The One & Only Podcast
This month we invited all the major political parties onto the show ahead of next months General Election. John Stevenson, the Conservative candidate for Carlisle was delighted to respond and shares what an MP does, touches on the challenges faced in his constituency and his own views on what needs to be at the top of the pollical agenda.
The One & Only is sponsored by Herd’s Media the borderlands media company that specialise in supporting British farmers & the whole Agri sector.
Harrison & Hetherington
https://harrisonandhetherington.co.uk/
Facebook / harrisonhetherington
Instagram/ harrisonhetherington
TikTok / https://rb.gy/q33sne
Want to be involved with The One and Only? Please get in touch with Laura Millar laura.millar@borderway.com
Check out Herds Media socials and website and see what they are getting up to.
https://www.herdsmedia.co.uk/
/ https://www.herdsmedia.co.uk/
Facebook / / herds.media.uk
The One & Only is sponsored by Herd’s Media the borderlands media company that specialise in supporting British farmers & the whole Agri sector.
Harrison & Hetherington
https://harrisonandhetherington.co.uk/
Facebook / / harrisonhetherington
Instagram/ harrisonhetherington
TikTok / https://rb.gy/q33sne
Want to be involved with The One and Only? Please get in touch with Laura Millar laura.millar@borderway.com
Check out Herds Media socials and website and see what they are getting up to.
https://www.herdsmedia.co.uk/
/ https://www.herdsmedia.co.uk/
Facebook / / herds.media.uk
[Music] welcome back to the one and only podcast this month we’ve reached the month of June already I cannot believe we are six months through 2024 Glenn very quickly a high and a low point last month High and a low uh the the low Point has to has to be the no I I shouldn’t say the Cumberland show but all the guys had to enter the brownie competition and I made they were awesome brownies I thought they were self-proclaimed awesome yeah brownies but they were judged on on the Friday night but I brought them on the Saturday morning I missed the whole you missed the judging and I mean the judges missed out in judging my brownies they did so the people’s winner for me was was temps he put a lot of work into that he did three three batches of brownies would had to through this office and they were very good they were very good and he got sixth apparently sixth yeah well I didn’t even get into the competition exactly but there’s always next year always next year there is and a high point any High Point sorry well the high point the com I really enjoyed Comin show it was really good and it really felt like a County show wasn’t it it was yeah a lot of people weather turned out really nice uh Isaac’s finished exams he’s finished his National H National isn’t it so it’s he in fourth year fourth year Okay cool so he’s finished all that which was um really good we’re looking forward to the uh results of that and we we are looking forward to that is he looking forward to that I think so pretty happy with how he did yeah I think so good and yeah we’ve had a few nice nights believe or not down at the Lakes they’ been really last weekend was nice but it’s been hard getting nice nights the weather’s been um difficult but no since the last last podcast it’s been good we’re just getting into show season I so it’s yeah we are getting into show season um we’ve already been to nothing B show that was probably one of the low points for me actually because I’ve never been to the thin th show th show and I thought I’ll go as a a to see a different show um and literally bless them the rained all day or the week up to and the ruts were like three ft deep everything was being towed in and towed out and to be honest it is a testament to how resilient farmers are because they were just cracking on with it Norland show is really it’s a good show it’s a lovely show yeah I didn’t realize it was as bad as that it was really and it was such a shame because it was so rusted like that even to go for a walk around the place was a mess even to walk around me and Carolyn went for a walk in the afternoon and it wasn’t even enjoyable to walk cuz you were skting everywhere and it’s too bad was it’s a whole year of work goes into it but yeah I think you enjoyed it though other than that it was nice yeah we saw lots of people lots of people came onto our stand and then we obviously had the cuming show last weekend midweek we had Scot sheep did you go to that no I wasn’t at Scot she but Scott was at it talked about Halal and it made the Scottish farmer and people were being a little bit controversial in the comments but I I I really enjoyed this piece it was it was really good it was really good um and now we’re here back recording again for the one and only who do we have today today we’re talking on the theme of the Jenny Le yes the Jenny Le how do you feel about that yeah yeah I’m looking looking for I’ve never actually I’m not very politically Savvy with all this stuff so neither am I yeah but we’ll we’ll see so we asked all the parties conservatives labor greens all of them guys and the only people that have come back to us are reform did you ask reform no I didn’t I don’t what about what about the guy you know the guy wears the the the funny hat is it the raving Looney party did you ask them no they might have fed in quite well they might yeah oh you got on Okay so we’ve got John Stevenson swinging so um I’m I don’t know whether I’m excited or nervous because I to be honest yeah I don’t really follow politics cuz I just I think to me as a naive person I am when it comes to politics I don’t know how much value they really hold to this well maybe we can find out why we’re we’re not really maybe value them why we’re disconnected maybe maybe it’s maybe it’s us true let’s find out let’s get into [Music] it so hi everyone this month’s podcast is a general election special um and we’ve invited all of the candidates but thankfully John turned up so um thanks for coming John not at all delighted to be here would have been a bit of a lonely blather between us wouldn’t it it would have been and especially when we don’t know a lot about politics politics it might have been a very good general election special so uh John I this might be you might get a lot of different questions than you’re normally us to getting so tell tell us a little bit about about you and about your background and your history and how you uh got involved with politics um originally from Aberdine the Granite City I grew up there was educated uh school at school there and then I went off to dundy University and studied history and politics so therefore that’s where a lot of the interest comes from uh my father was a local counselor at the time when I was growing up as well so we politics was part of the household discussions as then and then after uh my time at University of Dundee I came South and studied law with Chester Law College and after Law College I did my training across in Newcastle did a little bit of traveling and then arrived in Carlile 1992 32 years ago and put down routs married a local and helped build a a local business here La firm that’s a law firm this was practice here and then got involved in local politics was a counselor on city council for 11 years and then in 2010 put myself forward as the candidate for Carlile and goes elected the first conservative in nearly 50 years wow so it was a it was a labor before or liberal it had traditionally been a labor seat uh but I think Carla was a changing City different time 2010 the country was in a going in a different direction but also I think Carla was starting to change it been quite a unionized city for many years and I think that had undoubtedly changed and had continued to change as the city has developed but so politics I suppose was there from a quite a young age yeah I think that’s often the case with most people that get involved in politics that they so either some sort of family history to it all or or they’ve got um interested in it at a young age have you um so over that period of time have has your political points of view are your poit political has that changed over time or or have you always been a conser are you conservative at heart or like where does your where that’s a really interesting question because the traditional answer is when when you’re young you tend to be of left with politics and as you get older you you drift to the right so that should be some sort of rabid right- Winger by now uh but that’s not the case I think my politics has been fairly centralist yeah um throughout my time I’m primarily probably a conservative because I believe in the sort of economic arguments that are put forward by the center right believe in a market economy competition think that drives up standards and you know keeps the prices down and is better for the economy in the country overall and I think that’s where I my politics primarily lies uh but yes I suppose I would call myself if somebody said where are you in the conservative party I would say it’s very much the center of the conservative party and for someone who’s not um I’m not totally engaged with politics but you you represent the vast majority of the population is probably a healthy thing actually I I want to get into that bit about why that why that is but looking at your party seems quite a divided party there seems to be you’re middle middle middle ground concern but there seems to be I don’t know if Extreme’s the right word but it feels like there’s a party that’s pulling in in opposite directions so so how how can that be a an efficient way to run a country with the party going or maybe that’s a healthy thing well I mean in our political system because we have what we call First P the post election system you tend to find that the big parties are in fact coalitions well say in a in say France or Germany or other some Continental countries what you would have is a government with say several parties in it that all reflect slightly different views but are on the left or the right of politics for me that’s quite a bit healthier I think is the conservative party really four different parties well Coalition of different views but they’re broadly on the same right and the labor party is exactly the same they have their their extreme left wing their left wing and they’re what you would call them or moderate wing and that is the nature of our political system but it does give or tends to give greater stability in government because you get one party elected yes it’s a coalition but it is one go one party that’s sort of coalescing around our program well if you look at the continent you find for example countries like birming um Belgium can take it’s countries like Belgium where they’ve taken months to produce a government uh Holland is experiencing exactly the same right now where they’re taking months before they’re coming up with a government so there dis there are advantages and disadvantages of both political systems people sometimes think PR is the solution for everything it is not there’s probably not one perfect system I suppose democracy maybe isn’t the perfect system I think Wiston Church famously said all systems are poor just democracy is the best of the than all so um I’m going to side with Glenn on this one in terms of my naivity in the political landscape um and that’s speaking as someone of a younger generation and maybe um you know my parents and my grandparents things like that might have taken more of an interest than I do um why do you think there is so much of a disconnect now from the generations coming through to politics and what the government stands for in our society I would suspect if we were sitting here 30 40 years ago you’d say exactly the same comments yes I I I think there’s this always as an argument though the younger generation are not interested I disagree actually they might be interested in different ways and it might not be strictly party political but they are interested in the issues and I think that’s healthy and good and I think it’s important that all generations take an active interest in politics uh but I think I think if you went back in time You’ discover that the young younger generation are exactly the same as today’s and I think social media though has changed the Dynamics of politics and I think where there’s a danger is you tend to find a little bit of an echo chamber now that people listen to people who have a similar view yeah uh which I think is dangerous well in the past believe there’s been more of an awareness of different views and therefore you still make your own judgment but you do hear different points of view expressed in a in a in a positive or A negative way so how do you balance um that how do you make sure that you are um approachable and accessible to all generations but you know all levels of interest in what you’re doing yes I I totally to your point on everyone has an interest in certain matters because they all affect you know people in different ways so how as a candidate how are you trying to sort of portray your party and you as a person to all there was different mediums I mean at it’s most basic it is knocking at somebody’s door and you know introducing yourself it’s putting leaflets through a door MH um it’s obviously getting in programs podcasts like this or being interviewed by the radio or local television and then there things in print as well articles Etc so it’s a variety of um ways of doing so and politics is partly about local which is what I’m involved with here fighting for the carile seat and partly about what the national politicians are doing so there’s two elements to it um this is the national politics and the local politics but there are different mediums of getting in contact with people Facebook’s a modern way when I started in 2010 the great ambition was to be in the Friday Cumberland news that was the important one then by then 215 it was you had to have emails uh and today it’s Instagram and Facebook so it’s interesting how politics changes but by the same token we still deliver leaflets through the door and that still an important way of communicating see value in that yes absolutely you get a lot of nice conversations on doorsteps and we have lots of interesting interesting you should say yeah um yes I mean most people are incredibly polite even if they have a difference of opinion with you and don’t want to support you so what’s your um area that you’re um Comming for what is that mostly car how does it look like is it rural is it mostly what’s the demographic there the the constituency that I’m fighting the present election on changed slightly it’s primarily carile the city with the exception of the dlon area and then it goes up to the Scottish border and out to the north Umbria border okay so as a a land mass it’s quite a large yes it is yeah and it’s I would say oneir rural 2/3 Urban as a broad so longt yes Longtown Brampton up to uh roadhead place of Penton and out to gilsland yeah so there’s a a quite a varied um demographic of people with different uh issues and challenges to to think about but actually that’s what makes it a really interesting constituency I have some colleagues and friends who represent sort of Suburbia or purely rural or very Urban well up here I think it’s a a much more interesting area to represent because you have the Dynamics of the rural environment the business environment the urban and all those sort of aspects that go with it so it’s a it’s a fascinating place to represent so let’s take uh the city of carile what’s the main issue or challenge that people want um well how’s how’s how like for example NHS Hospital in Carl how do you think that’s performing um well at one level good in the sense that we’ve seen some capital investment into the hospital we’ve got a new cancer unit there’s an endoscopy unit being built as we speak the cardiac units doubled in size but there are undoubtedly challenges with regards to cues there are with you know waiting for um operations at Appo ments Etc but the real prize for this area is the fact that the University of Cumbria will open a medical school next year and I think that’s a in car in carile I think that’s a real game changer for us in the health economy years will that be in the old hospital where the initially yes yes um as you know there’s long-term plans for the University to actually move into the city center yeah around the citadels and I think ultimately the medical school will probably move there and the medical school is that going to specialize in any special or just General Medical General it’ll have 50 students every year so in five years it’ll start to be turning them out and hopefully some of them will want to stay put down routs here and practice locally which I think would be hugely beneficial but but going back to going back to the NH so you’ve been you’ve been in government since 20 not government you’ve been in mp 2010 and the conservatives have been in power since 2010 so how do you feel when the well how do you you feel when the NHS waiting lists and like like how like surely that doesn’t make you feel well clearly you don’t want long waiting lists at all um I think it’s partly been caused by the pandemic which has had a major consequence for a variety of public services and the local strikes that we’ve got with the junior doctors hasn’t helped either but there are challenges within the National Health Service I think there have been for many many years and there will continue to be uh I think it’s how we operate there NHS how we deliver the service is that something that has got to be looked at by the next government at the last election the last election Boris promised 14 new hospitals in in the in the UK how many I can’t give you the exact St how many have been I think six have been built and there are some in the pipeline um up here we didn’t get a new hospital but we did get a new cancer unit so that’s a sign ific investment and I suppose I know it’s not your area but we did get a new hospital in D Galloway but I think that was prior to that announcement yeah just for the benefit of people that are perhaps listening and don’t understand maybe your role as a candidate and what you do if you’re elected and things like that can you just maybe explain that be that role the role of what your MP actually does yes because I think people see it as yeah he’s an MP and that’s really and they think you should know what that is and I think there’s a lot of people out there who perhaps don’t know what an MP does or what you’re absolutely right and it’s an interesting question actually I always say to people there’s two aspects to the job so the main part of the job is actually to go to Westminster represent your part of the country and hold whatever government there is there to account and to pass legislation that is the fundamental part of our job lawers we are a lawmaker I’ve never actually been a member of the government so I’ve always been a backbencher and I am primarily a legislator and we scrutinize legislation and we pass it but there was also the element of holding the government to account and assessing what they are doing and we have things called select committees and I sat on I’ve sat on three select committees over the time I’ve Been A Member of Parliament and what were they one was the Scottish select committee one was local government select committee and the more recent one was the Constitutional Affairs select committee which follow and they all follow an individual department so the treasury would follow the treasury Foreign Affairs for follows foreign affairs and mine followed effectively the what you would call the prime minister’s Department what they call the cabinet office so that’s a primary role of a member of parliament um but I think people often see it as being the local Advocate and the person who turns up at local events waves yeah and and and that’s you could say the other part of the job which is actually being in the community being in the place that you represent yes um turning up to events meeting people for a variety of issues and very importantly having surgeries where people come and see you and they’ve got their own individual problems that you try and resolve how often do they take place um the way I’ve done it is always usually by appointment so they’re on a steady sort of rotation of appointments and people will ring up and we will make an appointment for them to come in and what what what does the commitment look like in Westminster I’m I’m intrigued to know as to if if you were an elected an MP what what’s the commitment how often do you meet how often do you go down there what’s the how does that work yeah Monday mornings or early afternoon whatever depending what’s going on here you get them the train you go down to London Parliament sits in Monday afternoon it finishes at 10:00 at night on Mondays 10:00 at night yes and if we have and if we have votes it can go until 11 12:00 at night wow I not know that and then on the Tuesday we start at half 11 in the morning and we finish at 7 at night and the same on wedding’s days so what is there a reason for that well traditionally um they always used to finish at 10:00 at night and over time they want to be a bit more family oriented ated so they started to reduce the the lateness of our finishes but even at 7:00 there will be other events on there’ll be other meetings going 7 o’ is quite a leate finishing is it yeah so so that’s the nature it’s the rhythm of parliament is very different that’s Tu and then what Happ mil Coast it doesn’t work out give us a Wednesdays are similar to Tuesdays then Thursdays you have a finish at 5 although there’s less parliamentary um government activity on Thursdays and Fridays was what we call private members bills and that only happens every so often and that’s where our backbench MP can bring forward a a bill they rarely become law but sometimes they do and that’s an opportunity for a group of backbenchers or an individual to bring forward legislation that they would like to see happen so that’s five days a week every week yes although to be fair I’m usually back up here on a Thursday you come up back up here so it’s pretty much four days of your work there Fridays is what I would all constituency day so that’s how you spend it in your own yes your own patch what sort of support like do you have you have an office to run here you have obviously an office to run in Westminster so you you obviously need a team for that to all happen is there is there a team or is it just you every MP has allocated a budget yeah the budget is so they can have an office and we have an office within the Parliamentary estate as well every MP has a office there and then you have certain numbers of Staff now you can choose whether they’re all in the constituency or if you have them based in London I have one member of Staff in London and the rest of the staff are based up here because I think that that’s where most of the um parliamentary MP work happens because it’s about helping people locally and dealing with correspondence and so they help you Cate all those opinions yes and they will organize the meetings the visits bring to you yes that seems like a good way of doing it well you’re you’re the the my um staff member in London tends to help when I’m down there with with the diary and meeting people in London the meetings that you’ll have there and anything that relates to parliamentary activity I did miss your gr for me I don’t really know how quite surprised that and then when which is interesting because a lot of people don’t really realize your ours for prime minister but you’re not always in the chamber you’re doing I get that but the parliament the parliament is actually sitting I think it’s just maybe because the media are very um you know the reports of their own in this country aren’t they and whatever whatever um perception they want to perceive is the perception that you get to see isn’t it so it’s sometimes it’s difficult to understand reliably what an MP does because they’re so fixated on certain stories or certain individuals and that’s what fills the media and you don’t actually see what the work that they actually do well I also think I think the best description is the chamber because the media focuses on half an hour every weddingday pmqs that’s that’s every Wednesday every Wednesday 12:00 you have PM q’s and that’s the big set piece of the week but an awful lot of activity goes on out with that and you can have maybe 30 people in the chamber having a very um worthwhile debate and both sides are very polite to each other and complimentary each other because you forget there’s an awful lot of um activity that goes on where we’re working together yeah pmqs gives this impression that we’re at each other’s throats all the time which is just not the case I want to ask this question because like if our kids behave like that like prime ministers question time it’s it’s really bizarre to behave like that like one guy’s trying to talk and you’re like and there’s guys waving white P who whoa order order I mean yeah it’s bizarre but interestingly enough if you go abroad they love our people I know but but you guys are lawmakers and but that’s but that is the the the scrutiny element of parliament the lawmaking bit is separate when you’re going through and the media only focus on on Bill committees you go through an act of parliament line by line by line can be incredibly boring at times as well but they actually go through it line by line and then there’s amendments brought forward and there’s a debate about particular amendments and that is how law is made and that is the primary purpose of parliament but people forget yeah but every day there’s questions on each individual department so on say a Tuesday there might be treasury so the chancellor will be there and the shadow Chancellor will ask questions and back benchers of an opportunity that’s why your profession really lends itself to being a good MP that you’re so the legal background the legal background I mean interestingly enough across the House of Commons on both sides there are a lot who have had legal training but but I think it’s dangerous to have one profession I think I think the important thing about Parliament is to have a real mixture different backgrounds different experiences different careers I think that’s so important has that changed maybe not over your time but like if you go back to the 30s is that demographic of MPS changed over the over time not necessarily in my view for the best I think you’ve started to De to see more and more MPS who have had political backgrounds rather than alternative careers life experience um I think there’s maybe a good thing a bad thing but there tend to be more graduates while in the past you might have had different people with different um backgrounds as well educational backgrounds that is I definitely think that would Ben official to have spent a a time of your life doing something completely different doing something and then bring that sort of a business experience or life experience into into it I think that’s and I think that’s a that’s one danger for our Parliament that we’ve move towards careerists completely you’ll always have some and there’s nothing wrong with that but I think we got to get the balance so being obviously the nature of our business that that hosts this podcast I guess we should touch on your thoughts the challenges maybe that you are put to you from the rural and agricultural communities what are the challenges that you are hearing um from this from the region that you you stand for well it’s interesting um although I’ve represented primarily an urban place up to date what what we must never lose sight of car’s very dependent on the rural economy as well good example is here yes H&H Mart you know the my profession accountancy surveyors Bankers you know some of the other um companies locally are very much dependent on the rural economy so they’re I think they’re interwoven and I think it’s really important important locally that we recognize that they have their strengths and they’ve got their challenges as well I think from a national perspective I little bit concerned that we’re drifted away from the fundamental thing about farming which is food production yes that’s good to hear and I just think you know environmental important completely recognize that uh but I just think it’s a little bit of a danger that we’ve drifted away from recognizing how important food security is and if there was two things that I think any government’s got to be very careful about and have be very Vigilant about is energy security and food security and we I think have let ourselves slide a little bit on both I think we’re starting to on the energy side I think embracing nuclear I think is hugely important because I think that gives us a base Supply and a security of Supply yeah I was having the same conversation with my son last night ex more or less word for word what you said and that’s great to hear but doesn’t reflect what the conservative government have done John I think there’s a recognition that we have to move back to uh well take energy Security First yeah do I think there’s now a greater move back towards uh building nuclear plants what we call the smrs prospects for Cumbria I think are really good we could end up with smrs in the west coast possibly even some of them being built on kingmore Park uh but I think we’ve got to be careful about that because we’ve discovered with Ukraine just how important energy security is but also going on to food security we are about 60% self-sufficient which I think is way too low because if there was an international crisis with regards to food every country would become very defensive and therefore you’ve got a risk so I think somehow we’ve got to return to looking at how we ensure that our food production actually increases rather than decreases so how how today’s policies do not reflect your I mean I think they to change for example on people were starting to build solar farms in some of the best land in the country and and and Tre you go down to like lther Estates I mean the amount of fabulous Farmland that’s being taken out of food production because of government policy is is scary not scary it’s really really disappointing I I I think that’s You could argue one of the unintended consequences of some policies but I think there’s a recognition now that actually we’ve got to look back at food production as being recogn very significant important um priority of that because it’s okay saying yeah we’re going to go back on you know we need to revert to our old ways and maybe not have so much focus on environmental and things like that and remember our P production get that balance back again but the case with farming is once you take productive land out or you incentivize something else once you’re out of it it is now on impossible to get back into that you know once it’s gone it’s gone and I fear that maybe if we let it go any further they’re going to have an extremely difficult job to bring that back and have and increase your um as I totally agree with you um that 60% up to a better and more secure level I think I think it should be a priority of the next government I really do both energy security and food security and we’re living in a far more uncertain World you’ve seen us starting to increase expenditure on defense but along with defense comes those other two issues as well but but I think it’s getting the balance between environmental laws and Environ m al requirements and what we want to see as a society and also making suring that we can produce food to pay for our to Fe You’ obviously launched your well not you but the party launched the manifesto today yes is does that opinion your opinion there does that reflect is that reflected in the manifesto uh it only went out at half 11 this morning so I haven’t had a chance to digest it all I’ve only seen the headlines on it uh of it all so that will probably be something the detail probably since but I think we were already moving in that direction before this election start because since brexit one of the things that’s really affected agric all all the sectors within agriculture is Clarity and there hasn’t been any Clarity and everything in farming is such a they’re long they’re long-term projects you know everything’s and that lack of clarity has really affected uh businesses and and Farmers uh sense of direction so so I think if anything comes out of this whether you get in par whoever get comes in par I think the agricultural sector needs complete Clarity not just for the next two years but like long term for them to really make um plans to go forward I would say two things there firstly to a certain extent we actually don’t want it to be a party political issue you want a consensus because it’s such an important sector for our you know the wellbeing of our country but the second thing is I always think you should shouldn’t underestimate the resilience and the entrepreneurial of farmers and their ability we don’t want to take it for granted either I completely get get that but don’t underestimate that skill set either they can be very versatile they can very be very adaptive and can be very successful so we shouldn’t underestimate their ability to get on and deal with the environment that they live in but I do do agree any business whether it be farming or manufacturing or Services likes Clarity likes certainty and that’s absolutely right and as you’ve said there that I think the key point is that it is an extensive business we thrive in the agricultural sector is extensive buiness there’s you know there’s few Industries like it in that you know they need you know a cycle of a a cow even to get her to you know breeding level three years you know it’s that’s a threee commitment alone to get a cow that’s going to be a breeding animal isn’t it that’s not you can’t just decide something this year and then change it next year because that means absolutely you know but no you’re absolutely right but you could argue it’s exactly the same well not exactly the same but a manufacturing plant they’ got to invest as well for a long term so you’re right you’re absolutely right and that is why the farming indust needs certainty needs Clarity Clarity and needs consistency I think some trust and support I think people are willing it’s a people will take the risk but when it’s when and it’s not it’s it’s those policies where you don’t realize the impact it makes and it’s it’s they need to be done very carefully but the other mistake I think policy makers can make they look at the number of people employed directly by agriculture which is actually very very small what they don’t exactly they don’t realize that it feeds into all the industries we have here in carile but then also feeds into the the food chain and the manufacturers so the whole the whole chain from Farm to Fork as they like to say is very significant I mean i’ I’ve was in Parliament been very involved with the food and drink manufacturing sector obviously Carl’s a significant manufacturing center and it’s the largest um manufacturing sector in the country lots of people would never realize that but that I never realized that that’s incred emplo more people than any other manufacturing sector in the country and but it’s relevant to the farming sector as well I think um farming as well and it’s related industries that you just touched on there um we hosted event here didn’t we in March uh careers event to highlight the options available to young people um young people from the ages of 14 uh and above all were invited from cber Southwest Scotland right after lanx Shire um a government L um initiative funded initiative um to highlight those job opportunities and career paths out with being a farmer so that’s your food technologists that’s your nutritionists that’s your vet accountants solicitors all that type of thing and it was great wasn’t it it was the kids were really engaging and they were really actually quite surprised because the narrative around a farmer is you know you know yeah 30 or 40 years ago it was a lifestyle it was everyone had three cows in the back Garden all that kind of stuff they’re hugely thought of pressured business now that their business is a food production business and that there’s loads of opportunity there nearly 500 kids came to that event and a lot of them are like I didn’t really like this this this is really interesting because I’ve done a call out schools fair in caral for their last 10 years and um bringing so training providers businesses and students to come along and see what’s in offer and they’ve always been surprised at what we have to offer in car so I’m not in the least bit surprised that they come along to your event and going oh wow you can do this you can do that and it’s funny really good initiative there was a surprise on both sides though all of the businesses that were here um so you know for instance our our neighbors they just up their road cars Billington said yeah we offer apprenticeships for nutritionists and technologists and all that kind of stuff through WR their quite large business um every year and it’s just trying to get that across and get that out to people and get that out to schools and get that out to further education that we have those opportunities it’s said it’s so so difficult because there isn’t an outlet for you to to if you’re successful on the fourth of July joh maybe that’s could we could we up again and try to do something um I mean it’s interesting I’ve long wanted car to expand and grow as a as an entity as a city believing that’s how you get prosperity and the key ingredients are investment infrastructure but skills absolutely vital so what you’re doing I think is really important yeah because once those skills leave the county and leave very difficult to pull them back isn’t it and there’s lots of you know Bright Lights Of Here There and Everywhere or even abroad is attractive to many and they just don’t realize what’s there on their doorstep for them but one of the mistakes governments of all colors have made over the years is they want skills but they think they forget that it’s skills that are relevant to a particular locality so car caral kria economy requires certain skill sets so we know what we need and therefore we’ve got to make sure that’s difficult for a national government though it is that’s why they need to decentralize um this the skills sector one of the your I think your slogan for the last election was get brexit done but in many ways I feel we’ve been done by brexit and and I say that purely from the area the business that we’re in uh and I voted for brexit rightly or wrongly but um uh we deal we do we have a massive our business trades with Northern Ireland and and the whole of Ireland backwards and forwards immens but that that’s really that that that ability to trade back and forwards has been really really Dam uh how are you going to fix that John well funny enough I was in the other side of the argument I was a remainer Believing on I wish I wish no I wish I wish you had it I mean I voted wrong I mean no you didn’t you voted the way you thought was right at the moment in the way that I did and I I’m firm believer that at the end of the day we live in a democracy and I lost the argument but the this country decided that they wanted brexit and I think we’ve got to respect that well we should respect it because we live in a democ but we’ve got to do though is take the opportunities that brexit offers as well as accepting there are certain challenges and you’ve demonstrated by what you’ve just said that that’s one of the challenges making sure that we have as frictionless trade as we possibly can we have the opportunity with the trade agreements with other countries across the world the globe and I think I think it’s 2025 there’s another opportunity to go back to the EU and have a discussion with them as to what is the future trading a relationship between us and the European Union so there’s an opportunity then to maybe look at some of these issues but like it seems Northern Ireland’s part of United Kingdom on paper but they’re in in practice they’re no longer part of the United Kingdom so that that that’s a very serious you know you were part of the Constitution constitutional Affairs committee yeah so so so so that fact I mean that that does not sit really well with me at all some in the Ireland feel got the best of all worlds no no they do they do but I mean um for and I I think I think if there was I think if the I think I think if there was real serious thought put into it it could be solved quite quickly um The Windsor agreement did go some way to resolving some of the issues that there were between the two not not within the agricultural sector not within that but but are you were you you aware of those sort of problems with those barriers have those barriers there are some certain barriers um I’m aware of for your sector and indeed some of the other sectors and it’s about breaking down those barriers because you’ve always got to remember it’s advantageous for Europe as much as for us to have a frictionless trade between the two because we are a big market for many European businesses as is Europe’s a big market for us but we shouldn’t also lose sight of the fact that the fastest growing part of the world is not Europe it is southeast Asia South America places like that and we’ve got to make sure that we trade with them as effectively as we do with our near neighbors yeah no I totally agree but I I I just feel there’s an massive amount of frustration I think it’s with with that trade with with livestock back and forward I think it’s not really we I don’t think that the voice has been what you’re saying it’s not working as well as it should do no yeah so that would have be nice one of the priorities that we should be looking at for your sector it’s it’s really small fry in the big picture but it’s it’s not uh it’s not for the people that that affect there’s a lot of people actually directly and indirectly that that affects definitely the the the horse industry was affected exactly the same way but it was solved very very quickly and I feel very frustrated like there was obviously people in the that are involved in the horse industry at a certain level that have the ear of certain politicians and it got sorted but um it feels like um the livestock sector has been left behind that from that point of view that should be be one of the priorities for the new ministers in defra after the election yeah absolutely absolutely good so what’s your um what’s your feeling John for the next few weeks like just keep R keep keep Mr sunak heading behind behind the wall somewhere don’t don’t let him I think it’s unfair in him because I think he he’s very articulate uh very hardworking very able individual and I think he’s done a lot for the country um I’m obviously very supportive of him um he’ll fight at the sort of national level the political debate that is at that level and I’ve obviously got to do my bit at the the local level and articulate my view of where I think car can go and the sort of borders area and support him at where he thinks we can take the the nation as a whole what makes you just one little question there when you were mentioning that what makes you want to stand up you know above the trenches so to say get shot at yeah because that is what happens isn’t it that that’s naturally what happens in any in any you know whether you become when you progress in management in a business or anything like that the more senior you become the more problems and shots that you take unfortunately that’s just comes of the what makes you people like shooting at politicians in particular I get that what makes you want to put yourself in that um in that position well I mean people I sometimes one of the my great disappointments is when you go out and campaign at the end of the day 35% 40% of the people of car of this country will not actually vote and we actually you know a a democracy is a really important part of they w’t vote they won’t vote it’s quite it’s amazing when you think about across the world the number of people who would love to live in a free Society who would love to have a democratic choices to who don’t realize how Lu who yes exactly and I think we sometimes forget how fortunate we are to have been born in Britain and that those freedoms can be fragile and therefore it’s incumbent upon people to put forward their View and argue their case and I would encourage people to go out and vote because that’s a small contribution to that’s a great point because on on the fourth of July on the fifth of July there’ll be a whether there’s a change or not but the there Pro there’s going to be a change be a new government there’s going to be a new government and that will that will take place without bloodshed violence but we take that for granted and in a lot of places of the world that does not happen so really everybody vote yeah you must vote well that’s always been I don’t know what I don’t know how you bring your kids up Glenn but certainly H the way I was brought up that my parents were always just like you know if you don’t vote then unfortunately you don’t have any voice you don’t you you have no right to have any opinion on anything because you haven’t taken your I’ve always I’ve always voted and everything sometimes like I regret the bre way at least you reget the way I voted for brexit I mean but anyway but yeah I always vote so so no but it’s we forget that we are very lucky in the freedoms that we have we have the freedom to complain freedom to shout at each other and know there won’t be any repercussions absolutely um that’s why I think social media we’ve got to be very careful about social media because I think there’s dangers within social media that people just think it’s all right to criticize somebody in a very unpleasant way there’s nothing wrong with criticism and there’s nothing wrong with Challenge and Etc but I think you got to be careful where the where the line is that’s a sad thing I feel in politics and I always remember getting in a lift in London and there was these two female labor politicians speaking and they were talking about the social abuse that they were getting and I thought that’s Dreadful and that I thought must come from my side of the political uh debate and it was their own side and I just thought how appalling it was just so unnecessary but that that that that media that platform you would never speak to people like that face to face you’d like to think you like to think I don’t think you would no because PE you know yeah it’s that’s one of the challenges but um so I guess um as we kind of wrap this things up is there any points you want to summarize as a as an outlet for this will be published on the 20th of June so it’ll be just i’ would encourage everybody to vote John Stevenson oh yes well have to say that don’t you the 4th of July happens to be my birthday well but what can they expect you know if if someone’s listening in your constituency what what are they what are your what setting out for them the simple thing is I I’ve been an MP for 14 years so I have a record to defend I think it’s a good one we’ve got a lot of investment coming into the city you see it with the Ring Road you see it with the station refurbishment this University going into the city center the interesting thing for me if I get reelected is the fact that i’ now got a larger rural element which I think is exciting um so I would say look look at my record and I believe I can continue that and help to improve both the urban part but equally as importantly the rural part of the new constituency wish you all the best John um and also if you are successful I would really like to get together on the um on that careers day and and skills do something absolutely and and it’s a good um sort of mix with one I already do so I’d be delighted to get involved in I’m going to be honest with you I’m not going to vote for you I live I live in I I I I once interviewed by local paper and my wife was in the room and she said I don’t vote for him and the next day the headline was MP’s wife doesn’t vote for but we left in we left in a different constituency fantastic that’s really good U thank you very much John for giving up your time totally appreciate this is a busy time but we really appreciate you coming in thank you very much very enjoyable perfect [Music] what a conversation that was Ander yeah I naively did not know the role of an MP and and I feel a little bit silly for saying that but I think there’s a lot of people don’t actually didn’t actually realize what the role of their MP is what they do I didn’t really have any idea I quite surprised 10 o’clock on a Monday evening 7 o’clock on a 12 till 10 on a Monday yeah it’s uh so they spend a lot yeah I always thought they were local really their time has spent in Westminster isn’t it absolutely I mean if I’m being totally honest I just thought they like pop down to Westminster once a week and then F about the rest of the week but J John came across very very pleasant guy he’s obviously done a lot for the local area very approachable um very very approachable without being a little bit because sometimes politicians can be we wee bit Brash and a wee bit like sort of vote for me no it wasn’t though it wasn’t like that at all wasn’t like that at all um and you know we touched on some pretty interesting subjects um he did he did answer most and we didn’t really give many difficult questions really because I don’t don’t find that Pleasant watching that when I but we we had a good little chat supp there’s other things that we could have pressed him on but uh I I find it more interesting just finding out about the role of an MP and and yeah I think he’s open and honest and said about the change in his um area that he covers now and that he’s never really had that major that third of rural to take into account now going forward if he is re-elected he will he has he recognizes that and he’ll have a certain proportion that he has to focus on his his views on food security was very encouraging actually um very encouraging very worrying at at both yeah levels because who if he thinks that then how is where are we how are we at where we are it doesn’t really fall in line with what uh government policies but hopefully there’s more people like like him um start to address that and he yeah energy and food I mean they’re two huge things that we are in a very uh precarious situation with in this country but if he sees it he’s obviously got the ear of the people who matter maybe not in the fifth of July anymore if there’s going to be a change but yeah if he doesn’t get reelected on the fifth of Judge forget this whole conversation anyway it’s too bad too bad the other guys didn’t well yeah next month we’ll be able to say hey we had the new MP hope in last month or we’ll be like that was it was a nice guy go he didn’t [Laughter] get I enjoyed that anyway as always thank you very much for listening to the one and only podcast um in the in the meantime um if you’ve got any ideas guest subjects topics that you’d like Glenn and I to cover or people guests that you’d like on the podcast please do get in touch with one of us or the team at anyone at H&H um or through any of our social medias we would love to hear from you um and please like share subscribe tell everyone you know yeah he’s been Glenn Lucas you’ve been Laura Miller and this has been the one and only thanks for watching guys [Music]