Peter Bone, former MP for Wellingborough, stumbles across reporters doing video vox pop in Rushden town centre as they ask for views on priorities for the next MP ahead of the February by-election
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00:00 [Background noise]
00:08 So we're on the streets of Russia today and we're asking people, voters, from the
00:13 Russia and Wellingborough constituency what their priorities are out of a
00:17 selection of four that we've had highlighted to us before. So we've got
00:21 the NHS, stopping knife crime, town centre regeneration or stopping the boats. So
00:28 can you tell me which one you've chosen? Well the NHS. And why's that? Because we
00:34 have a specific problem. We cannot, at our local clinic, we cannot get a doctor's
00:41 appointment for a lot of the money. I made an application to get looked after by a
00:47 diabetic nurse at the end of November, as was asked to do, and I phoned and
00:54 emailed and they still haven't replied to me. So that's two months? Yeah. And are
01:00 you, are you concerned? What do you, how are you going to deal with getting the
01:03 appointment? Well, this is a problem because there isn't a way of dealing
01:07 with it. You can keep phoning up, you can do this, I don't know who these people are
01:13 responsible to for getting, you know, the job done properly. I would like to see
01:19 town centre regeneration first. Because the NHS, I mean there's so much going on
01:25 with the NHS at the moment. I know they are being concentrated on, but there's also, I mean,
01:30 they're so busy, especially this time of year. I mean I've got, me mum, she's got COPD,
01:36 breathing problems and everything. And we've been trying from the point, we finally got one today.
01:40 So I know they're trying already. But the town centre, we need as much help as possible.
01:47 We moved here in the 80s, this isn't what we know.
01:51 And here is Mr. Peter Bone. And we are, he's come across our... I'm an independent, unbiased voter.
02:00 He's a voter. And we're asking members of the public today what their priorities are for the next MP for
02:07 Wellingborough and Rushden. And we've got the NHS, knife crime, town centre regeneration, or stopping the boats.
02:16 So here's your sticker. There you go. Which one are you going to go for and why?
02:22 Well, you're right that all those are absolute priorities. So if I had, I'm going to go for that one as being the top one.
02:32 And why's that?
02:34 There's, across Wellingborough and Rushden, the unfairness of people coming in here illegally.
02:42 And people say, well hang on a minute, people didn't pay their taxes, do everything here legally and abide by the rules.
02:52 And people coming here shouldn't be here. And they're getting free health treatment, free education, and board and lodging.
03:03 And people just don't think the fairness of it. So that is probably top. But you could have picked any of those.
03:11 In terms of what's being raised with me on the doorstep, so this, here in Rushden, this is what people are raising with me on the doorstep.
03:23 They're really concerned about the state of the high street. It's not just regeneration, it's about antisocial behaviour and criminal activity taking place.
03:37 Alcohol being given to youngsters, that kind of thing. But it's all about, a lot of people are raising with me the issues of the town centre.
03:45 [sounds of a dog barking]