:49:38entire communities

01:49:39cause harm

01:49:40to people's businesses

01:49:41disrupt emergency services

01:49:43absolutely not

01:49:50peaceful protest

01:49:51yes

01:49:52sometimes disruptive

01:49:53I think it can be acceptable

01:49:55but it is on protesters

01:49:57to do that

01:49:57in a responsible way

01:49:59and if you are starting

01:50:00to hold up ambulances

01:50:02if you are damaging businesses

01:50:03then you are no longer

01:50:04being responsible

01:50:06but it is absolutely

01:50:07a part of our democracy

01:50:08that people have the right

01:50:10to express themselves

01:50:11they have the right

01:50:12to say that the decisions

01:50:13being made by the people

01:50:14in power are wrong

01:50:16and when governments

01:50:18start to restrict those rights

01:50:19you need to be

01:50:20very very careful

01:50:22of what that law means

01:50:23and what the unintended

01:50:24consequences

01:50:25of it might be

01:50:28peaceful protest

01:50:29always

01:50:36Hi, so my question

01:50:40is actually specifically for Ann

01:50:42Ann I do think

01:50:42you've spoken very well

01:50:43and you seem to have agreed

01:50:44on a lot of issues

01:50:46with Tom

01:50:47you mentioned

01:50:47you're against sewage spills

01:50:49you oppose the

01:50:50Morphine Wind Farm

01:50:51Caitlin route

01:50:52you believe the NHS

01:50:53is underfunded

01:50:54you're anti-fracking

01:50:55you believe in integrity

01:50:56you say everyone

01:50:57there is fair

01:50:58you agree with Tom

01:50:59housing

01:51:00however

01:51:01given that Fyler

01:51:02has never had an MP

01:51:04that isn't conservative

01:51:06and this is the first time

01:51:07in my life

01:51:08that we have an opportunity

01:51:09here

01:51:10to get an MP

01:51:11that isn't conservative

01:51:12the question has to be

01:51:14why aren't you

01:51:15throwing your entire

01:51:16support behind Tom

01:51:18and what is it about

01:51:21what is it about

01:51:22sorry just let me finish

01:51:23my question

01:51:23there's a second part

01:51:24oh dear

01:51:27because we have a chance

01:51:28to elect the second

01:51:29place candidate

01:51:30here potentially

01:51:31the odds tell us that

01:51:32it is a two horse race

01:51:34unfortunately

01:51:35what is it about

01:51:36the Labour party

01:51:37that you don't like

01:51:42so I'll tell you

01:51:43why I stood

01:51:44as an independent

01:51:46I do not want to

01:51:48follow the party whip

01:51:49I do not want to

01:51:51be told what to do

01:51:52I do not want to

01:51:53follow a party line

01:51:54I want to vote

01:51:55for the people of Fad

01:51:56and what they believe

01:51:58I don't think that

01:51:59the boys are going to

01:52:01vote against

01:52:01what people think

01:52:03what don't I like about

01:52:05Tom on Labour

01:52:09not a lot I quite like Tom

01:52:14but I don't want

01:52:16to follow a party line

01:52:18that is my main reason

01:52:20and if I'm perfectly honest

01:52:22I've never voted Labour

01:52:24I've always voted

01:52:25conservative

01:52:26no more though

01:52:26I'm sorry Andrew

01:52:28you're a delightful chap

01:52:29but I could never vote

01:52:30conservative again

01:52:32I don't think I can be anywhere

01:52:36so and I do think that is

01:52:38most people's views

01:52:40in Fylde

01:52:41they've been blue

01:52:42for god knows how long

01:52:44100 years maybe

01:52:45and it's very difficult

01:52:47to vote red

01:52:48I do understand that

01:52:49I don't know

01:52:51that's that

01:52:53when I've been canvassing

01:52:55when I've been canvassing

01:52:57that is what people have said

01:52:59I don't know why they think that

01:53:02it probably is money

01:53:04but I don't want

01:53:06to follow a party line

01:53:08that is my whole reason

01:53:10because that's so important

01:53:12I'm glad you did

01:53:14thank you

01:53:16anybody want to come back in

01:53:18with their very final reason

01:53:20seeing as I haven't had a bit

01:53:22of a free hit at the end

01:53:24if I could give some reasons

01:53:26as to why

01:53:28just maybe one Mark

01:53:31well one of the items

01:53:33I remember listening to

01:53:35one of the leader debates on channel 4 I was

01:53:37and Keir Starmer was asked the question

01:53:39how are you going to address the backlog

01:53:41of NHS waiting lists

01:53:43and his answer was

01:53:45to ask our doctors and nurses

01:53:47to work weekends and evenings

01:53:49no no no that is not the answer

01:53:51you need proper investment

01:53:53in the NHS and social care

01:53:55they need more doctors and nurses

01:53:57to support them

01:53:59the other aspect really key

01:54:01the elephant in the room is our relationship with Europe

01:54:03so

01:54:05that really

01:54:07addresses our economy

01:54:09so many aspects of our life

01:54:11the Liberal Democrats have said

01:54:13that we would want to build that relationship

01:54:15with Europe

01:54:17we would want with a view of

01:54:19entering the

01:54:21customs union

01:54:23that is not part of the EU

01:54:25Turkey sits outside the EU

01:54:27and the single market

01:54:29Norway is part of that

01:54:31it is not part of the EU

01:54:33now Labour have said

01:54:35they absolutely would not

01:54:37join those areas

01:54:39that whole relationship in building

01:54:41with Europe is a different

01:54:43discussion if you have different

01:54:45outcomes and aims

01:54:47Andrew

01:54:49your

01:54:51three hits as to why you agree

01:54:53I would say

01:54:55I should be debating with the person who is most likely

01:54:57going to take the most votes not me

01:54:59potentially in the election which is Reform UK

01:55:01they haven't turned up to debate

01:55:03they haven't turned up to take part in the night

01:55:05I have nothing further to say

01:55:07other than

01:55:09do you know just for the purposes

01:55:11of people who might be watching the webcast who didn't see it

01:55:13at the start the Reform UK candidate

01:55:15Edward Rubio says his apologies

01:55:17as a result of a pre-planned appointment

01:55:19clashing with this event

01:55:21and Tom finally to you

01:55:23let me address the European question

01:55:25we said we want a closer relationship with Europe

01:55:27absolutely we do, you work with your neighbours

01:55:29you don't throw stuff over the fence at them

01:55:31do I think

01:55:33this nation is ready to reopen the whole

01:55:35debate on Europe and the divisions that we

01:55:37saw, absolutely not, we've got more

01:55:39important things to be doing, do I think the EU

01:55:41is ready to do that, absolutely not

01:55:43they feel they've got more important things to be doing

01:55:45let's not be distracted

01:55:47by that as the process of joining

01:55:49the European Union, it would be join

01:55:51not rejoin, would be long

01:55:53retracted, it would come with a number of

01:55:55conditions you'd have to go through to counter country status

01:55:57and the Liberal Democrats

01:55:59are kind of bossing over all that

01:56:01but there will

01:56:03be a closer relationship

01:56:05when the country is ready for it, if they want

01:56:07to be in the customs union

01:56:09we need to respect public opinion

01:56:11in terms of

01:56:13whether

01:56:15supporters of other parties should vote for me

01:56:17I think I covered that earlier so I'm not going to take up too much

01:56:19of your time except to say this

01:56:21at the end of the day, vote

01:56:23vote with your conscience

01:56:25vote for the person

01:56:27you think will best represent you

01:56:29I don't really care if that's me

01:56:31one of these other people, or even

01:56:33some of you isn't here, that's also your choice

01:56:35but it's an important choice

01:56:37to make, there are people dying in Ukraine

01:56:39for the right to vote at the moment, for the right

01:56:41to pick their own government

01:56:4380 years ago there were people dying in Europe

01:56:45to protect our rights

01:56:47we need to do that

01:56:49and I think

01:56:51if there is one message I can leave you with

01:56:53it's not about me, it's not about Labour

01:56:55it's about this, you are a voter

01:56:57and if you do not vote

01:56:59what are you? That is your role

01:57:01in our great democracy

01:57:03and that is what you need to go and do

01:57:05for all of our futures

01:57:07Thank you very much

01:57:09On every note

01:57:11I would like to do the best I can to

01:57:13thank you for being here

01:57:15and for your presence

01:57:17on our panel

01:57:19last year was overshadowed

01:57:21and

01:57:23if you are ready to vote

01:57:25for next Thursday

01:57:27you will know a lot has changed

01:57:29in the last couple of hours

01:57:31thank you very much indeed for being a great audience

01:57:33and coming out and spending Sunday afternoon

01:57:35sitting in a teatown with us, when there might just have been

01:57:37something else you could have been doing

01:57:39Thank you, goodbye

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