We take to Bridgnorth to see how people feel about Politics and politicians, and to see if there is any trust with them anymore.
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00:00 So how are you feeling ahead of the upcoming election?
00:03 Well, how can you feel?
00:05 What's going to change if Labour get in?
00:11 I can't see anything changing.
00:14 They're all sort of backbiting against each other.
00:18 So what's going to change?
00:20 The likes of us can't change anything.
00:23 Would you say you had much faith, much trust in politicians?
00:27 Not really, no.
00:30 No, I haven't got a lot of faith in them at all.
00:33 Like, they can promise you the world at the moment, can't they?
00:37 But then, you know, who's going to deliver it?
00:40 That's the problem.
00:42 Do you have any idea which way you'll be going at the polls?
00:47 Not really, no.
00:49 I'm already voting for somebody whose party I don't agree with,
00:55 if that makes sense, because he's a decent bloke.
00:59 Or comes over as a decent bloke.
01:04 But he's a Liberal Democrat, and they're not going to get in, surely.
01:11 So they can promise you the world, can't they?
01:15 I don't know.
01:17 Still, it's undecided.
01:20 What are the important policies?
01:24 Well, local issues.
01:27 You know, you've only got to go down the first road you go down,
01:31 when you hit a pothole, and nothing being done about it.
01:35 And somebody said the other day, they sort of asked about the pothole.
01:40 I tried their at all, we'll get to it sometime.
01:43 Well, what sort of attitude's that?
01:45 You know, they should be, you know, getting on with it.
01:50 I've worked at the same place for 50 years,
01:53 and I had to get on with it.
01:54 There was no sort of, "I'll leave it till tomorrow."
01:56 That didn't come into it.
01:58 You know, you had to get on with it.
02:00 And why shouldn't they get on with it?
02:03 And is that your feeling nationally?
02:05 Yeah, well, they just don't get on with anything, do they?
02:07 There's nothing done.
02:08 And then they're on about closing our local tip,
02:12 our local recycling centre.
02:15 Well, that'd be a disaster if they do that.
02:19 You know, every gateway up every country lane
02:23 will be full of rubbish.
02:25 I think you'd get the purpose of it there now,
02:27 but there'll even be more if there's no local recycling centre.
02:33 You know, why have they got to close those?
02:36 And then talking about charging, you had to go to Telford.
02:41 I don't know.
02:43 Thank you.
02:44 No.
02:45 So, one of the things that we're asking people
02:48 who are out here today is trust and faith in politicians.
02:51 Do you trust that it will be better under Labour?
02:56 I think anyone who trusts a politician to begin with
03:00 is a bit of a mug.
03:01 I don't trust someone just because he's the opposition.
03:04 I don't trust someone just because he's the opposite
03:06 to the party that I particularly don't like.
03:09 I'm going to be voting for them, certainly.
03:12 I like the sound of a lot of their policies.
03:14 I agree with a lot of the things they're saying.
03:16 Whether or not they'll live up to is ultimately going to be seen,
03:19 but I think first and foremost, part of finding that out
03:22 will be voting them into Parliament first.
03:25 So you think it's time for change?
03:28 I think change is coming one way or another, either way.
03:32 I don't see people putting up with the status quo
03:34 as it is for much longer.
03:36 I don't know what form that change is going to come in,
03:38 but I remain optimistically hopeful.
03:41 Thank you.
03:41 Appreciate it.
03:42 So we're just here today talking to people about the upcoming election.
03:45 How are your feelings going ahead?
03:49 Feelings going ahead?
03:50 I think personally it's going to be a tough one,
03:53 especially for the people of Bridge North.
03:56 I don't think people of Bridge North are really sure
03:58 who to vote for or who they're going to vote for.
04:01 Personally, I think Shropshire have let us down badly.
04:05 You only have to look at the town itself and look around the town.
04:08 It's looking...
04:09 We are a market town.
04:11 The town survives on tourism,
04:14 but the town at the moment is looking very, very unkept.
04:17 And the general consensus of the population of Bridge North
04:22 is that we are being let down by both Shropshire and the town council,
04:26 by the state of the town.
04:27 The town's looking very unloved and very unkept at the moment.
04:30 So local issues are really important to you?
04:32 Local issues, yes.
04:33 It's whoever's up for election in the town,
04:37 what are they going to do for Bridge North?
04:38 I'm not interested in what they're going to do for Shrewsbury
04:41 or the wider picture.
04:42 What are they going to do to Bridge North?
04:44 What are they helping with Bridge North?
04:45 The state of the roads, the state of the town, the infrastructure.
04:50 What are they going to do for Bridge North?
04:51 Do you have any faith in politicians?
04:55 No.
04:57 No.
04:58 We've had lots of people,
05:01 especially lots of our local politicians,
05:04 especially our Labour Party,
05:05 we're going to do this, we're going to do that,
05:06 we're going to do something else.
05:07 But a lot of our Labour councillors now aren't interested in the town.
05:12 They've all gone off to Shrewsbury
05:14 because they're all looking to become MPs in Shrewsbury.
05:16 You know, the town is very neglected at the moment.
05:22 And that's going to make a big difference to you?
05:24 It will do.
05:25 I want to know, if somebody knocks my door and asks me to vote for them,
05:27 I want to know what they're going to do for the town.
05:29 What are they going to bring to Bridge North?
05:31 Not what they're going to bring to Ludlow, Shrewsbury.
05:33 I mean, one of the big local issues as well at the moment
05:36 is the fact that the possibility of closing our recycling centre.
05:40 If they close the recycling centre,
05:42 where are the people in the town and the surrounding area
05:45 supposed to take all their refuse and waste?
05:47 Have we got to go to Telford?
05:50 Craven Arms?
05:51 Further afield?
05:52 People aren't going to drive, the cost of living,
05:55 price of fuel, everything else, it's going to end to fly-tipping.
05:58 Fly-tipping is rife already, it's just going to make things worse.
06:02 Why are we closing our local recycling centre?
06:05 So that's another issue that's big in the town at the moment.
06:10 We want to see people come out and actually say,
06:13 "No, don't close our recycling centre."
06:15 We need the recycling centre in the town, not kept silent, I'm afraid.
06:19 Do you have any way, which way you're going to go?
06:23 Any idea?
06:24 I don't at the moment.
06:25 I don't at the moment.
06:26 I haven't seen anybody, apart from our local Conservative candidate,
06:31 I haven't seen anybody else around the town canvassing.
06:34 And certainly on social media, nobody's actually come out and said,
06:39 "We're going to do this for Bridge North, this is what we want to do for Bridge North."
06:42 I've heard that it's been very quiet at the moment.
06:45 Does it make a big difference, that seeing them out and about to you?
06:48 It does.
06:48 If they're out and about in Bridge North,
06:50 it shows the people of Bridge North count and the people of Bridge North matter.
06:54 But as I said, at the moment, it's been very quiet,
06:57 apart from our Conservative candidate, we haven't seen anybody at all.
07:00 James, you've just mentioned that the town hall isn't looking its best.
07:06 It's not.
07:07 It's not.
07:08 I mean, it's the main feature of the high street.
07:11 Look at it.
07:14 That's just been pulled out and that's just been left there.
07:18 Look at the weeds and the drinking trough.
07:21 No, it's awful.
07:23 Just as we're passing the town hall here,
07:26 we've just noticed people in the town making their feelings known.