In the run-up to the general election, we have asked each candidate to a hustings event for the Prospective Parliamentary Candidates Harrogate & Knaresborough
Present:
Andrew Jones MP – Conservative Party
Conrad Whitcroft – Labour Party
Tom Gordon – Liberal Democrats
Shan Oakes – Green Party
John Swales – Reform UK
Paul Haslam – Independen
they for e you I just didn’t want two mics to to interfere with can you move that one a bit jul is that all right the the other microphone will it not make any difference be all right make a start anyway I’ve got instructions from Julian how to hold the microphone and it’s like this isn’t it apparently um but i’ like to just welcome everyone to the to the hustings event um my name is Tim Cook and I run the arog former News website um and I’d like to just thank all the candidates for you know for making the time to come down to the to the first hustings event so what we’ll do is we’ll have introductions from each of the candidates and then we’ve got quite a lot of questions so we’ll try and move quickly through the through the questions um so could I start with Andrew to to give an introduction so either the Le or the microphone well good evening ladies and gentlemen and thank you to Tim for organizing this hustings is that better arold okay thank you right my name is Andrew Jones uh quick one minute introduction I’m originally from Mil went to school in Branford University in leads I’ve lived in harri for the last 25 years about about 200 me or so from the Odum Cinema I spent the first 25 years of my career in business primarily marketing did my last role commercial role was a sales and marketing director for better and tailor that marketing career saw me launch new brands new products export programs and new companies I served for two terms on harabar Council that included responsibility for the council’s resources Finance portfolio and in that time I paid back much of the council’s debts I also created the environmental initiatives fund and had a project to install ground heat pumps into offgrid Council houses and that was a UK first at the general election in 2010 I became Member of Parliament for this constituency and my priority ever since then has been this constituency and I think we have seen great progress more jobs more apprenticeships more investment in our Public Services new harrian high school a new campus for haran college two new operating theaters are being built at the hospital the old the trains have gone and New London Direct Services have arrived infrastructure and environmental issues have been at the heart of my activi as a member of parliament I followed that through for four years as a minister I’ve only ever sorts to represent here politics for me is extremely personal it’s about my home area my home area even better look forward to answering your questions thank you everyone for coming here tonight uh I’m honored beond word to be a candidate for this wonderful constituency my name is Conrad wira I’m a labor party member Crow trade unionist qualified project manager and a counselor the reason I’m here is simply because I want to see change since 2010 his constituency has joined the rest of the country facing an increasingly sometimes ludicrous braid of Tory failure in government now haret NRA must join the rest of the country in calling again for change real change that means a plan and a willingness to do what is right I believe that kiram as labor party has got the right Vision to take this country forward and with me as your labor candidate I hope to deliver on the plan for change now I believe that change can happen in places like this not least because exactly a month and two days ago something very different happened indeed the haret born small businessman David scap won the Mary of yorkland North Yorkshire and won in places around this County I know David well and I think har and N will be well served to have an MP that will work with our new mayor rather than be tempted to take part in party political points scoring against him as a candidate I know the value of Public Service during the pandemic I worked in Co recovery and deliver £9 million of Co grants to local businesses and residents and I’ve also been a Trade union rep and during cost of living crisis we’ve negotiated with our management at my workplace to provide a one-off payment of £1,000 to each of our lower paid employees which made a real difference to our employees pay packets I’m not a labor candidate just because of my values I see my values reflected back in the labor party the values of hard work and dedication to Public Service are putting your country first and doing the right thing I believe that labor has the right plan on Hospital waiting list to bring together an extra 40,000 appointments on education recruiting 6 and a half thousand new teachers on cleaning up our Rivers giving off what special new powers and I would just like to end by saying that I’m going to spend this campaign by talking the labor party and my policies up not talking my opponents down goodness knows we’ve had enough of mudslinging and negative campaigning over the years so whatever happens I’m always going to be talking about policies and principles not personal attacks I think think it’s time for a change I think we can have a fresh start with labor which delivers on the things that matter here in this constituency and I know that we can make this happen so I’m asking for your permission to make it so thank [Applause] you good evening everyone I’ve timed a minute so I won’t say much but uh my background is in education um I’ve spent my whole life concerned about injustic people and other animals now there’s also a terrifying climate crisis and an Extinction crisis our own Extinction if we don’t wake up there’s so much avoidable pain misery and destruction in the world and that’s why I’m doing this very challenging thing I’d never have thought I’d be a politician but I’ve been forced into it by desperation about the appalling effects on people and nature caused by political ideology things have just got worse and worse we used to things used to think things could only get better but now we know that’s not true look at some of the things we used to think were inalienable rights such as the right to peaceful protest now we’re threatened with arrest at the drop of a hat if it annoys someone we’ve seen it coming for decades greens stand for pretty much everything these Tories oppose like a supportive framework of Public Services that would be great wouldn’t it but we’ll be coming on to that shortly if we proport to be civilized this downward spiraling of nastiness has to stop and I believe the majority of people out there would agree so there is hope thank you thank you to [Applause] good uh my name is Paul hlin uh we’ve lived here in building in harag since 2006 we love the area uh I have my own business consultancy which I operate from here uh I talk about business change and personal change and a that paste in order to deliver projects I’ve been a counselor for buil n g since 2014 so I think that makes me having done two terms with har Council and two terms with North yorshire Council uh I’m standing as independent because this is my home and I want to make it better I’ve get this incredibly brief because I believe believe you have a lot of questions thank [Applause] you good evening my name is Tom G and I am the candidate of Li direct over the last two years and a bit we’ve been working really hard a fantastic group of local team of counselors volunteers and activists I was elected as a candidate in January last year and since then who spoken to thousands of people listening to the issues that matter most to you I got involved in politics not out of choice but because when I was at University studied my master’s degree in public health my M was diagnosed with breast cancer that turned our life upside down and for me one of the things that was really hard was that the safety that we’ve all been told there simply didn’t exist anymore for far too many people in their illness and lifethreatening illness they’re left to be by themselves I got involved because I want to see the change our country is meant to be one of the richest in the world yet when it comes to people in moments and need is simply not enough support that’s what motivated me to become political to get involved and stand for Council and [Applause] good evening everybody um man it will be a minute my name is John swes har born and breed um I love harri I love the area I love his culture his values and I’ve sense something’s gone wrong in the last few years I’m going need to pull the country back into the right direction I’ve got a background in corporate activity I’ve got an NBA from Big Business School the last 10 years I’ve my own private business I believe I’ve got we to get this back heading the right direction thank you is CLA Marshall um I’ll read out the question then so putting your national campaign aside what is the key thing you want to improve for harut and NB and we’re going to go randomly through the candidates can I Tom start is this all working oh it is fantastic um it’s the key thing um the key thing that has come up time time again and that has been a plank of our campaign is local Health Services uh I’ve been the one leading the hospital it’s absolutely scandalous that this is something that we’re having to campaign for in the first instance anyway every patient every member of Staff every local resident deserves a Health Service that is funded and able to solve the problems that they face in their time of need as mentioned Health Services is something that’s personal to me it’s the NHS is a wonderful institution that’s been chronically underfunded by the conservatives over the last decade now we have seen ulous promise for more doctors more nurses more GPS have failed to materialize in 2010 GPS when in reality the number of GPS who are currently working in the service is actually fewer than at that start point so for me the number one item on that list is the NHS and making sure it’s there when we need it I think the key priority for us over the next few years is going to be improving our Civic resilience that means improving uh Support Services support services including schools and health it also means improving our environment the next five years are going to be extremely challenging because we’ve seen Global uh politics deteriorate to such an extent that we’re seeing security challenges so resilience focused upon our environment looking after our own areas with strong Public Services working together to achieve that that will be my priority thanks D to me I think the starting point just about everything has to be representation for harut at the council table we need to have a har Council back so local people are deciding what happens in the town not as far [Applause] away thank you very much so I believe that the local issues that are most reflective particularly is regarding the water quality around the riv I think that labor has a plan to deal with that particularly on beeping up the Powers around ofwat it’s worth noting uh ofwat would block water company boss’s bonuses if they failed to clean their P to their mess uh in fact if labor been in power over the last Parliament uh six of the nine bonuses paid towards water bosses uh would have been blocked by off’s new powers now for me the local issues can only be resolved when you have a national government that is willing to do so as a local counselor I know that local uh Council Services have been severely cut I’m tired of being a local counselor and not being able to being powerless to help out local people when it comes to housing to health to all of the issues that we know are so important so I think having a strong labor government nationally the labor MP harag nbra will be a really important part in solving all of you to deal with thank you thank you yes um I would agree with most of those things um so rather than repeating I’ll bring in housing and also transport um housing we’re seeing far too much inappropriate housing not a not a solar panel in sight not a swift box or a bat box not enough Green Space roofs That Couldn’t support solar panels etc etc because of well handing glove at the behavior between the developers and government in my view um so they’re getting away with regul lack of Regulation which they shouldn’t be getting away with and transp of course we need far better bus services in West Yorkshire you can see they’ve actually brought the buses back into local government control and that’s a fantastic move it’s the sort of thing we should have been doing a long time ago I’ve been writing letters to the paper on this endlessly um yeah there hello yeah yeah air quality is a huge issue that’s obviously really important that we get that right we’ve we’ve made a few improvements like the bond end issue which Greens campaigned on um and at last North yire did something about it after decades Decades of messing about um so yeah with greens you get commitment thank [Applause] you thank you well um some very interesting things there a lot of which I’ve been involved with such as the nid ETC but what I’d like to start with is the cost of living I think the cost of living is hurting everybody right now and the the number one thing that bothers me is that there’s a nor South divide and that nor South divide means that at the moment we get about 30% less than the Metropolitan uh areas do for our services so that means we’re getting 30% less Services than than our equivalent in the in the urban areas in the cities and in the sound so that’s my first issue my second issue is that if we’re not getting good Services why are our Council taxes about 25% more expensive than they are in the south of the country we really if we really want to pull a quick switch that actually could help people with the cost of living then that’s where I think I’d be definitely be going and that’s the doors i’ going to be knocking on because without leveling up without putting more money into people’s pockets they can’t do other things they can’t look after uh the environment we need people to look after the environment it’s a big issue but the pressing issue right now is being able to put food on the table heat or eat so for me it’s very much about how what do we do to uh sort the cost of living out there are other issues transport if it’s public transport can we make that more affordable affordable hes there aren’t enough affordable homes in this part of the world and also making affordable gr which goes to shance point we need to make them so that they’re high standard and instead of costing 3,000 year in energy to run they cost less than ,000 so cost of living for me thank [Applause] you I’ve got one question from Thomas Barett do do you want to read it or do you want me to um Tom says should North yorshire Council allow haret spring water denome to extend its poling plant into the rotary wood and I’m going to sh to start thank you yes um I mean they they shouldn’t I’ve got some Leets here in fact we were down there in valy Gardens on Saturday um talk about that you and um also other issues around nature we had a nature table and so on people are very very rightly concerned about nature and our local nature as we’ve got in the Pinewood the wood planted by school children with the Rotary Club um those those trees should not be moved been planted and how a huge corporation like Dan own has the cheek has the gall to think that it’s okay to do that I I can’t understand it especially when they’re doing something like making well it’s plastic factory basically har could can harate be proud of producing plastic with a bit of water in it and of course also what what’s happening to the water underneath all the lack of water underneath that’s going into those bottles I’d like to know so I I’m very concerned about it and uh yeah I’ll pass this on to me next thank you very much uh for that question so I think that this arranged and complex question particularly when it comes to Vis with planning uh it is worth noting that MPS don’t get theide planning laws I’m a member of a planning committee myself that decision will be made of course by North Yorkshire Council and I’m sure that uh be thorough in their decision when it comes to things around Green Belt we don’t need to apologies we do also need to understand that there is there are some areas of the green belt that simply do not match green uh match up to being green there are areas like cars this car pars former industrial buildings and things that do make up the green belt I don’t think that we should sacrifice to build more homes that we need for young people in particular myself I’m a member of generation rent I find it really difficult by the time my father was my age he’d already bought his first home and and that just doesn’t really that does not feel like a realistic process uh Prospect for me when it comes to things like hhip be realistic about and understand that planning laws do need to be reformed so a wide point about the green belt um but as I say MPS do not get the chance to decide planning laws or planning decisions well I’ve helped plant trees right across our area and I want to see more trees planted and I don’t want to see trees removed uh so we should be looking at a significant net gain in our environment that should be the underlying principle when we approach planning decisions as Conrad just said we need to be very careful we do not politicize the planning process if a member of WS into a planning process you actually make it more likely that it will be approved rather than less likely uh that was a good bit of advice I got from Phil Willis some time ago and I’ve stuck with that ever since so let’s focus on that underly principle there is a case to be made that has not yet been fully made and that is by the applicant but the principle should be net gain enhancing measures thank you U I do apologize because I’m going to give you a straight simple answer No it should not I played with the PIR when I was small and I love the PS we take our dog walking through there we don’t be under their fact sticking inside the P so [Applause] no what said has already been said um what I look for is rather than just words as action and sat here um where myself and Shan who were actually speaking to um the hurri spring water when we were at the pin AGM when they came to take questions from members of the public and to me that’s how I would want to be as an MP someone who deals with actions not just words um I i’ been quite critical and quite vocal against the expansion of the site a lot of reasons people have already mentioned and whilst an MP can’t and shouldn’t necessarily try to wade into the planning process can you all still hear me perfect um whil itn’t necessar weighed into the planning process meeting with the key leaders in those businesses and trying to get the best planning application in the first is absolutely what any MP should be doing which is why like I say I’ve already been um you know I’ve had contact with Chief exec and Har spring Walter got a meeting in the diary with them and I think that’s more key trying to work with local businesses to offset these problems before they arise in the first instance but no in in the current application that’s currently in I think it’s um as said at that public meeting previously uh you know the bare minimum by har spr water to try and offset and its screen washing and not good [Applause] enough thank you I have to cave out my answer because I could be on the planning committee I currently do not sit on the planning committee however but but I am the counselor of nor C and also for this area what I would say is that uh Denon actually had very clear ESG polic en social governance policy uh that says that they do not want to do any harm or any uh any uh damage to the environment so I do I do struggle with this planning application and I would therefore say that again repeating what other people said here is that it’s it’s about talking to people it’s about negotiation it’s about coming down with what we believe is is the most appropriate answer we do have planning r rules in this country and we have to we have to follow those but a lot of the time we have to also engage and make sure that the arguments are fully Rebus and at the end of the day we’ve got to make sure that we get net gain from this whatever that looks like even if it’s just leaving it as it stands at the moment thank you um do we have Steve peston and and Luke with us Steve is is on here as well I think do you want to read your question now uh with many families struggling to make ends meet increased child poverty and greater inequality and the ever growing need for food banks and uh and with public services cut to the Bone do you agree that now do the perspective agree that now is the time for change if so what changes do they and their parties offer well I think the last few years have been real struggle for families we’ve had a series of Crisis uh with Co which was the biggest econom collapse in 300 years and leading straight into the war in Ukraine which gave us a giant price increase in energy so banies have definitely been struggling uh what we need to do is build up our economy to ensure we have the resilience to help people what does that actually mean to do that means more jobs but better jobs too our area now has more jobs than it has had previously our unemployment R here is 1.9% the best way to help people as you say put food on the table is to get them to good jobs so focus on skills focus upon having a friendly business environment I would just find like one key area and that is the national living wage that has come in and made a material difference it’s been increased to £144 per hour uh this year and we seen the number of low paid jobs in our economy as a whole go down significantly over the past few years that’s measured by the office of national stats uh basically they look at low pay jobs as those who are earning less than 2ir of the median income and under labor it was left at 211% it’s now down to nine and the reason why is the national living wage more jobs so that’s how we can improve the situation that we’ve got in our country and that’s how I will be working where I to be reelected make sure that our economy is strong and everybody benefits thank you very much for your question um may not surprise anyone but I agree that we do need change in this country and I firmly believe that you cannot have change if you just keep things the way that they currently are I think that labor has a plan to de particularly with the area around cost of living uh and and the problems that we are facing in this Society but I’m very proud of the pledges that we’ve made particularly around energy now Great British energy is going to be an energy company that will be set up by the by the incoming labor government which I hope will be elect but we had clean energy saving on average about £300 uh per month for household bills so I’m very proud uh that the labor party is pushing that forward on Renewables and on nuclear as well I also believe that housing has been a serious issue we need to see change and I’ve mentioned before and we’ve spoken a bit about planning law here now I cannot make planning decisions if I were lucky enough to become your MP but I know that planning law is completely broken I keep having to explain to my friends in generation rent why can you not afford a house when your your dad did it so quickly or you m did it so quickly and the simple fact is we have not built enough homes in this country labor planned for one and a half million homes by the end of this Parliament half of them affordable is going to make such a positive difference to Bringing Down the cost of living whe whether it’s to buy and getting people off that um the do Loop of renting as well and also on transport we can make a real difference locally now as I’ve mentioned David scate friend of mine is now the mayor of York and North Yorkshire I didn’t believe I’d ever be able to say that but there we are this is the kind of times change we live in and this is how labor Grove and that they can win in constituencies all across North Yorkshire he wants to set up a municipal bus company I think a lot of people are sick and tired of being ripped off by public transport and I’m why I’m proud of Labor’s plan to re nationalize the railways as well and to make sure that that brings down our bills for travel all in all I think that labor has the most positive joined up and comprehensive plan for change and I think that having an empy from the labor party to represent harri and nbra would be an absolute room for the town it be the first time for the constituent be the first time in history that this has happened but I think this upcoming general election be pretty historic and I’m looking forward to making a history here as well [Applause] there’s lots of ways to improve this and thank you for the question of course we need a lot of change um the first thing is well how do you fund it um the green party has um been looking at this very carefully for a long time and Taxation is hugely unfair grossly unfair um the there are many changes that can be made um to the taxation system um which would then fund Public Services better public services so that people get what they need from the public services um the other thing is landlordism uh I don’t agree with my colleague here that we need to build lots more houses uh there are too many rented properties which should be on the market landlords are supported inappropriately um there should be support for both rent and landlords of course there should be the green party is very much about proper and fair regulation of pretty much everything um but if if it was fairer um there wouldn’t be so many people wanting to own property to rent out and you would therefore have those properties available to buy so that’s another uh thing public transport should should be sub a lot less for for families so there’s a lot of measures that can be taken we definitely need the politic commitment for that change thank you for the question I believe it was about feeding children that you were really interested in so so thing I will be looking at is as I mentioned for me the cost is the biggest crisis we have right now and we have to start to fix that very quickly um and so the first thing is i’ go back to the point is that there’s some quick fixes that if the government got on we and sort of fair funding forers out so that we actually have more money for services up in our councils then that will be a great start one of the things that really annoys me is that if you rank all the different councils across the country in terms of the spend per pupil in school we are 143rd worst I guess if if you see what so so I am concerned about the level of spend from central government the other side of it is and I agree with Andrew to a certain extent here is we have to continue to build an economy a thriving economy in which everybody can work and ear to their needs but one of the challenges I see around here is that we don’t really have top quality jobs we have jobs that get us to a certain level but too many of our young people actually have to head south to get a decent job or a long-term career and one of the things we’ve got to do is not just sort of have good job jobs but we have to create a hierarchy of better jobs so that we have managing directors here uh for many many companies and so I would see that that side also has to be built so that we give an opportunity for people to stay here and then Etc but I’ll just leave it at those two points thank you so I think one of the key things that we as a party got have talked about already in this election campaign is we announc our policy to make sure that every child no matter their background no matter where they live we’ll get at least a fre School Meal what a hot meal a day and some people that that that’s guaranteed they always always going to get that but for far too many children out there it wasn’t um we know that having um food and access to it for kids is vital to our educ educational attainment and we’ve seen a massive massive spike in recent years of people using food banks and it’s not just people who aren’t in work it’s in work poverty too and that’s really really hidden for lots of people who are in in well paid jobs who are still struggling and the cost of living is really pinching at them and I a real key door step conversation that I had actually was last October with a lady in nbor and she was a single parent I was a single parent it runs quite true to when speak to me about it and hit home and effectively she was saying that in March this year her mortgage was up to be renewed and she was looking at extra 200 300 per month in interest payments and she didn’t know where she was going to get it from she couldn’t take on extra hours at work cuz then the child care would cost more than she’d be bringing home and it was going to leave her in a really tough difficult position what she had to do was have a conversation with her daughter about stopping her daughter having gymnastic lessons and to me that really highlighted the loss of opportunity that this cost of living crisis is taking not just from all of us but the next generation and a generation underneath that too and we need to do far far better and I think to a little bit what talking about in terms of regional disp inequalities we know that whilst we broadly speaking are a relatively affluent place in New Yorkshire compared to other places there’s still massive pockets of deprivation and people who are really struggling so it’s something that any this area um should never be complacent about um and like um there’ll be more policies from us on what we do to support tackling things like hunger um but like I said is a real stand out and what party at the moment who said and committed to making sure that children have food in their toies when they go to school [Applause] that’s a very good question and I believe in keeping we can rather going off in the long R about all the things I do for everybody the Sun but looking at your personal balance sheet basically to get more money to spend on the things that are important to you we need to reduce your cost of buing and let you keep more of what you’ve got so the response to that from reform is reducing energy bills by removing the subsidies from people’s bills removing rap from bills raising the personal income tax to 20,000 a year per person that gives you more money to do with as you please rather than to be taken away and distributed to causes that you may agree withk you he Jenny Char here yeah okay I’m going to suggest that people are sick to death all n and the mudslinging and the banana milkshakes and all that lot what are you going to do to persuade your constituents that it’s not worth that it’s worth boasting they’re sick to death of broken promises broken Brit and self-serving politicians who just figh each other like rats in a sack both sides we’ve seen quite a lot of that recently um what are you going to do to persuade the people who are not here tonight to get out and vote on July the 4th and to really engage with this [Applause] process a very powerful question as an independ that’s why I’m standing as an independent because uh the world has got fed up with politicians and parties and it’s a a sad fact that we are now fighting instead of working together so um that’s why I’m standing as an independent I’m reaching out there to try and so that people move out of this tribal situation somebody looks from a green perspective oh I can’t change that cuz it’s but it might be perfectly good idea I don’t think any of us here have the exclusive video on any ideas and I’m sure that at the end of this process just as at the end of the combined meal Authority process we all came away with brand new ideas to compete was actually means to actually strive together and to actually learn more and I think that’s what we need to be doing we need to be learning from the different things that everybody has to has has here in you know in particular uh we’ve had some great ideas from this side and this side and if we just work together and we looked at the things that rather than that bind us rather than divide us then we will get on better and that’s why I’m fighting to be independent uh you’re independent MP because I believe that I can pull together the parties one of the things that really bothers me is what I see as a disconnect the seems to be disconnect between the MP role counselor role and this situation we have no Town Council here and I think that’s wrong and I don’t think we have enough democracy I don’t engagement consultation appears to be this is how we’re going to do it but it should co-creation we should be building things together we should be building things together in my opinion and if we did build things together then we would want to carry them out together and that’s the critical issue for me we car the way we’re going we’re not going to get anywhere and so for me independent MP will deliver for you and start to deliver change and here in har we can actually set a trend across the country thank you yeah okay and so why is it worth people going out and voting why should people be bothered to engage well democracy and representation isn’t a one day event it isn’t just election day it should be a 247 all year round um engagement and activity and that’s certainly how I’ve seen my role as a candidate I think everyone here I was probably announc my candidacy uh probably longest year now um last January and since then I’ve been out five nights a week knocking on doors speaking people picking up those concerns highlighting them and campaigning where we can to develop deliver change now before elect hopefully it chose um I think there’s a real nastiness which has been touched upon but I think that’s rooted in a way in which our current political system is set up and that’s one of the reasons that I join Lial Democrats is because I Believe In fairness and our voting system is utterly broken it is not fair and it shoor people into these two parties that don’t represent the views of everyone and if we want to see a that starts by seeing a fa voting system where when everyone goes out their vote counts and they get a representative that they put their [Applause] V hello oh well I never thought I’d say but I agree with Tom PR is the answer I completely get where you’re coming from and I understand your feelings on too we’ve got to get PR because you can get 20% for form we get 60% of the vote we won’t have one MP they get 60% of vote they have 50 MPS there’s something wrong and the only way we we’re supposed to live in a democracy demos we given of the People by the people we don’t live the Democracy the last 15 or 20 years something has gone very very badly wrong in our system I won’t get into why but I think we’re all fear and the only way we’re going to change that is by change and change doesn’t happen with the same two par ping pong ping pong every 5 years or 3 years we’ve got to change the way collaboration May will be the answer we had the LI den and the conservatives in power for five years and you know what they moderated each other’s behavior and they did very well actually so I think we is the answer to your question and my feelings as well [Applause] thanks thank you uh yes obviously PR the greens have been trying to get this for a very long time it would be wonderful because uh we’ve had one fantastic green MP who’s won most of the awards that are there for MPS for being the best in all in all kinds of ways um and uh sadly she’s leaving Parliament this she’s now left um but we’re hoping we’ll get perhaps quite a few in this time we’ll watch this space um but yes um campaigning out on the streets for issues which matter to people and that’s what we do we have uh we go we have 800 counselors across the country um people don’t realize this the greens are in councils all across the country in large numbers and make a huge difference and uh doing that sort of thing at local level is very very important um and will eventually we hope translate into National level we when we get a proportional system because we know that most people are green and they want to vote with their heart instead of voting tactically um so yes we we get out there on the streets all of that matters people talk to us we we listen and we we can make it differ I’ve left my notes there and I forgotten what else I was going to say but there there’s a lot to say on that but thank you um and there really is a difference a big difference between the greens and other parties so when people say you’re all the same for us it’s very very frustrating because we are know we know that we are very very different um and you know we’re looking at at a fundamental difference in in how we live our lives not just fiddling at the edges but really reviewing what is happening and what is needed in this hugely different world from what it was not so long ago you know climate crisis biodiversity loss these are not fiddling round the edge type of things these are things we have to really really think about and none of the other parties are doing [Applause] that should we give it a go hey there we are um I know a fair bit about trying to get on in politics when you’re from a different perspective I learned this from a young age my mom is in fact a conservative um yeah exactly she’s nowhere near as disappointed in me as my dad who was in militant um so I know about the need to respect one another only time they ever argued was about politics they’re still they’re still together and very much in love um as far as I’m aware and and I know that there is just what will bring people’s Faith back in politics is delivery but empty promises will not so that is why I think that the labor party has got the right steps here for those six Ledges that we laid out we’re not promising the Earth and we’re not saying we’ll be able to change things tomorrow that’s where this all has started with a sort of a populist approach that says it’ll be jammed tomorrow and jammed today as well I don’t think that that is the right way to go I think that having a clear list of priorities that’s been set out by the labor party to point out what we can change what is within our grasp to do and K talks about a decade of natural renewal and that word renewal is just as important of change think about we can have a fresh start and something better in the next few years we’re not going to stand here and promise the Earth and we’re not going to say that changing one part of the electoral system will make everything suddenly better but we do believe in having a government that is capable of delivering on important and big changes that will be able to positively impact your lives GB energy in particular is important for me I do believe we need to build more houses as well and stop the the rent Doom loop from happening uh and also making sure that we deliver on trans and more Devolution as well you know people like their local Mayors a lot it’s very rare that the local mayor will lose reelection but then people aren’t so happy with their government clearly bringing it down to that local level and making sure that we’ve got power fairly distributed across the country as well has to be part of that so that’s where the Constitutional reform would be where I would start but just being nice to each other it’s not hard and I think we can all find it much much easier and and get along and and have proper discussions if that’s something that we all commit to doing I think you ask a very important and very powerful question because I think our society not just in the United Kingdom but around the world is much nastier and I think there are a number of factors that are shaping that I think one of those is people can feel empowered by social media to say all sorts of things I’ve certainly been on the receiving end of it and I understand uh that uh people in politics will always receive some grief uh I would just gently say to the liberal Democrats you’ve been very good at dishing it out uh I would also perhaps just suggest that people women in politics get significantly greater abuse black women especially so Dian abber has received more abuse than anybody and she’s a proper Pioneer who deserves some respect for it so what do we do about it well I think that they uh what we have to do is make sure we reject the politicians who are succeeding moment because they’re around the world you look at who are who is succeeding it’s people who are making other people angry Trump is perhaps an obvious example there that is not how I think we will create better societies I think we will create a better Society by showing that the democratic system works for everybody if PR was the answer we wouldn’t be seeing nastiness in countries that have got PR but we do see same nastiness so PR isn’t the answer to the question that you asked I think it’s down to leadership and working together and I think it’s down people holding their politicians to account let me give you an example what I think is good civil leadership after the October attack uh from Gaza and Israel at a moment of extremely high emotions and it’s a very very upsetting conflict of brutality there is deeply upsetting but I worked to bring people together here the leader of the harant Hebrew Congregation the leader of the arogant and as Islamic congregation and Christian faith leader too we put out a joint statement emphasizing how common Humanity that I think is an example of what I think should be good positive civil leadership and that is where I think I have tried to be I always keep everything very positive and that’s what I would do where I real Ed but this is a complex societal question and I think it is up to all of us to take a pace forward look what we do to make situation better and just come to now my go is now at the back the York and North Yorkshire climate change plan the root map to carbon negative calls for 100% increase in kilometers cyle 40% increase in kilometers ws and a 48% decrease in private car use by 2030 over the past 10 years the local highways Authority has done virtually nothing to achieve these aims quite the contrary what would the candidates commit to do if anything to try to achieve these very challenging obes you’ve got me uh our policies in terms of the environment revolve around moving to clean energy nuclear fusion in the second half of this Century Renewables at the moment but if we have Renewables we will have to have gas because when the wind doesn’t blow and the sun doesn’t shine there’s no energy so we have to that as a transition fuel to getting nuclear fusion as to your specifics of your question then I think it’s down to local demand lobbying local government to get these schemes in place because if they are popular with people then they should be built thank [Applause] you well Mal this is something that we have discussed many times over many years and I entirely support the principle of more cycle roots in our area there are very few things that are good for you and good for the environment and cycling is certainly one of those I do not think that we have made the progress that we should have made um you heard me tell you that several times before uh I think the Oley Road cycle path which should have been a positive actually turned out to be a bit of to because I think it’s so badly executed is put the case backwards rather than moved it forwards the principle of encouraging it I think is about increased better segregated facilities that will improve safety for cycling as regards walking uh well I think we should just be encouraging if you not participated in walk to school events encouraging people early so they get into the habit of walking and stay in the habit of walking so capture people’s imaginations early but clearly walking very positive indeed sustainable transport clearly part of our future so there was six million people now on waiting lists for Hospital operations so if we want to see people been able to use active travel measures then the first thing we can do is try to make sure they’re fit and able to do so I think that’s step one um there are lots of people out there who would like to but for what whatever reasons that you know it’s taking age ages to get um Mobility AIDS or those operations that they need to be able to go about and live their lives one of my big frustrations is that we have not seen a proper integrated transport plan for our towns and for our area that’s a failure of both the previous Council uh at both levels whether it was HBC and County and also now the new North Yorkshire what we need is all local organizations to come together and figure out how we get people moving whether it be by bike whether it be by foot whether be like half of those who need to um I you know I am cautiously optimistic that with new powers that have been devolved down that might see some money and some investment in schemes that would help people uh get around by means of bike and and other uh other schemes I think the problem that we’ve got is that the approach that government has taken in the last sort of parliament or two is this peace meal approach to funding and little pots here little pots there and all the time and effort that goes into bidding for these pots ends up costing more than what local authorities then sometimes end up with we need a proper bold approach where government will give to local authorities and Empower them to build the infrastructure where people want it and I think you know you’ve only got to look at station Gateway as an absolute disaster on how to do consultations pretty much everyone is fed up and unhappy with what’s coming out the other end of the sausage machine um you know and I think that’s because there’s been this absolute approach of running things through without listening to people people and not doing the ground work to make sure that there’s a scheme that can you know accommodate everyone and their accessibility needs and I think for me you know that’s what we need to see from an MP someone who’s going to get stuck in and be leading those conversations joining up those uh different Community groups organizations local authorities and transport Partnerships and making sure we have a system that works as a whole [Applause] M you’re absolutely spoton we have not delivered enough active travel in this area and that plan is very ambitious but there’s a a major problem behind this plan there’s actually no substance there’s no monitoring there’s no measuring and therefore if you don’t monitor measure you can’t possibly know how much more uh cycling we are actually doing or how many less cars are on the road so the very first thing we’ve got to do is put in place a plan that says by 2026 this many Journeys or this much cycle way uh has been produced and and that’s the whole thing that lacks uh any cohesion at the moment for me now I’m also on the council but as an MP I would be looking to use the powers to convene to bring all the parties together and say look you know we have a problem here or for those of you I watched AP Polo 13 the other day and they tried to get the uh the filters there’s two sorts of filters and they have different different shapes and it was how they teamed up to work out to put these two shapes together and we’ve got to get the right people in the room and say look here’s the objective how are we going to do it and we’ve got to do it in a Ely fashion so fully agree with you uh we’ve got to get this active travel thing sorted we’re also wasting a lot of money by starting processes and not finishing them and we really need to think it through so I I I 100% agree with you but I think the key is monitoring and measuring and from an MP’s perspective that’s about convening and bringing parties together such as the New Town Council where we get one uh the county coun well not the County Council but the council and also the area constituency committee which is the local representation of the council thank you yeah a it’s a big one this one and um a lot of it comes down to a sort of attitude uh issue doesn’t it North I mean I when I had kids over here and I wasn’t over here I was trying to get around in North yire I spent a lot of time trying to find out where the buses went um you get a train from somewhere and a bus to somewhere else and they they would kind of I get the answer well Everybody’s Got a Car in yorshire it was that kind of attitude it’s a big attitudinal thing we have to overcome even going you notice it going to various meetings and things people don’t immediately think about well shall we share cars that everyone just goes in their own cars which is you know to me is quite a big thing um I use the bus I came here on the bus just now I use the buses all the time and as I’ve said I’ve I’m always moaning on about the lack of bus shelters the lack of seating if you’re out there in the rain you’re often standing there under nothing um you don’t get the information they don’t come when they they’re supposed to come uh now buses are the sort of thing that could be organized using the information technology that we have these days we have the technology to make it much much better out there in the rur rural areas where people are so lacking in buses that it’s not rocket science and that could be done and that’s the sort of thing North yor should be getting its head around and getting funding for as well from central government um um the another thing in terms of um trying to get more bites going on on Rural roads very difficult we have quite dangerous roads and that’s the thing that stops a lot of US cycling on roadways and I know Malcolm you’re doing a lot of work with the uh extended cycle path up through Ripley and so on which is fantastic we love that cycle way that goes from NB through to Ripley and hopefully it’ll be going onward and we should have more of that we should also have the thing passionate about is foot paaths uh the Ramblers Association is doing a fantastic job at um trying to open up or to look after foot paths that are already there we need new ones let alone looking after the old ones we need to be working with everybody to get these going so that people can easily walk between settlements like I live in nbor between nbor and say scotton um I at the moment to get to Scotland I’d have to walk along quite a few roads I’m sure there used to be a through there and there’ll be a lot of those around so that’s something we can really look at local authorities used to have footpath officers do they now do they good that’s good I’m not particularly aware of any but um yeah certainly it’s been cut along with a lot of other things with local authorities that’s a major problem about all the things we’re talking about local authorities have been starved of cash and uh you know when it comes to Nature things that the officers in charge there aren’t enough of them they haven’t got the time to do many of the things that they would like to do um some consultation has been mentioned it’s not it’s often not good enough at all um and I mean I’ve been helping zeroc carbon habet uh zeroc carbon Harriet with one of two um walk to school days that’s there’s things like that that can be done but a lot of these things need funding and they need local authorities to be able to get behind them and that needs political will from Westminster thank [Applause] you thank you um yeah fantastic question thank you very much Mal um particularly when it comes to the goal of what environmental policy should be we want to be able to reduce climate emissions and re reach our Net Zero targets now that cannot just be done by transport alone I believe transport counts are about onethird of emissions when it comes to the to that so that does have to be a focus but there is also another option to be able to build further into Renewables and also on to into nuclear as well uh I think that labor is the only party that putting forward a sensible option for that which is Great British energy now that will as I’ve said cut household bills but it will also be able to provide much cheaper cleaner energy so that we’re no longer you know in the grip of when we saw the war in Ukraine and realize how much gas that we import from Russia and and other regimes like that we would no longer be a the grip of that we’d have homegrown energy offshore wind and things like that I think that would provide a really important uh and and much more effective uh dealing with the environment alongside the transport but your your question was very much about the transport area there um potholes I don’t think anyone’s going to contradict me is the thing that comes up on the doorstep most that we need to deal with the most now our labor control combined Authority mayor David scap has already set aside a large portion of his funding to to contribute towards potholes and potholes are not just a motorist issue I say this to people who I I I don’t I don’t have a car uh I can cycle and I get the bus or or or or get the train um I’m not being santimon I just can’t forward one um but I also think that it is important for us to be able to say if we are going to deal with potholes it’s for cyclists as well and it’s making sure that people who are using active travel feel comfortable on the roadways and the pathways um yeah absolutely very sport of mention we have scho more walk communities part of that has to come from having close by amenities as well making sure that people feel like there is a shop an affordable shop that they can walk to not something that they’re going to be priced out on or not a local surgery that they’re not going to be able to be on get on the list of uh relating to that so a lot of this comes from the new powers now I’m a massive passionate person about buses I think buses are absolutely fantastic and I know that not everyone shares my view but but my view is that if you were able to provide more bus routes then it would become easier to drive I know people just need to drive we’ve worked excessively hard in York to make sure that uh people who are disabled feel like they’re able to park closer to the city center than people who don’t have uh disabilities so that has been a key Focus as well um but fundamentally it’s going to come down to not just Westminster but what happens at the mayor’s office as well and this is I hope what has run like a thread of rock for like like a through a stick of rock uh like what I’ve been trying to say is that having someone that can work with David skates having someone that can work with the large amount of funding that has come through from the mar for active travel millions of pounds allocated as a regular payment I think that’s going to be a really big boom for this constituency uh and on dealing with active travel uh I’m I’m massively in favor of it we just need to make sure we get the delivery right thank you [Applause] I’ve got a question submitted from um Pat s um this week my son Don would be 24 years old he committed suicide at the age of 17 Why seven years after d di the young people being left vulnerable without specialist in time support when there are suicidal in harate and throughout first of all I’m sorry for your loss uh it’s a a terrible thing and unfortunately there is a real problem with mental health whatever’s causing it and that was actually preo uh I know Co has a lot of challenges but we have to do much much more to help with mental health and we have to get more Specialists involved because at the moment we have a situation where often the police who are not skilled in this are having to attend uh these sort of situations uh recently without giving any confidences way I know of a a young man who’s been arrested twice uh in the last few weeks uh as a result of his mental health and in in in sort of making threats on social media and him being arrested doesn’t do anybody any good so uh and and in fact as I say’s he’s now fortunately he’s back in safe care but he was released after two weeks because we didn’t have enough space and now he’s gone back out and then he’s been reoffended and he’s now back in so we have to find a way to fund this we have to find a way to prevent these things rather than try to treat the symptom so I very much will be looking to how we can use our resources better by perhaps combining the the police the local authorities the May uh and pull pulling everything together because one of the things that is for sure is the two main parties have said they’re not going to raise taxes so if we’re not going to raise any more money then we’ve got to think of smarter better ways of doing things and the only way I see it us doing that and and it comes back to what a lady said earlier is we have to work together we can’t have this nastiness and we know the right way no you we know the right way we’ve got to work together and work this out because we’re getting casual and those casualties don’t deserve to be casualties uh so I would say we have to really truly invest by working together to look after [Music] [Applause] these I think I’m really sorry for the loss um and I think this is one of the things that certainly has come attention people in more recent years just the amount of people who are actually ding by Suicide um I actually a few months ago met with a called St lost his son when he was at University and he committed suicide then um and he set up a a charity in his son’s name Jordan legacy and I’ve been working with them and committed with them to help however I can um and it’s one of those things that touches a lot of people um I think my background is in health sources research so my I’m originally a scientist um and then did m in public health was University of York as a health um Services researcher and we know that if we intervene early and we try to prevent people um then it obviously can be really really effective um quite difficult topic um to sort touch on because there’s to fix it for that lost L ones what we can do is try to make sure it never happens again to anyone else um I think we’ve got to be trying to make sure that we stamp how people who die by Suicide across the Bo and try to stop that from being the case anyone has to build that and deal with that reality and part of that and one of the longstanding commitments of liberal Democrats and one of the things that I’m really proud of is that we’ve consistently over decades called the parity between mental and physical health and that is something that still even though there’s lots of talk and words and everything we don’t see Wai this across the board um when I was at University I’m not ashamed to say that I ended up the second year of my degree because I had a mental health crisis and I got fantastic support through that University at that time but that was only available to me because I was a university student if I had needed to go see an NHS uh doctor then i’ would have been waiting well over a year and that’s simply not good enough when people are in crisis and need help it’s important they get support that they need at that time um more money is needed obviously you know it’s always easy to say more money is needed have seen is Cuts in Grants to those services at a local Authority level uh Public Health prevention grants have been decimated by government in recent years and making sure we’ve got those early opportunities to intervene and stop more losses of life is what’s to make [Applause] difference yes I’m sorry too um I think mental health issues are perhaps the Pinnacle of the iceberg when events like that happen but underneath that there’s this hiden world people suffering varying degrees of mental illness um and some of that is to blame on the cres Modern Life on people the expectations that are put on them by the media and various other other communication organizations and I don’t have the answer but I I know that more funding must be made available and we must have in place counseling schemes of people who can go to them and also remove the stigma that seems to be attached to mental illness where you know you fall and break your leg if you fall and break your leg poorly if you mentally you going sit in the corner for a few hours I think we need to it and provide funing for it this is [Applause] when Dom uh died I very shortly after that met with Pat I know the family very slightly and it is a truly tragic case and it has had a profound impact I undertook to work with P Dom’s mom to highlight the challenges particularly for younger men because we see suicide amongst younger men that’s quite a problem area across our country there are many that we can do I would suggest that the first is very much a cultural one that we have passed a law on parity of esteem between mental and physical health passing laws doesn’t necessarily affect cultural change we need to actually recognize that we need to do more as a society to make it okay to talk about mental health to stop it escalating where you actually need to have emergency interventions but if you do need to have that thenly the emergenc intervention needs to be there we have a 247 free phone number run by the Mental Health Trust which does provide emergency contact uh we’ve seen extra funding allocated to mental health G up specifically 4.6 billion pounds in the last six years so we’re seeing extra originals but the challenge is very profound and when we have such a tragic case as D’s cas it’s just absolutely awful for the family and the friends and it has a profoundly cascading effect on all of them forever so I think it is about everybody working together to change that cultural sense making sure the facilities are there if necessary but try to stop deating the first [Applause] place thank you Pat for asking that question I’m sure Tom will be so proud this mon for bring such an important issue to light um I am 24 as well I be 25 the Friday before the election happens quarter of a century very long time but it will take another quarter of a century or the thing most likely to kill me stops being me the issue around suicide for uh men young in particular has affected me personally I’ve lost three very close friends including one uh family member to this over the course of Co um I agree that there have been a lot of solutions offered but sometimes it just feels like words fail um the the tragedy start the issues in the tragedy can start very young and that’s why I hope we will be able to impl La’s plan to uh put mental health uh nurses in every single School practitioners in every single schol to make sure we look after people uh mental health practitioners in every single school to make sure that we look after our young people properly uh this has been an issue where I’ve got a record on I’ve introduced two motions for the city of York Council on Mental Health uh in in the past year uh particularly around making York a trauma informed City it’s important to understand the impact that personal trauma and the psychological experiences we have in our life can shape perhaps uh the the conditions we have and the manner of leaving them um agreed that parity of esteem is is very important as is the cultural change um my family have been fantastic with me always encouraging me to talk about my feelings uh and I try and do so specifically with my male friends we also need to remember this is not male exclusive issue um in fact women young women are far more likely to attempt to take their own lives um they just tend to uh use less um permanent methods uh not to put too kind the points on it uh more positively uh in the Motions that I passed to New York Council they were both unanimous people from all political parties got on board with this I’ve not heard anyone here tonight say that mental health is not an important issue or not something we need to deal with I hope in the next government parties members of all parties will be able to contribute towards an effective Solution on Mental Health it starts as I say Young making sure we have mental health practitioners in every single School uh but also making sure we are able to strengthen um the cultural change and and talk openly about it uh I raised some money for York mind recently I ran 5K which for me is a massive achievement uh and managed to raise some uh some money with the rest of the labor group uh in York I think that really helped me personally being able to say that I tried my best to do something for the friends that I’ve lost um but I know that much bigger changes needed and I I hope that all of our parties regardless of of color or or or none will strive to make an effort thank [Applause] you yes I’m really sorry to hear about you some um and I I think I’ve worked for a time um in yor Council um doing Special educational needs and so much of this service provision to support people when there are various problems so many different problems um it all needs money and that all comes back to political will taxation uh Arrangements attitudes towards taxation um there’s been a shameful neglect of the services for mental health and as other people have said we of course we need counselors in schools uh far more lots of them and I think young people now have got far more stresses and strains than perhaps most of us did um the mob phone issue has been um pointed out recently as after some research uh as being a major cause of young people’s mental ill health um it worries me a lot with my grandchildren and um and I think the huge stresses that um people are under for many of the things we’ve been talking about tonight struggling families money heating a play your house having a decent job all these things up don’t they and uh and weigh on people um a lot of it comes back to I I I think that’s really important as others have mentioned the partnership the good communication um I also think that it must be as a young person today um how do you cope with a kind of lack of future they it hasn’t Wonder to pass them by that the climate is closing you know closing on us because of the actions of human beings on this planet we actually don’t know how long we’ve got left or not how long how long we got left living a reasonably civilized or decent life now children and young people may not talk about it very much but they can’t they’re not stupid that won’t have passed them by um you know with my own grandchildren I I it’s a big thing it’s a big thing for me but I don’t mention it very much of them because I’m too worried about the effect on them but they will know about probably one of those things they know about and I know about we don’t talk about it because it’s too frightening so we have to deal with the climate issue that is huge issue for young people um feelings of hopelessness and also you know the fact we haven’t got the services in place the police are getting involved inappropriately where because services are not available you end up with police fans arriving at people’s house things have got to things have got to a crisis point that shouldn’t be happening so yes shameful neglect thank you is timy um Tim Tim’s asking if elected um how would each candidate tackle the endemic problem of drug and the associated antisocial behavior that is polluting har thanks very much Tim um yes antisocial Behavior has become a serious problem all across the country particularly uh related to constituencies and towns in particular I find but also within CI I’ll just come to the drugs moment in in a May bit in a moment if I may but also um related to social behavior ex that which should whatever the field will be we simply need to have more police officers on the streets who are capable of dealing with it particularly when it comes to Community Support officers as a ward counselor I’ve had the honor of being able to work with Community Sports officers who can’t arrest people but work in a very effective way uh as S as a coordinator of the different services that are available now those Services as I’m sure has been mentioned been significant Cuts uh Council budgets have slashed and councils are often at the front line of deal with these antisocial behaviors we need to have more respect and understanding for local government and making sure that we fund them properly um also providing more police on the street will help with uh people people often feeling unsafe to even leave uh and open their doors we’ve also seen recently that the police have been instructed to stop arresting people because there’s not enough places in the prison support them uh I don’t think that that’s the sign of the fifth richest country in the world or one of the richest countries in the world I think we want to deal with that um and and that needs to be dealt with also when it comes to addiction and the drugs that cause it we need to make sure that we have the proper funding within the NHS that means clearing the backlog lab’s National plan to do that 40,000 more appointments um by crack down on non-doms to fund it yeah I think that antisocial Behavior put them a serious problem because I think sometimes some people feel like it’s not some people feel like it might not really be a crime and might not be worth reporting if you see it in your streets you might think oh that’s they’re causing the problem should I bother the police with it will the police even turn up or do anything a lot of people are worried the police are so over resourced they can do very little other than just handout reference numbers for insurance claims so we need to make sure that we have more of them we need to make sure that we have a proper uh funding system in place and we also need to make sure that local authorities are respected and listened to when it comes to them because they are very much on the front [Applause] line you well the first thing we should recognize is that antisocial Behavior has a uh really very serious impact upon communities it can sometimes be seen as trivial but it really really is not trivial it can take different forms in different areas but the key thing is to nip it in the B before it escalates into anything more criminal and that has been uh initiative which is a little bit of a joint initiative but it’s been led by the police we’ve seen some policing hotpots uh trial work and that is has been successful that is going to be expanded right across the country so the key thing with antisocial Behavior get in there early drugs well this is a very significant challenge because governments from around the world have been trying to deal with the drugs crisis for a significant number of decades Dees and they haven’t been winning some have declared some kind of surrender by uh effectively legalizing I do not think that is a very good idea I have seen people’s lives ruined by drugs I do not think this is a very positive thing at all the question I think is about uh tackling the distribution of drugs and that has been quite a positive piece of work done called county lines gangs I’ve been out on patrol with the local Drug Squad in in Harriet and they were very good they knew exactly what was going on and indeed U an arrest on the day somebody who’ actually come across from West yor from Bradford digging heroin on our streets so um not uh taking any kind of tolerant approach to drugs but do making making absolutely sure that we have got the appropriate uh substantive addiction facilities so we help people offer them so slightly different questions drugs and antisocial Behavior but there is a very clear overlap between them as well and a very good question to ask again comes back to lack of sensible taxation lack of funding to the services uh Youth Services used to be working with young people all the time and now there’s hardly anything left of Youth Services what do we expect if we cut all these Services um activities for young people are generally very few in far between uh very few places for them to gather and just talk to each other if they too young to go into pubs they can’t go there where do they go if you think about where you live are there many places young people are allowed to go everybody’s spending their time saying no we don’t want them there they might make a mess or they might be noisy or something and so you know I think we need to think carefully about how we how we regard young people and how much support we give them just in ordinary little things um and uh nature used to be to me I know as a um a young person I I really found nature um therapeutic there’s not not a lot of it around now I’m saying all this because I think drugs and alcohol are a sort of escape from feelings of hopelessness feelings of you know boredom and so on and um and I think those things are the things we should be tackling um yeah thank [Applause] you drugs and anti social Behavior we get quite a lot of it where I’m a counselor uh one of the things that we’ve been doing is we’ve been working with the police uh quite effectively and also uh the residents have been working really well as well we use help lines we’ve used U the um uh the various lines Anonymous calling so that we the police get uh what I call local intelligence now they can’t on it every time but we’ve got a system whereby we pass on details of perhaps meetings various things I hear tales of the fact that you know residents know that the police are about to do a raid because they see the merchandise would call it moving from apartment to apartment uh across various places so uh there is a way uh and I I’m finding it very powerful the way I’m working with the police and where my residents are working with the police but what I would say to everybody here is that you need to report report and Report now we’ve got this situation the technical term is learned helplessness where we don’t think that the police are going to do anything so we don’t do anything about it but I’ve got to tell you every time you put a call into the police or you put you put it on 101 or you put it on their website it logs something there a few years ago I was involved with a public house wanting a late license uh all the neighbors are up in arms and they said well whenever this happens the cars are damaged somebody urinates in my doorway the cars are scratched etc etc as part of that consultation I spoke to the police and they said they’ve had nothing reported for 10 years so you you know that would have easily blocked that license application so it’s about you know you helping us help you so the more you report the more demand for police the more we will get it through so antisocial Behavior again it’s another thing report report report and no you might not get a response immediately but you will end up with uh an answer in the end I’ve seen a number of Moyes which have been going through the wrong place and eventually the police catch them and it ends up in of uh device that rends it no use anymore but I would like to pick up on another point which is I believe there’s not enough youth service provision and we need to look at youth service provision and how we uh give the youth uh things to do we now we need to ask them what they want to do in the first place and I think it starts with this engagement this consultation what do you want space for how can we help you get that space so I I I think there’s a series of things but if we’re not careful this turns into harassment and bullying and various other inequalities that we don’t want to see in our society so uh it’s a very serious problem that we have to deal with very harshly in the short term but I think we need to be looking at the causes and how we treat the causes rather than treating the actual symptom that we see thank you [Applause] I I’d like to start by saying I agree in large part of what Paul’s just said I think for me I always look at things about how we can get the best solution and it’s about using that evidence and that build knowledge accumulated over decad to get the best outcome and you know been a bit scientific about it and I think what frustrates me is it’s very easy for everyone to stand here and promise that we’re going to you know lock them up throw away the key for people who’ve committed a crime whether be taking from the an social behavior reality is to do that people who are jailed for things like that then re offend at a higher rate for more serious crimes the absolute priority should be trying to prevent and then also rehabilitate um no one is beyond saving I’m not religious but it does s a bit Christian doesn’t it you know it’s about giving people that opportunity to do the appropriate punishment and then move on and I think there’s a massive issue in that the funding for those services to rehabilitate and integrate people to um for people who might be drug users or have committed serious crimes have been cut and that’s the harsh reality if we want to get a solution to these problems um and that again comes back to Decades of underfunding and cluts to those schemes through local authorities and police to thousands of pcsos have been cut in the last decade and that’s now what we’re seeing on our streets it doesn’t happen overnight but day by day week by week you know graffi here noise complaint there and it builds up and that’s what we’re all see um on the drug side of thing too um you know if you look at other countries around the world where they’ve tackled it as a public health emergency rather than a criminal one they have a lot better outcomes in trying to make sure that people stop using drugs but also they do do it because that’s going to happen some people are going to use drugs we can’t stop that but making sure they do it in a safe Manner and they don’t hurt other people and that’s really important if we actually want a solution that’s going to have an impact and I think you know what frustrates me is whenever we talk about drugs is it’s always something that used to punch down a Working Class People we never talk about white color drug use you know when you see in the news about every toilet in Parliament lited in whatever and all these sort stories you know it’s about time if we’re going to be hard on drugs then why don’t MP start themselves [Applause] hello yes antisocial Behavior yeah so antisocial behavior and drug use they do overlap um I think Tom makes a good point in that we think Dr Ed to have a stereotypical pict heads but I have knowledge of people in har who wouldn’t put that model um two I’ll separate them out antisocial Behavior I think um it does come down to funding and it comes down to the old fashioned theme bobies on the Beats if we have police in the community community knowledge integrating with the local people we will clamp down on a lot of this antisocial Behavior dealing with the drug situation I think it’s Rel it’s a very very complicated problem but you can break it down into two sides supply and demand so the first thing to look at is the supply and this is down to policing border control and intelligence where is it coming from and how is it getting to the country the countryes are washed with drugs they’re getting in somewhere so we’ve got to stop getting in and secondly demand why is there such a demand I haven’t got all the answers I’m just trying to ask the questions if there’s such a demand why is there such a demand what missing in people’s lives they feel they have to go there for a solution so again it comes back to mental health issues really and and counseling and awareness of the the problems people have got and trying to provide solutions for them without finding self-medication in the various groups that are available thank you I think we time now for more questions so I think we just need to really thank the speakers but also give them an opportunity for a final statement Andre would you like to well we got a very wide ranging and very positive set of conversations this evening tackling a broad range of isses thank you very much for the opportunity Tim for creating this event and for coming along I think the next five years are going to be incredibly challenging for the world and we’re not going to be in any way immune to that I’m thinking particularly about security pressures um which I think will be the greatest for at least a generation we’re seeing expansionist aggressive despots working to destabilize countries uh invade neighbors and we must work with our friends and neighbors to form alliances to be strong in support of our values so I feel that the world of geopolitics and defense priority will be absolutely critical but I also see huge amounts of opportunities for the next five years new Industries things like Ai and Life Sciences green Industries so I see the challenges security and opportunity you want to look at the teams who won’t be leading this it will be either a sunac Cameron Hunt team or a starm Rainer Lamy team well I find that choice remarkably clear I think it’s a choice between experience of decisiveness or some majority perhaps whose record on defense particularly is mixed and best but we are also choosing a local Champion for us here in harut and nbor now I am committed to and have delivered for our area and that has seen investment in services and our area is better foren in schools in hospitals on the trains all the buses and when I look at the challenges ahead here I see environmental issues being very Central we need to help people with decarbonization not a question of whether you decarbonize it’s question of other people we need to build on the success of the baing water bid to see plan to improve water cap right across the entire New Valley building on the success of the increased capacity of the NHS and the rack issue by the way has actually been completely resolved the an now got its funding that work is underway to both demolish the existing therapy suite and build two newer the and a new dayc W which will deliver much more capacity within our Hospital the question is that making sure that we catch up on all of the problems and the co backl that we’ve been experiencing as several colleagues here on the table said we need more homes uh but I’m concerned about our Green Belt uh we’ve all seen the opinion polls uh the opinion poll suggest that Mr starm will be our next prime minister and he has said that we will be having building on our well I do not want that I want to see our Green Belt protected so I see risk for our area prob La government over the past few years we’ve seen three supposedly once in a century events just 12 years apart as the O8 financial crash followed by Co followed by Ukraine it has been a very very challenging wor in the history of the country [Applause] who world scale events once in aury events and been 12 years apart so we have seen a long hard slot for all over the world I don’t think there’s any coincidence in that Putin invaded Ukraine directly after Co countries were exhausted in their balance sheets under real pressure but despite that we have seen significant progress in this country 4 million more people are in work including 2 million more disabled people in work we’ve seen this country be the first a major economy to cut its carbon emissions by 50% we’ve seen us go from declining educational standards to in West for reading we’ve seen deaths from cancer Fall by 10% we could go on but what I’m going to really point out here is that we need a champion to fight for our area fight for us locally and help us nationally stand up for what we believe in I’ve been doing that as your Member of Parliament and if I’m fortunate enough to secure the trust of local people again that is what I pledge to do [Applause] thank you all very much I’d like thank everyone who asked a question and came along tonight democracy happens because people are willing to come to events like this and listen to people like us uh out in front of you and and that’s that’s what democracy is all about so thank you very much thank you Tim for putting up with us and organizing this event I think you need your own Round of Applause at some point today so maybe at the end so of course I am aware that there is a rumor going around at the time of paper candidate in fact I’ve been told my paper candidate so many times I can actually hear myself Russell but that was before a month and two days ago something very remarkable happened indeed it didn’t just happen here but it happened in Selby it happened in York it happened in scarber happened in Whitby it happened in the county where the Prime Minister has his own constituency the harant born David SC w this Mary won this County for labor don’t let anyone ever tell you that labor can’t win in places like this ever again not one single vote has been cast for the general election I think post votes are dropping in the next couple of weeks don’t let anyone ever tell you that there is no chance that labor can win here I think labor has got the best policies and I think that it is clear from the polling and you know keep my fingers cross touching W and everything but I think that K St will be the next Prim Minister I think we will have a labor government what is better for the town than to have an MP who is a member of that government sat on the government benches able to make that influence able to make those arguments there is no point choosing an opposition MP who won’t be able to do anything other than shout from the sidelines I was sick of shouting from the sidelines when I was an activist so I’ve decided to get on pitch and score some goals of my own that’s what I’m going to plan on doing I think that labor is the party of Public Service I think the mood has changed rapidly yes Co was a once in a-lifetime event I don’t think that the self-inflicted wounds of Liz truss and her disastrous Economic Policy helped one bit but I think that we know now as a country that the world has changed that time has moved on since 2019 and we can see that we value though those that we used to Value EAS in society now as as we saw through Co are the ones that are crucial to keep us going the hardworking people of this country I cut my teeth during the co crisis and learned about public service then and I’m committed to taking those values forward now so I really hope that you will cast your vote for labor just there so many people are going to do for the first time at the general election so many people did for the first time at the mayoral I’ll work with David scate I’ll make sure that we have the right policies and the right investment for us build the homes we need turn on Great British energy and get Britain’s future back thank you [Applause] yes thank you Tim really good that uh part of democracy is having these kind of events so fantastic that Tim’s organized this there are lots of maxims I could use the price of freedom is eternal vigilance that could be a green party motto things won’t improve if you just shut your eyes and ears and hope for the best whatever that is in your book regulation or red tape as is called by those who don’t want to be bothered by it is crucial in a world where there are so many of us humans busy with our machines technology buildings Vehicles chemicals and selected and modified animals we’re all jlingz inequality this is resulting in disease and early deaths of people and destruction of nature the hostile environment invented by the conservatives to try to keep migrants away is like a snarling dog which has got out of control and has now turned its snarling attention on everyone people who are disabled or homeless out of work have mental health problems need support people who are young old work in the public sector Drive trains you name it if there’s something wrong it’s not the government to blame but anyone else anyone at all except the very rich of course I hope that people at this election are going to think very carefully about what actually matters to us humans it’s not about fiddling around the edges now it’s this is serious this is worse than a war in the sense but it is a war we’re at war with ourselves and we’ve got to think very carefully about how we how we organize ourselves from now on um the growth Paradigm the idea that you can have infinite growth on a finite Planet it’s a little bit last year um worthwhile jobs what is a worthwhile job worth thinking about that um greens have been standing in protests with NHS staff who are whose conditions and pay is pathetic and with the rmt regarding getting rid of everybody all the staff apart from the driver I mean how crazy is that they tried to do I’m not quite sure where that SCU actually but I uh um it’s absolutely mad I mean if somebody’s ill or there’s a fight or whatever you need somebody else on the train all these things the river nid full of sewage and I’m sorry but the baking water status doesn’t cut much ice with me I think it’s it’s nothing I mean it’s the environment agency who um are denuded anyway uh there’s hardly any of them they don’t get much money how are they going to do much they they’ll test it occasionally and it’ll probably say poor poor or very poor so where have we got to with that rivers and the Sea as well Waters need public uh care not they should not be cash cows putting money out to shareholders which is what’s happening in the the moment and with so many of our Public Services it’s we are being I don’t know how we are being so so trusting and so polite about the way we are having our family silver sold off under our noses often to to shareholders often foreign governments absolutely crackers if not totally tragic regarding cancer rates being um better I I’ve just heard that cancer in Young people is is up and I I’m not surprised because we’re all swimming in a not just in the river but in in a pollution in our food in our air our water uh in all sorts of stuff that we bring into our homes because regulation is so poor um power corrupts let’s not let the power go to to to be in one place it should be shared um failing to plan I’m going through some Vin here failing to plan is planning to fail and that’s what’s happening we’re not planning we there is no vision going on at the moment and regarding the defense issue I would rather have Jew jeel than war war and I think a country which spends its time looking at how we can make more money from making selling weapons to unethical well murderous government we should be ashamed of ourselves we need to think again um so well Coming Back To Nature I’ve put a few leaflets out at the back there there’s one on protect nature that’s a green party one about what we want to do about nature as a green party 10-point climate plan those are out at the back with some other RSPV and other Wildlife leits for anybody who’d like to take them thanks again to Tim thank you [Applause] yes thank you ttim um where do you begin or in this case where do we end so I want to tell you about an event that’s happening this October my family going to celebrate the arrival of our first great grandchild and so it got me thinking about the future and there are a number of things about the future particularly Shan has alluded to and one of the things that I think you need to know is that by 2034 it is likely that our rainfall will be longer duration Rivers will burst their Banks more frequently and the west of the country those PES lancasters where I come from originally will get even wetter uh we’re likely to have more uh severe weather and we need to do something about this we had a dozen storms this last winter causing destruction roads and infrastructure and flooding for long periods of time our farmers are going to struggle this year to produce our food we also have more pressing challenges the cost of living homes the NHS and so how will it be in 10 years time what are we going to do about this well I think we need a new unified Vision to bring people together to resolve all our issues I’m standing because I want to see more fairness fairness is a British trait but we don’t seem to being very fair on each other at the moment the in I mentioned the inequalities of the North and South but there’s inequalities with uh whether it’s color or gender or ability or versus disabled and we need to start to work on all these things for me there is a disconnect between local and national government and I struggle to understand the lack of cooperation coordination between local and National governments local coun the MPS and the new mayor we as as mentioned earlier we pledged no T right or the made parties have pledge no tax Rises so we’ve got to find a different way of doing things as your NP I will be a central figure to pull things together because I believe in local first being in mp isn’t just about shaping National policy it’s about understanding the local impact and we must consider what is best people of harri and nbor I will put everything through a lens of local scrutiny as well as climate change we need speed and urgency though we need competence governance and a better question and there’s a a better question I want to give you an example of for years I’ve been told that in in planning meetings that the drainage will cope with the new housing but actually the question was wrong because what the company actually said was true because it was legal it is legal to spill sewage the better question would have been how much more is the chance of seage spilling into the public domain and that would have changed the answer to a lot of planning commissions I believe we need to be less tribal politics is become so tribal but there is no exclusivity on good ideas we’ve heard Lots today but prime minister’s Question Time sets a poor example we teach our children not to bully our Harris yet they witness this unproductive unseenly display on TV every week if Effective Government comes from strong credible constructive opposition as an independent I can cross boundaries uncompany by party shackles I seek to serve and to quote Albert Einstein insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results to bring about change we must think differently independently thank [Applause] you just like to start by saying thank you to everyone who’s come here tonight including all other candidates um I think back the very first time I came to huran I’m originally from 30 minutes down one away and it was really exciting it was school fit a great watch show here has been or put their kids on a similar school trip there and I can remember driving through thinking wow this is a lot nicer than the mining town I GRE up in and effectively for me it was always something of aspiration Harry was where people moved to when they made it when they had something to show and when you know things were good and I’m so proud to it’s you know the best part two years now to call they hared at my home and I know that can so much better than things currently are I’m an underdog every single day of my life I’ve had to fight I was my mom was a single parent she had me I was eligible for three School meals um and went to a pretty rubbish State School um it was no given in life for me and I was the first person in family in the family to go to university I never thought I’d have the opportunity to stand somewhere like here with the potential prospects of being you know a candidate to the MP for har and n and I’m incredibly proud no matter what happens I think as a person I’m ambitious and bold and I think we’ve seen I’ve tried to demonstrate that over the last two years as the candidate of the liberal Democrats you know we’ve been out endlessly pounding the Pavements I know all all sick of P paper through your letter box but more um and just really telling you what I’m about what I stand for and why we need a at MP here again I think one of the points that was made earlier by one of the candidates was that opposition MPS can’t do anything we know here that’s simply not true every door that I go around people still look fonding back upon when we have AAL Democrat MP in Phil Wiis so don’t let it be said that opposition MPS can’t achieve things this election is going to be one which is going to be FR it’s going to be hostile and I don’t think it’s going to be particularly Pleasant and I think that’s a culmination of all the reasons and questions youve raised tonight when you look around things are broken the NHS broen Railways broken not to be too do and GL it’s a little bit rubish at the moment the Lial Democrats have a plan we want a fair deal we want to fix the Health Service we want to ban the water companies dumping suim Rivers for years and years we’ve had a conservative party who’ve had 100% of control taking voes for granted and lurching from crisis to crisis whilst changing prime minister every few days the problem that we’re facing have been avoided and we’ve been let down by that chaos don’t let it be said that Liz trust was funny or harmless she wasn’t people are still paying that price in increased mortgage payments now the reality is here in harri and nbor that as we’ve said I think someone else mentioned earlier we’ve all seen the polls we have lots of polls have it very close there was one just yesterday that had liberal Democrats one point ahead of the conservatives we won’t be taking anything for granted we won’t be taking you for granted and we we fight to and na to make sure we get every single vote and can deliver that fairer society and that vision for our towns the reality is is that come back morning after the general election people are be waking up thinking great this is amazing people will have a smile on their faces or will be faced with another five years of the fail we’ve already seen and know too well the problem that we’ve got is that we have been told endlessly that we can have sunak who’s going to scare you into voting conservatives by talking about you know the rise of China and Russia they’re serious problems they should be dealt with seriously but we shouldn’t elect the government out of fear and the problem we’ve got on the other side of the point is K St amazingly people don’t have much to say about it the reality is is it’s not about who’s in government it’s about who is going to ban the drum and fight for our towns and that’s exactly what I would do if I had the pleasure of being [Applause] your like they say in a job interview you should always be first or last so I’m last um I think and I’m going to keep you short to speak because we run over I’d like to thank Tim i’ like to everybody who asked a question and I’d like to thank all of you for coming here and sitting and listening to us you must have the patience of saints and short and sweet so for the first time in a long time now you actually have a choice we’ve had a two- party State a uni party I call it because really there’s no difference between the two of them rning us for the past 20 or so years well there isn’t have we the policies you’ve got a chance to vote for change now I’m not going to through all of our policies they’re all in here if anybody wants to look at them over the first course of a 5year government fully costed I would I I recommend you have a look at them and I believe now is the time for change in the country and if you vote for reform you will get it if you don’t we’ll carry on as we are thank [Applause] you I think we come to the end of this evening and just just to thank everyone for coming along and thanks to all the candidates for answering all the questions the questions that we didn’t get to because I know there was some that have been submitted on the night I’ll try and get written answers to those questions and get those out to you but no thank you for everyone for coming on [Applause] [Music] that should [Music]