South Ribble election candidates quizzed by voters

Lancashire Post

The Lancashire Post, Lancashire Lead, Blog Preston and the Local Democracy Reporting Service invited all five candidates standing for the South Ribble constituency at next week's general election to a debate in which they fielded questions from voters.    Topics covered ranged from widening one of the borough's busiest roads to providing affordable homes for young people and from Brexit to single-sex spaces.   Four of those on the ballot took part in the event.   In order of appearance from left to right on the stage (with the time of their first contribution) they are:   KATHERINE FLETCHER - Conservative (2'07)   PAUL FOSTER - Labour (3'17)   ANDY HUNTER - Reform UK (4'58)   ANGE TURNER - Liberal Democrats (6'44)   The one other candidate for the South Ribble constituency, who was unable to attend, is:   STEPHANI MOK - Green Party

Transcript

00:00:00Good evening everybody and a very warm welcome to this South Ruby Huston debate brought to

00:00:13you by the Lancashire Post, the Lancashire Lead and Blog Preston. My name is Paul Faulkner,

00:00:18I'm one of Lancashire's global democracy reporters and I'll be steering you through

00:00:22the next couple of hours of what will be, I'm sure, a lively and informative debate.

00:00:27We'd be very delighted to note you'll be hearing far less from me than you will the

00:00:30people you've actually come to see and quiz and hear from, and they are of course the

00:00:35people who are back in to be South Ruby's next MP. We'll introduce you to them in just

00:00:40a moment. Now, looking out at such a civilised audience, I know that I don't have to say

00:00:44this next bit, but I've had my orders and there are various bosses lurking in the room

00:00:48so I'll skip to them and say that obviously we want this to be a respectful and enjoyable

00:00:55evening so if you could please resist the temptation to shout out or talk across people

00:00:59then we will get the most out of it and I'm sure you'll find there are polite ways to

00:01:04signal your appreciation of what's being said. One other thing, we're not expecting a fire

00:01:09alarm so if it sounds, follow the signs to the nearest exit and if you could put your

00:01:13phones at least to silent, that would be very helpful. Now you've already heard far too

00:01:18much from me so let's get down to the reason that you're all here and welcome the candidates

00:01:22themselves. From left to right, as you look at them, we have Catherine Fletcher for the

00:01:27Conservatives, Paul Foster for Labour, Andy Hunter for Reform UK and Ang Turner from the

00:01:34Liberal Democrats. Now there are five candidates standing in the South Ruby constituency at

00:01:39the general election. We did of course invite them all. Unfortunately Stephanie Mock for

00:01:43the Green Party was unable to attend and sends her apologies but you will still be hearing

00:01:48briefly from her because we thought we'd start by giving each of the candidates the

00:01:53chance to make their pitch to you, the people of South Ribble, in 90 seconds and we thought

00:01:58we'd keep it nice and simple and go in alphabetical order and that means that starting just to

00:02:02my left is Catherine Fletcher. So Catherine, your 90 seconds whenever you're ready.

00:02:07Brilliant. Good evening ladies and gentlemen. Thank you so much for organising Paul. I've

00:02:12been in South Ribble, I've got a track record of delivery from you. We've got a new big

00:02:16£2 million hospital, we've got one school rebuild done, we've got £50 million for Penrith

00:02:21and Gillis to be redone, we've got £50 million for World Kit to be redone. In 2010 only 60

00:02:26odd percent of the schools in South Ribble were good or outstanding. Today it's 92 percent.

00:02:32We're investing in our children's futures, we're investing in our healthcare. What we

00:02:36need to carry on doing is investing in the Northern Powerhouse that brought me to politics

00:02:40about 10 or 11 years ago when I was sat on the sofa shouting at the telly and I thought

00:02:45sod it, I'll stick my head above the parapet and see what I can do to deliver for us. So

00:02:50what do we need more of? We need better trains, we need better buses, we need more jobs, we

00:02:54need more business investment, we need lower taxes that fuel it, we need to drive investment

00:02:59forward and so for South Ribble here I've got lots and lots and lots of things for you

00:03:05and I've got lots and lots and lots of more ideas and I'm very much looking forward to

00:03:10hearing your questions this evening.

00:03:13Catherine thank you, we're within 90 seconds, Paul over to you.

00:03:20Good evening everyone, I'm Paul Foster, I'm your Labour Party candidate for the

00:03:25parliamentary election. Ladies and gents, this country needs change. Since 2010 we've

00:03:33been through 10 years of austerity where all our public services were really really really

00:03:39squeezed financially and none of them, none of them are in a better state now. We were

00:03:46then hit with a pandemic, not the government's fault, but the pandemic exposed the significant

00:03:53weaknesses of our NHS and our NHS couldn't cope. We then had war in Europe, our armed

00:04:04forces might not be fighting that war but our armed forces can't support NATO as they

00:04:10should because our armed forces now, due to the cuts, are at the lowest levels since the

00:04:16Napoleonic Wars. We need change. I'm not embarrassed to say to every single person

00:04:22here, we need to take a step back as a country and drive forward a new agenda with stability

00:04:30that makes Britain great again, puts the United back in Kingdom. I served 15 years

00:04:38in the British Army for my country, I've served as your council leader for the last five.

00:04:44I'm part of the community, I'm proud to be part of the community and I'm more than

00:04:50ready to serve as your MP. Thank you.

00:04:54Paul, thank you very much indeed. Next it's, for Reform UK, a legal gentleman.

00:04:59Good evening and thanks for coming. It's exciting, this is the first time I'm doing it. I agree

00:05:06with Paul, we need to change. I think of us, we're called the Reform Party but I think

00:05:11of us as a common sense party. Who doesn't want to see the votes being stopped, which

00:05:17we can do right now? Who knows who's coming into this country illegally and what their

00:05:23ultimate intentions are? And that's not the real elephant in the room. The real elephant

00:05:29in the room is legal immigration. Net migration in 2023 of 685,000 people. That's a few, that's

00:05:39like Manchester. What was it David Cameron said in 2010? We'll have it in the tens of

00:05:46thousands? That doesn't add up mate. What do we want for our children? We want good

00:05:52patriotic education and we want safe sex, single sex facilities. And the police? We

00:06:01want them investigating burglaries and grooming gangs, not doing the Macarena. We want people

00:06:09to want to work so they get more money in their pockets and not getting taken out to

00:06:15spend on virtue-signalling projects like HS2. We want to cut foreign aid and spend

00:06:21it here. We want to encourage businesses by cutting corporation tax and encourage investment

00:06:30into the country and into the area. Andy, sorry, I've got to be scrupulous, scrappy

00:06:34your rules, stop the war on drugs. Andy, I've got to screw you up, I'm sorry, I've got to

00:06:38be fair for everyone for the 90 seconds, we'll be a bit more fluid and free-flowing later

00:06:42on I promise. And now this is where it could all go very wrong as I try to time myself

00:06:46by reading out Stephanie Watt's statement for the Green Party. So this is what Stephanie

00:06:58Watt for the Green Party says, thank you for inviting me to participate in the hustings

00:07:02this evening. I'll start that one for Stephanie from the Green Party again. Thank you for

00:07:14inviting me to the hustings this evening, I volunteer to put myself in South Ribble

00:07:18because the Green Party wishes everyone in England and Wales to have the opportunity

00:07:22to vote Green. I'm a Green Party activist based in Stevenage in Hertfordshire. For me

00:07:27the Green Party stands for social justice and climate justice. Elected Greens in Parliament

00:07:32would focus on quality housing, education and transport, transform our economy and overhaul

00:07:37the tax system to make it fairer. The Green Party would invest to protect the climate

00:07:41for future generations and bring nature back to life. In terms of the economy and financial

00:07:47support to the most vulnerable in society, Greens would introduce a wealth tax of 1%

00:07:51annually on people with assets over £10 million and 2% on those with assets over

00:07:57£1 billion. We would align tax rates on investment income with employment income tax and remove

00:08:02the National Insurance Upper Earnings Limit so higher earners pay more. We would increase

00:08:07the National Minimum Waste to £15 an hour and offset the cost to small businesses by

00:08:11reducing their National Insurance payments. We would increase Universal Credit by £40

00:08:16per week and abolish the two child benefit cap, lifting 250,000 children out of poverty.

00:08:22We'd set up regional mutual banks to support small and medium sized businesses and drive

00:08:26investment in local economic sustainability. Greens would invest £28 billion in the NHS

00:08:32to reduce waiting lists, increase staff pay and guarantee access to an NHS dentist as

00:08:37well as an additional £20 billion of hospital buildings and repair. That certainly did have

00:08:42more to say but that is 90 seconds, very much up. So last but definitely not least

00:08:48and definitely not forgotten from a Liberal Democrat, Ang Turner. Your 90 seconds, whenever

00:08:52you're ready, start.

00:08:54Thank you, good evening everybody. I'm Ang Turner, a Liberal Democratic candidate for

00:08:58South Ribble and I am the only local candidate who originates from the constituency and grown

00:09:03up in Leyland where I attended local schools. I then moved to Hutton with my parents and

00:09:09gained a degree in business and finance from our local university, UCLan. I now live in

00:09:13Pemberton where I am a local South Ribble borough councillor. My working life was spent

00:09:19in the aerospace industry, supplying goods and services to the Royal Air Forces across

00:09:23Europe and apart from a spell working abroad on a specific European collaborative project

00:09:29supporting NATO, I have lived in the constituency for most of my life. Having listened to residents

00:09:36on the doorstep in South Ribble, my campaign is formulated accordingly. At the heart of

00:09:42my campaign is tackling the crisis in social care and NHS, boosting the economy and helping

00:09:49people with the cost of living, stopping the Aurora sewage dumping scandal and protecting

00:09:54our environment and having lived here most of my life, I am acutely aware of the problems

00:09:59which affect the residents of South Ribble through lived experience. I look forward to

00:10:05your questions. Thank you.

00:10:08Thanks, thank you and thank you to each of you for your opening statements. So this is

00:10:12how it's always worked and I've basically in the evening really split into two parts.

00:10:16A lot of you very kindly submitted questions in advance. Far too many to ask individually

00:10:20unfortunately but what we have done is grouped them into themes and picked some representative

00:10:25questions and also amalgamated some others so that hopefully all of your topics are covered.

00:10:30But if you don't hear your topic or your particular question asked then don't worry because we're

00:10:35going to move to the floor and you will get a chance to put either pre-submitted questions

00:10:39or ones that you've just dreamt up this evening, perhaps even on the basis of what you hear

00:10:43over the next hour or so and put them to all of our candidates. Now each candidate will

00:10:48have up to a minute to make their initial response and then they're going to signal

00:10:52to me if they've got anything to say in addition that they want to come back on in response

00:10:57to what's being said by their fellow panellists here. So the first theme of the evening is

00:11:03housing. A question that somebody here in this audience has asked, what will you do

00:11:08to help the current housing situation here in South Ribble? This person says that for

00:11:12a young person buying a house in South Ribble feels like an unattainable dream. They've

00:11:17lived here their whole life but as a result of rising interest rates, ballooning house

00:11:21prices, sluggish wage growth and spiralling cost of living it seems impossible for them

00:11:26to afford a house and stay in the local area. So how would you respond to that? We'll come

00:11:31to you first Andy.

00:11:38I think that interestingly you may be aware that I've been involved in quite a few planning

00:11:45issues in the borough over the past couple of years and actually I think that in South

00:11:53Ribble these guys, the South Ribble Borough Council do a pretty good job so credit to

00:11:59them. It's a difficult one. This is not an inexpensive area and therefore the cost of

00:12:06houses is going to be quite often above the range of many people, not just young people.

00:12:13We have probably got a lot of brownfield sites that could possibly be potential development

00:12:20areas and if we put the right thoughts into how we can do that and get the right people

00:12:26to invest we can probably start building sensible patterns of housing across the relevant

00:12:34areas of the council. That would be my immediate response.

00:12:40Andy thank you. If you could pass the mic to Angela and she'll go next.

00:12:45Well housing is a critical issue in the whole of the country and it isn't right for our

00:12:50young people to not get a base where they live and build their family and their future

00:12:56here. To be honest with you I think our planning system needs actually massive reform. So for

00:13:05example in South Ribble itself we have building developers who get planning permission to

00:13:14build homes and then they land bank them and what that does is it doesn't provide the

00:13:21requirement in the community that we need. So for instance in South Ribble we've got

00:13:28Pemberton Mills and Ferns and there's probably approximately and I could be wrong on quantity

00:13:33around a thousand houses that could be built there. Hopefully again, I'll keep going, once

00:13:42again the planning legislation in this country is failing people by not being more specific

00:13:52about the sort of housing that should be built. So we've got developers taking advantage of

00:13:57getting planning permission and not building houses. That needs correction. And we've got

00:14:01developers who have the opportunity to amend the planning application to turn what is essentially

00:14:07planning applications that would build affordable homes for both the old people in our communities

00:14:15and the young people in our communities and then they put an amendment in and they suddenly

00:14:20build 200 huge five bedroom houses. This has got to change. If you can't provide the kids

00:14:26in your community a start in life to build a family with an affordable home then this

00:14:35affects the whole of our economy and jobs in our economy as well. So I think our building

00:14:42regulation is broken.

00:14:44I'll stop you there. That's great. If you can pass the mic to Paul for your thoughts

00:14:48on housing in South Ribble.

00:14:50Thanks for the comments. I'll take that. South Ribble does do a good job as best it can.

00:14:57There's two or three issues here at play. Firstly I agree with what Andrew has said

00:15:03that there has to be wholesale planning reform. The current planning system just is not fit

00:15:09for purpose and it needs speeding up and it needs local authorities to be given the assurance

00:15:15that if a local authority makes a decision it isn't overturned by government. That's

00:15:20one of the reasons that we have so many delays in the planning process is the interference

00:15:25from government and many people sat in here will be aware of the Secretary of State's

00:15:30decision to overturn the almost 1,400 properties in Pemberton that this authority refused twice

00:15:37so that's very, very, very valid grounds.

00:15:40The second thing we must do, and direct Paul's answer to the question, social housing. We

00:15:46must allow local authorities like we have started doing here in South Ribble to build

00:15:53their own social homes at affordable rents. We can afford to provide those homes. We want

00:16:00to provide those homes. It's current government legislation that prevents us from doing so.

00:16:06That is the only way we're going to get enough homes in South Ribble for our children and

00:16:12our friends and our families to live in. The undersupply is chronic. We have almost 4,000

00:16:18people, families on waiting lists for social housing in South Ribble. They're living in

00:16:24temporary accommodation, some of them, other than those who are private rented, which is

00:16:28near the Fit for Purpose, and it's probably about twice the going rate, Paul. So what

00:16:33I want to see is wholesale social homes being built as we are doing in South Ribble currently.

00:16:39I think the legislation changed and that will help alleviate the problem. Thank you.

00:16:44Paul, thank you, and Kathleen, finally to you. Your thoughts on how a young person in

00:16:48South Ribble could afford to stay and live in South Ribble?

00:16:51Well, as you're aware, Pete, you would have expected me to monitor this very closely.

00:16:56I've got cousins in Leyland, I've got cousins across the way in the parts of the constituency

00:17:01that I've just gone into South Ribble. You can buy a three-bedroom terraced home within

00:17:0715 minutes' walk of main Leyland train station, which is on a direct line to Manchester, for

00:17:13approximately £125,000, and two people earning below the average wage could, and with support

00:17:22from government, like abolishing stamp duty for first-time buyers, find that an accessible

00:17:28home with some saving. Now, does that mean that that's true all over the constituency?

00:17:33No, absolutely not, but I think it's important to remember that we aren't London and the

00:17:38south-east. When I go down south and advocate for a northern powerhouse, I say to them,

00:17:43why are you not screaming for a northern powerhouse if you're so reassured? Because your housing

00:17:47market is overheating, and they have a very genuine problem. However, here, there are

00:17:52two or three points that I want to make. First of all, Paul, we know we've got £25 million

00:17:59for the Leyland town deal. Within that is approximately £750,000 from Home England

00:18:05to build social housing, to say the government isn't supporting that sector is not true.

00:18:10And the other thing with planning is Labour Party nationally are saying, this is people

00:18:16with the grey belts. Now, we as Conservatives absolutely support brownfield development.

00:18:21I think the manifesto has got some really interesting ideas in it about taking away

00:18:26some of the lack of financial incentives to build brownfield first, as well as continuing

00:18:32to support first-time buyers. But the idea that we just rip it all up is for the birds.

00:18:39Paul mentioned that planning application. The reason that planning application was put

00:18:45through by officials within the department is because the local council has an out-of-date

00:18:50local plan. This is not some kind of nifty-wifty thing. It is a really important document that

00:18:57is what the officials use to identify whether the housing is required by the local council.

00:19:04So if you have a planning authority that on one hand is saying, here is a field, please

00:19:08build on it, and on the other hand is saying, no, no, no, don't build on it, then unfortunately

00:19:13you put government in an invisious position. For the record, I don't think BMO is suitable

00:19:18to take it out of the local plan and update it.

00:19:22I think you've given Paul a few things that he'd like to respond to. Can I ask you as

00:19:26well, Paul, in terms of Pickering's Farm in Pemberton, which you mentioned, it was a specified

00:19:32and allocated site, wasn't it? So it's difficult for the council to then justify refusing it.

00:19:37No, it's not, because the land is identified as a potential site, Paul, if the proposals

00:19:43brought forward by the developers were appropriate and they weren't appropriate. So, Catherine,

00:19:49just a couple of points. The local plan in South Ribble is in date. We have a current

00:19:53local plan that is valid until 2015.

00:20:01But ladies and gentlemen, you've just been told that South Ribble doesn't have a valid

00:20:05local plan. South Ribble very much does have a valid local plan. It is valid until 2015.

00:20:12We are currently in the process of developing the new local plan with our partners in Chorley

00:20:30and Preston and that's going to be submitted to the Secretary of State next year. Within

00:20:37the justification that Mr Gove gave for overturning the democratic decision of the local authority

00:20:43here in South Ribble, there was no mention of the local plan not being valid. He actually

00:20:57stated in his response, as did the Inspector, that the local plan was sound. The reason

00:21:05it was refused was on highways issues, the 582 in particular, amongst other issues that

00:21:13the planning authority had. Catherine, you also mentioned the town deal having £700,000

00:21:21in the town. The reason it was refused is because of, as I said, the lack of housing

00:21:31didn't have any money from Homes England for housing. South Liverpool Borough Council with

00:21:37the town board then applied to Homes England afterwards and we gained, it's actually just

00:21:44short of £8 million worth of contributions towards social housing as part of the town bid.

00:21:52Paul can I just bring in or ask whether Andrew and Andy on those particular issues,

00:21:57the issue of the local plan and its suitability and its being here.

00:22:02I think this is an interesting debate and I feel like we can carry on with this, it's great.

00:22:07Nothing to say on that one then Andy, and yourself, nothing to add to it.

00:22:11Excuse me, can we just ask a question?

00:22:13Sorry sir, we're opening it up to the floor at the end for questions on the local deal.

00:22:17Why ask now when we're talking about social housing?

00:22:19Just because that's the format that we want.

00:22:21Sorry sir, that's just because that's the format that we've already agreed to.

00:22:25You'll be able to ask that question when we open it up to the floor at the end.

00:22:33The format we've agreed is we will go through some individual themes and representative questions

00:22:45and then we'll open it up to the floor. I promise you you'll be able to make that issue or any

00:22:49other thing. At the risk of permanently bouncing between both of you on this particular issue,

00:22:56fine, maybe you wanted to go back on the point you just said.

00:23:01Very, very briefly because we will have to.

00:23:02Our kids need somewhere to live.

00:23:06Just specifically on what Paul's saying, otherwise we can't go backwards.

00:23:09No, no, our kids need somewhere to live and I think the reform answer really does put

00:23:15a local window on the national line which is vote reform, get Labour.

00:23:20Thank you very much indeed for that.

00:23:27How we have peer service next, you won't be surprised to know we have several questions

00:23:33on the NHS. One in particular though is asking what the individual candidates plan to do to

00:23:39support staff morale, recruitment and retention in the NHS. So we'll start on that one with you

00:23:46Anne, so we've got the mic at the wrong end of the table.

00:23:52Well as most people know the NHS and care is at the heart of the Lib Dem campaign and

00:24:00basically what we want to see to boost staff morale, I think you said, to recruit

00:24:08personnel like doctors and nurses. So at the heart of our campaign we do have an £8 billion

00:24:13package which we want to invest in health and care. In order to boost people's morale you need

00:24:21to make sure that they're not overworked and we want to put plans in place so that staff do not

00:24:27have to work outrageous hours under pressure, being tired and fatigued, potentially that

00:24:34affecting their decision making. We want to see an extra, our funding that we've done is to see

00:24:41an extra 8,000 doctors. We want guarantees for dentist appointments for everybody and we want

00:24:50to see establishing mental hubs for young people in the community. All this will do is reduce the

00:24:59burden of the NHS and spread out the workload which will hopefully benefit the morale of staff

00:25:08and we want to help people to spend more than more years in their life in good health by investing

00:25:14in the public health, as I said, which is our £8 billion package. There's a lot more I can add to

00:25:19this but I'd better stop there. Thank you. Thank you. Paul, have the Lib Dems outflanked Labour on

00:25:26this particular issue in terms of the investment that they're planning? No because we've not stated

00:25:31how it's funded Paul. The NHS needs to do, sorry the government needs to,

00:25:41the government needs to listen to its staff and treat its staff with some respect. Well I remember

00:25:49during the Covid crisis, Mr Johnson and Co used to clap for the NHS 8 o'clock on a Friday. As soon

00:25:57as the Covid crisis was over each and every one of those unions was targeted to the point we've

00:26:02still got strikes today. We need to change the rosters for the staff and the working

00:26:08cycle for the staff. We need to listen to them and treat them with respect. The Labour Party,

00:26:13you'll notice, has stated we're going to create 40,000 additional appointments per week and we're

00:26:20going to do this in conjunction with the staff. The doctors and nurses within our wonderful NHS

00:26:27are the best people to decide what's best for the NHS and how to deal with the challenges that we

00:26:33have. They don't want people to have to wait two years for a scan. They don't want people, Paul,

00:26:41to get ill. So we need to listen to what they say to us. We're going to utilise those facilities.

00:26:47A lot of the NHS facilities we have now are wonderful at all times, but we may come to that

00:26:51later, but they're used basically 9 till 5 from Monday to Friday. We're going to start using the

00:26:57facilities into the evenings and at the weekends. And guess who mentioned that to us? Who proposed

00:27:04that to us? The staff. Thank you. Catherine, do you not make any earth-shattering commitments

00:27:12on the NHS in the Conservative manifesto, are you? So I think the original question was about

00:27:18staff and staff morale. We've done the thing that no government has done for decades, which is put

00:27:23a long-term workforce plan in to understand what training places. I've personally campaigned to

00:27:28make sure that UCLan's medical school places increase because they're a very paltry figure

00:27:34and we want local doctors trained here from our local community to work in local hospitals.

00:27:39We've got Chorley's Hospitals Future Secure as one of only 8 elective surgical hubs in the country

00:27:46and actually it's one of the best performing, which is credit to our staff. But when you talk

00:27:51to the trust leadership, they talk about staffing, they talk about contracts, two things are really

00:27:56bothering them. One, they put it beautifully. Do you remember those pictures you used to get

00:28:00where it was a blank square in the corner and you moved the squares around to make the picture?

00:28:06The hospital trust leadership described the new hospital that I've secured

00:28:10to replace the one in the North East as one of the most important things, not necessarily just

00:28:16because it's a big shiny white elephant, but because it creates the blank square that allows

00:28:21for the rearrangement of the services for the 21st century. You know, pathology samples are getting

00:28:26lost because they're getting shipped around a number of different labs. Now, just to be clear,

00:28:31on reform of terms and conditions, we've done that with the nurses, we've done that with the

00:28:35consultants, we've done that with the specialists. The only people that are still on strike and not

00:28:40accepting they're on strike right now and they're not accepting the reform of payment conditions

00:28:45is the junior doctors because they are holding out for a 35% pay rise and it is absolutely

00:28:53criminal and is letting down their other colleagues within the NHS. So I think that's

00:28:59super important and Paul mentioned 40,000 more appointments per GP per week. Do you know how many

00:29:08appointments each GP in the country do? It's millions. 40,000 is a rounding error and this

00:29:13is the problem with the Labour Party, is their soundbites are good but their numbers don't add up.

00:29:18So if you go and talk to the trust, what they want is the capacity to allow them to look after their

00:29:25staff and for their staff to not strike for silly amounts of money but to accept the reform of the

00:29:30working conditions that allows for things like weekend working.

00:29:34I know you're enjoying the debate but I'm sure you've got something to say on the NHS and reform's position really is one of reform, isn't it?

00:29:41Sorry?

00:29:42Reform's position really is one of reform for the NHS.

00:29:44Yeah, it's just I don't like it in its current form.

00:29:47The sort of gist of the first question was morale and the staff, how they feel about things.

00:29:53I think within the NHS the frontline staff are pretty good. You know I've got a few issues myself

00:30:00and they've been pretty good. I've really enjoyed working with them and them getting me better.

00:30:07When you talk about morale, we're suggesting that all frontline staff are pretty good.

00:30:15They pay zero basic rate tax for three years. That's going to keep people in the NHS

00:30:23and it's going to attract people who have left the NHS to come back to the NHS.

00:30:29We're going to end training caps for UK medical students.

00:30:33That means UK medical students will graduate into their profession in the UK.

00:30:39We're going to write off student fees if they stay in the UK.

00:30:44Then there's sort of things that you know might just motivate people to want to work here.

00:30:48That might just motivate people to try and end the doctor and nursing carer shortages.

00:30:55When we go to waiting lists, we recommend that we start using more independent and not-for-profit

00:31:04health provision in the UK and overseas. We think we should introduce relief on private

00:31:10health care and insurance. More private health care would relieve the pressure on the NHS.

00:31:16The frontline staff will be under less pressure and morale would improve.

00:31:23Operating theatres open at weekends. Let's get things moving more effectively

00:31:28within the operational side of the health service.

00:31:31Pharmacy first, GP second, A&E third. If you're feeling a bit ropey, don't go to the GP.

00:31:41Let's get a pharmacist. They're pretty smart cookies, these people. Let's get a pharmacist

00:31:45saying, yeah, you know, take some penicillin, take some aspirin or whatever it might be.

00:31:50Let's get more pharmacists. Let's get tax incentives for people to open more pharmacies.

00:31:58All of those reduce the pressure on the frontline NHS, which is working pretty hard,

00:32:05and that will improve morale.

00:32:07Andy, thank you. If we can bring you back in on various points that were raised,

00:32:11but if you could just stick to the specific points, if you can,

00:32:13I think it answers the challenge to you as to how they would pay for the extra investment in the NHS.

00:32:20Okay, we have absolutely made it clear how we'll pay the £8 million package

00:32:26for the NHS and care by closing the tax loop, tax loops for the wealthiest

00:32:33and recovering and reversing the tax cuts to the banks.

00:32:37It's costed in our manifesto, and that's where we're going to get the money from.

00:32:42Thank you.

00:32:43Thank you. Paul, what were some challenges that you wanted to come back on there,

00:32:48particularly in terms of the 40,000 appointments that Labour have promised

00:32:51and whether they're GP appointments or otherwise?

00:32:54Yeah, and the hospital appointments on the second day.

00:32:57Well, I think we've got Will in this tonight.

00:33:00Will's a matron in the NHS.

00:33:04It's Will, but we should be listening to Paul about the issues with the NHS

00:33:08and speaking to him more often and his colleagues.

00:33:13Katherine Genshin.

00:33:14Can you speak to the...

00:33:18We've got to speak to...

00:33:19I'm being barracks here, ladies and gentlemen. I'll carry on.

00:33:23So Katherine mentioned, she speaks to the trustees and the management often

00:33:29about the hospitals.

00:33:30That's one of the problems we have.

00:33:33The NHS is far too top heavy with its management structure

00:33:36and it's not going to focus on the doctors and nurses

00:33:39actually delivering these services.

00:33:43Katherine also mentioned and specifically mentioned 40,000 GP appointments.

00:33:48Just clarify that one.

00:33:49That is not what we have said in our manifesto.

00:33:53We said 40,000 additional appointments.

00:33:56That could be for a scan.

00:33:57It could be seen as a physiotherapist.

00:34:00It could be a multitude of issues.

00:34:03And Paul, can I ask one more point?

00:34:04Are we discussing a new hospital later?

00:34:07If that new hospital comes up in the audience questions...

00:34:09I'm sure it will.

00:34:10I'm sure it will.

00:34:11Well, Katherine, one for you.

00:34:13Your colleagues are about to join the hospital in South Ribble

00:34:15through some method.

00:34:17Would you like to respond to that?

00:34:18Is it not the fact that South Ribble is really the only place

00:34:21that could house a new hospital?

00:34:24I'm incredibly excited about it.

00:34:26I think the lack of borders or political cynicism

00:34:29for something that's so important.

00:34:30The NHS has been a political football for too long

00:34:32and that's part of the problem of it.

00:34:34They're absolutely brutal.

00:34:35Now, the only reason...

00:34:37I've had a lot of people say, where's it going to be?

00:34:39And I can't tell you because you've only bought

00:34:41two out of the three pieces of land.

00:34:43And if I go gobbing off for my own political advantage,

00:34:45I would stick a zero on the price for the taxpayer.

00:34:48And I am not going to do it for my own political advantage,

00:34:52but it would be a fantastic site.

00:34:55Because let's face it,

00:34:55the people of Wycreston are wonderful,

00:34:57but it's a cramped site.

00:34:58You can't park and you have to shut the road

00:35:00when the air ambulance lands.

00:35:02We need a seat also that helps rearrange

00:35:05and consolidate services.

00:35:09Katherine, thank you very much indeed for that.

00:35:12Wrap up there on the NHS.

00:35:13We'll come back open in the public questions

00:35:17later on in the debates.

00:35:18The A5A2 was mentioned during the housing question.

00:35:21I've got a specific question on that.

00:35:23What plans do any of the parties have

00:35:25for the dualling of the A5A2,

00:35:26which in case anybody doesn't know,

00:35:28has been a decade long aspiration, more than even.

00:35:33Due to the increase of housing,

00:35:34Lancashire Cricket Club developments

00:35:36and Lancashire Cricket Club developments,

00:35:37this section of road is already congested

00:35:39and it's only going to get worse in the next few years

00:35:42without action now.

00:35:44The current plans are not to dual,

00:35:46but to partially dual it, aren't they?

00:35:49Katherine Stone, for you again,

00:35:50isn't that a sop, basically?

00:35:52I haven't seen the current plan,

00:35:53so you're a step ahead of me, Paul.

00:35:55I mean, the A5A2 is a car park,

00:35:58so I live over in New Longton

00:36:00and I'm coming off the motorway.

00:36:01If you do it at the wrong time

00:36:02or if there's an accident,

00:36:03you're like, oh, that HPH truck turned over,

00:36:05you know, it's an absolute mess

00:36:07with all those little roundabouts

00:36:09that people don't understand.

00:36:11Lancashire Towns Council have applied

00:36:12for up to £40 million, £50 million

00:36:14of the money that we released

00:36:16taking the tough decisions

00:36:17to stop HS2 at Birmingham

00:36:20and that was because HS2 was taken,

00:36:22I was very briefly raised in those stats

00:36:24at an internship, if I'm honest,

00:36:26but what was very true

00:36:27was that there was not a penny left

00:36:29in the transport budget

00:36:30because all of the money was going on HS2.

00:36:33So last autumn, we took political counters

00:36:36to say, well, stop at Birmingham

00:36:38because there are other

00:36:39more important priorities.

00:36:40We'd rather spend £19 billion

00:36:42in the north of the Midlands

00:36:43on other things

00:36:45and part of that is the bid for the 5A2.

00:36:47But as far as I'm aware,

00:36:48the plans aren't finalised,

00:36:50so I will support anything

00:36:52that stops it being a car park

00:36:53but not a roads engineer,

00:36:54so I'm not going to say

00:36:56this particular solution

00:36:57solves the problem

00:36:58but the government is making

00:37:00the hard decisions

00:37:01so we've got the money available

00:37:02to solve the problem.

00:37:04Paul, to you on the A5A2,

00:37:06the connected Tavis and Pickering's farm issue.

00:37:09Yes, it is and that, Catherine,

00:37:11has referenced and accepted

00:37:12that it's a car park, Catherine,

00:37:14because that's the very reason

00:37:15why the planning committee

00:37:16in South Ribble refused applications twice

00:37:19because of that reason

00:37:20and the Secretary of State

00:37:25overturned the decision

00:37:27of the planning committee

00:37:29because they said it was already congested,

00:37:32therefore another 1,200 homes

00:37:34wouldn't make a material impact

00:37:36which is utter nonsense.

00:37:38Just a point of clarity, Catherine,

00:37:41the government hasn't released funds

00:37:44from HS2,

00:37:45they were borrowing money

00:37:46to fund HS2

00:37:48and you're still therefore

00:37:49borrowing money

00:37:50that you're reallocating,

00:37:52you're not releasing funds.

00:37:54The 5A2 that the Conservative

00:37:56Lancashire County Council

00:37:57have decided now

00:37:59not to duel any of the 5A2 at all.

00:38:03They have now decided

00:38:04they're going to re-profile

00:38:06some more of the roundabouts

00:38:08and the majority of the funds

00:38:10that Catherine's referring to

00:38:12have now been moved

00:38:14to fund the road improvements

00:38:17around the two major

00:38:18Lancashire County Council.

00:38:21Catherine, you haven't seen them

00:38:22so you can't comment.

00:38:25So, let me just, let me answer.

00:38:27You can't say the funding.

00:38:31So, the 5A2,

00:38:33sorry ladies and gentlemen about this,

00:38:34the 5A2 duelling is no longer going ahead.

00:38:39They've reallocated the funds

00:38:41to do highway improvements

00:38:42around the Lancashire County Council

00:38:44creek ground that's being built

00:38:45and the works around

00:38:47the Hewden development site

00:38:48that is Lancashire County Council site as well.

00:38:52Very critical,

00:38:52you put the full funding for the 5A2

00:38:55even though it could cost no more than £1 million.

00:38:57Yeah, it is absolutely critical

00:38:59to this constituent support

00:39:00that that 5A2 is duelled.

00:39:02Therefore, we need to find the money,

00:39:05invest the money and build the road.

00:39:08That is causing no end of issues

00:39:10to the people of South Liverpool.

00:39:12Thank you.

00:39:12Andy, the 5A2 needs to be duelled

00:39:16or upgraded to a lesser degree?

00:39:20As you know,

00:39:21reform is fairly new to this game

00:39:23and I think we'll let the people

00:39:25who are going to be in control

00:39:27fight this one out actually

00:39:29because we just want to be able

00:39:31to drive on the roads, don't we?

00:39:33We don't want all the roadworks,

00:39:34we don't want all the potholes,

00:39:35we don't want all the,

00:39:37you know, all the often mad drivers

00:39:40that are around because of the bad roads

00:39:42and the potholes and the roundabouts and things.

00:39:45So once again,

00:39:46it's a very interesting discussion

00:39:47between you two people

00:39:49and I'm enjoying it.

00:39:51As I get more involved

00:39:53in the game of politics nationally

00:39:56and in South Liverpool specifically,

00:39:58I'm sure I'll have more to say on it.

00:40:01Andy, the A502,

00:40:03worth the investment to duel it in full or not?

00:40:08So I've got a real issue

00:40:10with roads in general

00:40:12and I think if a lot of you've been abroad

00:40:15on holiday or as I did,

00:40:17working in Europe,

00:40:18I think successive governments

00:40:20have massively failed us

00:40:21by focusing investment on roads.

00:40:26This country has a high population,

00:40:30it's part of Europe,

00:40:32which is going to continually grow,

00:40:33it's a growth area on the planet

00:40:36and I actually feel,

00:40:39answering this honestly,

00:40:40we should be focusing more on public transport

00:40:44so that we get to a point

00:40:45where when I was living in Germany,

00:40:49in fact,

00:40:50we have the choice of a tram,

00:40:53an underground,

00:40:55a train

00:40:57or a bus service

00:40:59and I really do get upset

00:41:04when I hear about road building infrastructure

00:41:07when actually we need a government

00:41:09that's going to start focusing on public transport

00:41:13because in the long term

00:41:14that's going to be best for our country

00:41:16and best for the environment

00:41:18and if I want to talk specifically

00:41:20about the A582,

00:41:22it's just going to be one of those projects again

00:41:25that just gets left

00:41:25because if you listen to the candidates

00:41:27and this isn't a cluster from them,

00:41:29it sounds like it's something,

00:41:32it's like the bridge over the river in Carrick,

00:41:35it's been talked about,

00:41:36it's going to happen

00:41:37but the money's never been available.

00:41:39In the meantime,

00:41:40we're moving on decades

00:41:42and our public transport system

00:41:43is way behind Europe.

00:41:45Thank you.

00:41:49The funding is being re-profiled

00:41:51for the

00:41:57When did we make the decision to

00:41:59stop HS2 at Birmingham?

00:42:00It's not November.

00:42:01So to be fair,

00:42:04that's a whole slug of money,

00:42:05plans coming in,

00:42:06plans being developed

00:42:07so I don't think it's fair to say

00:42:09that it's not going to happen.

00:42:09I think it's important

00:42:11and Paul's highlighted

00:42:13and I've highlighted

00:42:14that we care about this stuff.

00:42:16I think what you can't do

00:42:17is just make claims to say

00:42:20oh the money's gone here,

00:42:21the money's gone there

00:42:22when you haven't seen the overall picture.

00:42:23I mean a part of the HS2 money,

00:42:25you know people talk about potholes,

00:42:27Lancashire County Council

00:42:29has ended up with about 240 odd million

00:42:31over the next few years to do potholes

00:42:33but to be fair to them,

00:42:35you know it's poured down all winter

00:42:36so we've given them money

00:42:37and it's poured down

00:42:38and they need to catch back up again

00:42:40but if they're just on public transport

00:42:45Angie's right,

00:42:46it has to be within the balance

00:42:47of road and public transport infrastructure.

00:42:49We've got a train station

00:42:51in the constituency

00:42:52where the train stops,

00:42:53people peer out at the platform

00:42:55and they can't get on and off

00:42:56and this is an absolute nonsense

00:42:58and for a relatively small sum of money

00:43:00you could probably have four

00:43:02of what it would take to dual the A582

00:43:05and with the money

00:43:05that we've given to the buses

00:43:07to improve the bus services

00:43:08and the get around for two pound

00:43:10that has to be part

00:43:11of an overall responsible portfolio

00:43:13but I think the illustrative comment was

00:43:16we need it Julian,

00:43:17it's going to cost 100 million quid,

00:43:19I don't know where we'll get the money from

00:43:21but we need it to happen.

00:43:22Life isn't like that,

00:43:23you've got to make tough choices

00:43:24and make sure you spend your money

00:43:25in the right way.

00:43:26Okay, clarify those points.

00:43:27Paul, very very quickly,

00:43:29a couple of sentences

00:43:30just on this issue of the funding

00:43:31and whether it's...

00:43:32So the report,

00:43:33Catherine says that we can't comment

00:43:35on the scheme that's been put forward

00:43:37by Lancashire County Council

00:43:38for the re-profiling of the 582

00:43:41but can because I've seen them

00:43:42and the council's debated with Catherine

00:43:45and this is to put the funding application

00:43:47in your right

00:43:47because the funding hasn't been allocated

00:43:49but I've read an email today

00:43:51because they're absolutely interested in this,

00:43:54they're waiting to consult

00:43:56after the general election

00:43:57with whether the MP himself

00:43:59would be at that point.

00:44:00Andy?

00:44:03Just not specifically on the A582

00:44:06but generally on potholes

00:44:07and the conditions of the roads.

00:44:11Really quick,

00:44:12electric vehicles weigh stacks

00:44:14more than hydrocarbon vehicles.

00:44:17They are ripping up the roads on the estates.

00:44:19Why are we not taxing Jeff Bezos

00:44:22for all his Amazon trucks

00:44:23that are driving around

00:44:24and ripping the roads up?

00:44:26Andy, you may as well keep the microphone

00:44:27because the next issue is Brexit.

00:44:29I'll start with you on that one

00:44:30because I'm sure you will have

00:44:31something to say on that.

00:44:32There's a question in the audience

00:44:34who would like to know

00:44:35whether each of the parties

00:44:36will be trying to gain access

00:44:38to the single market.

00:44:40We certainly won't,

00:44:41that's for sure.

00:44:43And I think if Labour decide

00:44:45that they want to re-engage

00:44:48with the people in Europe

00:44:49we're going to have a nasty little shock

00:44:51because Georgia and Italy

00:44:53and Marine France

00:44:54and the AFP in Germany

00:44:56are going in exactly

00:44:57the opposite direction

00:44:59that Sir Keir Starmer

00:45:04was hoping for.

00:45:05So it's going to be a pickle again

00:45:07but the problem is

00:45:09with the Conservative Party

00:45:11that they've just betrayed the country,

00:45:12haven't they?

00:45:13They've absolutely betrayed the country.

00:45:15We voted,

00:45:16and the civil service

00:45:17has betrayed the country.

00:45:19We voted to come out of Europe.

00:45:23Us.

00:45:23You're out, aren't you?

00:45:24Yeah.

00:45:25You're out, aren't you?

00:45:25You're out.

00:45:26Well, so why on earth

00:45:29would we want to go back?

00:45:31We don't, we don't believe...

00:45:34Nobody's saying that.

00:45:36Exactly.

00:45:37We're not planning on going back.

00:45:38I suspect Labour

00:45:39is going to want to tie

00:45:41the country more closely to Europe

00:45:43and they're going to have the problems

00:45:44that I've just explained.

00:45:46I don't know what the Conservative position is now

00:45:48because they were in power

00:45:49when we came out of Europe

00:45:51and now what have we done with it?

00:45:53Can I just ask you briefly,

00:45:54what is the reform vision for Brexit

00:45:57that looks different

00:45:58to the way it is now?

00:45:59How's the single market?

00:46:00How's the customs union?

00:46:01And the barriers that come with that?

00:46:04Well, we can only do things

00:46:06if we get in power

00:46:07and we know that this election

00:46:09we're not going to get in power

00:46:10but we're going to be in people's faces

00:46:12for the next five years

00:46:13and maybe in five years time

00:46:15we'll be able to say

00:46:17that the trade opportunities

00:46:21that have been missed,

00:46:23the free ports that could have,

00:46:25you know, been managed quite readily

00:46:27and kicked off

00:46:29and there are some projects

00:46:30that are beyond political time frames

00:46:34and we need a method

00:46:36as we did with the referendum

00:46:38to be able to get cross-party agreement

00:46:41on how things move forward in the future

00:46:43so that we don't stop and start

00:46:45and stop and start every time there's a change.

00:46:48Andy, thank you.

00:46:48And has the Liberal Democrats

00:46:50made a virtue of their campaign

00:46:52on Brexit in the past

00:46:53but slightly quieter this time around?

00:46:55Is that fair?

00:46:55Yeah, well, I wouldn't say it's quieter.

00:46:57I mean, it's not in our manifesto

00:46:59because there are critical issues

00:47:00in this country

00:47:01which are far more important at the moment

00:47:03as I said, healthcare

00:47:05and the NHS

00:47:07and the cost of living crisis.

00:47:08However, what I would say

00:47:10is that my opinion

00:47:14is that it's coincidental

00:47:18that since we left Europe

00:47:20our economy has faltered

00:47:22and has flatlined

00:47:24for the time that we've left Europe.

00:47:27I think it's absolutely clear to me

00:47:29if you are part of a trading group

00:47:32you're stronger

00:47:34than you would be if you're on your own

00:47:36and basically

00:47:37all the trade agreements

00:47:38that the government has negotiated

00:47:43has not come to a great deal.

00:47:46Our economy is suffering

00:47:47because our business people

00:47:49who buy goods and services

00:47:52export them out of the country

00:47:53and import them in

00:47:55are paying higher duties

00:47:57and it's making businesses

00:48:00actually go out of business.

00:48:03I am still a passionate European.

00:48:06I worked in Germany

00:48:08on a collaborative European project

00:48:11to build a jet

00:48:12to support the NATO alliance.

00:48:15We worked collaboratively

00:48:17and we ended up

00:48:19as a result of that

00:48:20having a more efficient

00:48:21more reliable

00:48:24protection and defence for our country

00:48:26and we did it because we did it together

00:48:28because no country can afford

00:48:29to build a product like that on its own.

00:48:33So I'm totally pro-European

00:48:35I think if we join Europe again

00:48:37it will massively affect

00:48:39the output of our economy

00:48:42and we've got a massive trading nation there

00:48:45of you know

00:48:46500 billion market trading nation

00:48:49to deal with

00:48:50and I think by leaving Brexit

00:48:52it's affected our economy.

00:48:54Paul, does this mean I'm not going to be

00:48:57a big stage star with James' lineup?

00:49:00Absolutely not.

00:49:01So let's make it absolutely

00:49:04clear

00:49:05single market and the customs union

00:49:07are not up for negotiation

00:49:09with the Labour Party, Paul.

00:49:11They're not.

00:49:11We've made that categorically clear.

00:49:14That's going to mean that he changed his mind

00:49:16from when he was pro-single market.

00:49:18Well we all have, haven't we?

00:49:21We all have.

00:49:22The Brexit deal

00:49:24Brexit's done.

00:49:26Brexit's done.

00:49:27It's caused

00:49:29huge amounts of damage

00:49:31to UK trade

00:49:32and what we have to do now

00:49:34is go and get the 2019 oven ready deal

00:49:37after it maps me out of the oven

00:49:39and try and get it to work

00:49:41and work properly.

00:49:43We have to

00:49:44and the first thing we need to do

00:49:46is improve our relationships

00:49:48with our European partners

00:49:50but no

00:49:51there's no renegotiation.

00:49:52The deal's done.

00:49:53We're out of Europe.

00:49:55What we need to do now

00:49:56is make the arrangements better

00:49:58to improve trade

00:50:00between the United Kingdom and Europe.

00:50:03Catherine, I think it'll probably get you an answer

00:50:05on whether you'd be proud to re-gain access

00:50:07to the single market

00:50:08but can I ask you

00:50:08are you proud of the way Brexit has been done?

00:50:12So I'll just pick up the very last

00:50:14of what Paul's just said actually.

00:50:15So we're not going back into Europe.

00:50:18We're not going to join the customs union.

00:50:19We're not going to join the single market

00:50:20to Labour's position

00:50:21but we need to make the rules work better.

00:50:23So what that means ladies and gentlemen

00:50:25is that we will align

00:50:26if we can rotate across the European Union

00:50:29without having a seat around the table

00:50:30to actually influence any of those rules.

00:50:33Now, I just want to correct a few

00:50:37perhaps not as many people

00:50:40who've got a business and science background

00:50:42like I have.

00:50:46We have grown more

00:50:48than all of the rest of European economies

00:50:50since 2010 in the UK.

00:50:52We are now the second in the world

00:50:55for greenfield foreign direct investment

00:50:58with a just overtake of China.

00:51:00It's only the USA first.

00:51:01What does that mean?

00:51:02That means people coming from other countries

00:51:04to invest money to build factories etc

00:51:06and build new stuff that they want to do.

00:51:11What we've chosen to do post Brexit

00:51:13is we have made deals

00:51:15with the parts of the world

00:51:17that are growing like topsy.

00:51:19The European Union is a relatively stagnant market.

00:51:22Now they are my friends.

00:51:23I've also worked in Europe

00:51:26on collaborative projects

00:51:27and I certainly don't see Brexit

00:51:29as a rejection of my European identity at all.

00:51:33And I think we are demonstrating

00:51:35with things like the AUKUS deal

00:51:37where we're bringing in Japan, America, Australia

00:51:40that there is a world and a future out there

00:51:42that can replicate those partnerships

00:51:44whilst keeping strong relationships

00:51:46with the Italians, the Germans etc

00:51:48on the tempest and typhoon in BAE.

00:51:52So I don't think we should get

00:51:54into a council of despair.

00:51:56I was the trade envoy

00:51:58selling the UK out in Mozambique in Africa

00:52:01so you see work out there.

00:52:02I can speak a tiny bit of the local language.

00:52:05Be proud of Britain

00:52:06because they're bloody proud of us.

00:52:08They're desperate to do business with us.

00:52:10They're all growing

00:52:11when you look at the demographics

00:52:13of the African continent.

00:52:14Something silly like 60% of their population

00:52:17is under 30.

00:52:18These people are our friends.

00:52:19They're open to trading with us.

00:52:21We can maintain our friendly relationships

00:52:23with Europe

00:52:24and salvage 4,000 to the world.

00:52:27You wanted to come back on something

00:52:28just really briefly

00:52:29and then I realised you wanted to bring it up.

00:52:30Yeah, Catherine quoted there

00:52:33the growth figures since 2010

00:52:35and I urge you all to go

00:52:38and look at Sky's economist, Ed Conway.

00:52:42There's one commodity

00:52:45that UK PLC trades

00:52:47that has distorted our GDP figures hugely

00:52:51and that's gold, ladies and gentlemen.

00:52:54Gold.

00:52:54We trade gold in this country

00:52:57through the UK

00:52:58and that is hugely distorting our GDP figures.

00:53:02The reason I know

00:53:04that businesses in South Ribble

00:53:07are hugely struggling

00:53:08with the current Brexit deal

00:53:10is because they've told us

00:53:12and there's a numerous UK SMEs, Paul,

00:53:15who can no longer trade

00:53:16or afford to trade with Europe

00:53:18because the terms of the deal

00:53:20have been agreed by Mr Johnson.

00:53:22Thank you.

00:53:23Andy, you wanted to clarify

00:53:25one particular thing.

00:53:26Gordon Brown sold the rock and roll.

00:53:30We came out of Europe

00:53:32and there's thousands and thousands

00:53:34and thousands of EU regulations

00:53:36still hamstringing British business.

00:53:39Why?

00:53:41And you talked about the relationship

00:53:43with the European countries.

00:53:46We've got a Commonwealth.

00:53:47That's the growing part of the world.

00:53:49Europe is bombing.

00:53:51The German economy is bombing.

00:53:53The French economy is bombing.

00:53:55Why do we want to be in a bombing market?

00:53:57Why do we not want to get out there

00:53:59and trade with the parts of the world

00:54:01that you just said are growing like Topsy?

00:54:05That's what we want to be doing.

00:54:06We want to be sitting around

00:54:07on our backsides trading with Macron

00:54:10or whoever follows him.

00:54:13We'd like some of the regulations kicked out.

00:54:16Gold is a bit of a sensitive issue, I guess.

00:54:21Okay, we'll leave Brexit

00:54:23hanging on that note, I think,

00:54:25and move on to matters

00:54:26that Brexit doesn't affect Lancashire,

00:54:28but matters really very close to home.

00:54:30I have a question here

00:54:31asking what the candidates will do

00:54:33to ensure that South Ribble

00:54:34and Lancashire as a whole

00:54:35get an equal status

00:54:37compared to Greater Manchester

00:54:38and Merseyside.

00:54:40Angie, we'll come to you first on that one.

00:54:43This is referring to devolution.

00:54:48Well, I mean, we debated this

00:54:50in the South Ribble council chamber

00:54:53and we concluded that

00:54:55there were more disadvantages

00:54:58to devolution and having a corporate mayor

00:55:03than the individual top authorities

00:55:06having their own leaders,

00:55:08making their own decisions

00:55:09with their own budgets

00:55:11about what happens in our communities

00:55:13and what we spend the money on.

00:55:16So I'm against the BICMA model

00:55:21and I would prefer us

00:55:22to have the district councils

00:55:25with the local people

00:55:26from the community

00:55:27who are elected members

00:55:28to decide what they do

00:55:30about the budgets

00:55:32that we have to spend.

00:55:34That's the model that's been pursued

00:55:36in the deal that Lancashire spoke to.

00:55:37Are you quite content with that deal?

00:55:41The current deal,

00:55:42the one that we've just negotiated recently?

00:55:44Yes, yeah.

00:55:45No, I'm not.

00:55:46I don't think it's good for Lancashire

00:55:48to have that deal.

00:55:49I think we should stick

00:55:51to the 12 district boroughs

00:55:54having the autonomy

00:55:56to decide what to do with budgets

00:55:58and what the local people want

00:56:00in those different areas.

00:56:02Thanks.

00:56:03We'll come to you with that deal

00:56:05that I was just referencing there too.

00:56:07Ange, the strength and weakness

00:56:09is on the real goods of you.

00:56:11Well, I've been vocal

00:56:12in my opposition to it

00:56:14and one, there's a number of good reasons

00:56:16for me, Mr Sunak calling the elections.

00:56:19The fact that that didn't make its way

00:56:21through Parliament.

00:56:23What I want to see,

00:56:24and this is what I've said

00:56:25at the council

00:56:27and at the election leaders

00:56:28numerous times,

00:56:30is a full-on tier three

00:56:31elected mayor combined authority

00:56:33for Lancashire

00:56:34just the same as we have

00:56:36in Liverpool, Paul

00:56:37and in Manchester.

00:56:39That will bring huge,

00:56:41huge amounts of investment

00:56:42into our county

00:56:44and Ange, just to clarify something,

00:56:46a combined authority

00:56:47doesn't take over

00:56:49any of the districts

00:56:50of council's functions.

00:56:53They still stay there

00:56:55and that would enable us

00:56:56to keep the two-tier system as well, Paul

00:56:59and the identity that we have

00:57:00in Lancashire

00:57:01but we need an elected mayor

00:57:04for Lancashire

00:57:05with all the tier three powers

00:57:07that go with it

00:57:08and the huge investment

00:57:09and that is singularly,

00:57:11singularly,

00:57:13the best opportunity

00:57:14that this county has

00:57:15and South Ribble has

00:57:17to deal with the huge infrastructure

00:57:18transport challenges

00:57:19that we face

00:57:21and you only need to look

00:57:22at what they're doing in Manchester

00:57:23and look what they're doing in Liverpool

00:57:26to evidence that.

00:57:27So that's what I would be championing

00:57:28and promoting

00:57:29if I'm elected your MP.

00:57:31Thank you.

00:57:31Catherine, the deal that

00:57:33your Conservative government

00:57:34has struck with Lancashire,

00:57:35it's second rate really, isn't it?

00:57:37£20 million,

00:57:38it's not the vast amount

00:57:39of £30 million a year

00:57:41over 30 years

00:57:41that places like Manchester

00:57:43and Liverpool got

00:57:44when they first signed up

00:57:45to the evolution.

00:57:48Ladies and gentlemen,

00:57:49your lone candidate has just said

00:57:50would you like another tier

00:57:51of local government?

00:57:53Right, because Manchester

00:57:55has a mayor

00:57:56and it has a unitary authority.

00:57:58Here, we've got

00:57:59borough, county council

00:58:01and then he wants

00:58:02to add a mayor on top of that.

00:58:04I think what this country needs

00:58:05is less of people

00:58:07like on this table,

00:58:08not more of us.

00:58:10What we do need, however,

00:58:12is to be masters

00:58:13of our own destiny

00:58:14because for too long

00:58:16civil servants in Westminster

00:58:18have been making decisions for us

00:58:19and frankly, they're rubbish.

00:58:20I remember having a conversation

00:58:22when I was advocating

00:58:23for a scout mayor join

00:58:25where somebody was saying,

00:58:26oh, we'll just do this policy,

00:58:27I'll only put 2p on a litre of petrol.

00:58:30I'm like, I'm sorry, what?

00:58:31Do you know how far my dad will drive

00:58:33to get a 2p less on a litre of petrol?

00:58:36And so I said to the bloke,

00:58:37how did you get to work today?

00:58:39And he got on one of those

00:58:40fancy foldy Brompton bikes

00:58:42and he got on the tube

00:58:43and then he got on the bus

00:58:44and had fantastic

00:58:45transport infrastructure

00:58:46and then he was coming

00:58:47to advocate for a policy.

00:58:48Don't panic, ladies and gentlemen,

00:58:49it's not happening.

00:58:51What we need is to stop

00:58:53that kind of centralised thinking

00:58:54by giving Lancashire more power.

00:58:56If I felt that we could get a deal

00:59:00that would take out

00:59:01a layer of local government,

00:59:02I would consider

00:59:03an elected mayor or model.

00:59:04But the truth is,

00:59:05is the Tories have a reputation

00:59:07of fighting like rats in a sack

00:59:09in Lancashire.

00:59:09The Labour Party definitely

00:59:11fight like rats in a sack in Lancashire

00:59:13and it's rearranging vectors

00:59:15on the Titanic.

00:59:16What we need is our own infrastructure,

00:59:19our own transport budgets,

00:59:20our own powers,

00:59:21our own free ports

00:59:23and that tier two deal

00:59:25was good enough.

00:59:25It was not too hot

00:59:27and it was not too cold

00:59:28and the money associated with it

00:59:29was a start.

00:59:31And I have to be honest and say

00:59:32some of the things that were being said

00:59:34about that deal

00:59:35and how it was inadequate

00:59:36was letting down our communities.

00:59:39We need our voice.

00:59:40Manchester and Liverpool

00:59:41are taking over

00:59:43and that devolution deal

00:59:44was the one we could get

00:59:46so it was the one

00:59:47I was really happy to take.

00:59:48And don't believe me,

00:59:49believe the Labour leader

00:59:50of Blackburn with Darwin

00:59:52and the Labour leader of Blackpool.

00:59:53It was a great deal

00:59:55and if the Conservatives are re-elected

00:59:57we will push it through.

00:59:59Andy, would you like to see that deal

01:00:01that has been secured

01:00:02before the election got finalised?

01:00:03Excuse me.

01:00:04We see many people

01:00:06that are supporting reform.

01:00:08Previously supported the Conservatives

01:00:10so you wouldn't be surprised

01:00:12to hear me say

01:00:13that actually I want

01:00:15smaller state interference

01:00:17and big government interference around

01:00:20than having more tiers

01:00:22that have to be, you know,

01:00:25accessed to get anything done.

01:00:27It strikes me that

01:00:31the environment of Manchester

01:00:32and the environment of Liverpool

01:00:34is very different

01:00:35to the environment of Heston

01:00:37or of Maudsley

01:00:38or of Longton and Hutton.

01:00:41We need to look and start

01:00:44from the top down

01:00:45but also from the bottom up

01:00:47and figure out what's good

01:00:48for local communities,

01:00:50figure out what's good

01:00:51for bigger communities

01:00:53and I think Lancashire's all right.

01:00:54You know, there's that big billboard

01:00:56that says, it's a beautiful picture

01:00:58and it says Lancashire.

01:01:00It's a bit like Yorkshire.

01:01:02Only nicer.

01:01:04And that's what I think

01:01:04we want to fight for.

01:01:05I think we want to fight

01:01:06for Lancashire.

01:01:07I think we want to fight

01:01:08for our local communities

01:01:09and I don't think we need a big name.

01:01:11I think thank you very much

01:01:12indeed for that.

01:01:13The last of our themed questions

01:01:16before we have a few quick fire ones

01:01:17and then open it up to

01:01:19to our patient audience here

01:01:21and the question from

01:01:23somebody who may or may not

01:01:24turned up in the audience tonight

01:01:26is do the candidates recognise

01:01:27that there are two sexes,

01:01:29male and female

01:01:30and that the law should recognise

01:01:31that there are situations

01:01:32where this matters

01:01:33and if elected,

01:01:34will you stand up specifically

01:01:36for single sex services

01:01:38and support,

01:01:40Catherine, some of your role?

01:01:43Yes.

01:01:44So I've been

01:01:45as part of a cross-party

01:01:47parliamentary group

01:01:49called Sex Matters

01:01:49down in the House of Commons

01:01:51working with my force,

01:01:52Dr Neil Hanvey

01:01:53from the ALGA party.

01:01:55Now, just to be really clear,

01:01:57this is not about being mean

01:01:58to somebody that identifies

01:02:00in a different body

01:02:01to the one with which

01:02:02nature has gifted them.

01:02:04This is, I want to make sure

01:02:05that everybody is proud to be

01:02:08whoever they are in this country

01:02:09but it is about women's rights

01:02:11and there are certain areas

01:02:13where women feel

01:02:14extremely vulnerable

01:02:16with biologically-attached

01:02:18men with gangly bits

01:02:20and I think science has

01:02:22proceeded to the point

01:02:23where it's relatively easy

01:02:25to be able to separate out people

01:02:27to allow women to have

01:02:28their own spaces,

01:02:30to allow trans people

01:02:31to have their own spaces

01:02:33and I wholeheartedly support,

01:02:36in fact, if I just may have

01:02:37a break out of immodesty.

01:02:40I've actually been working

01:02:41with Kami Bazanok

01:02:42to help define biological sex

01:02:44as part of my biology degree

01:02:46and to make sure

01:02:47that it's not just XXXY

01:02:49but actually that it includes

01:02:51certain breakouts

01:02:52for the lovely variation

01:02:55of nature that we have.

01:02:57I don't want to see

01:02:59biologically-attached men

01:03:00in women's prisons

01:03:02or in women's refugees

01:03:03and we have to change the law

01:03:05to allow for those spaces

01:03:06then I will do so.

01:03:08Kathleen, thank you.

01:03:08Paul, on this one,

01:03:09recognise there are two sexes

01:03:12and that single-sex spaces matter

01:03:13in certain circumstances.

01:03:15In certain circumstances,

01:03:16yes they do

01:03:17but this is being utilised, Paul.

01:03:20This is one of those gotcha moments

01:03:22that the media has been using

01:03:25over the months now

01:03:26against a certain element

01:03:27of our community

01:03:29and I'm hoping that

01:03:31post the election

01:03:32things can calm down somewhat.

01:03:34I am absolutely confident

01:03:35that the current legislation

01:03:37that is in place

01:03:38is fit for purpose

01:03:40and as a community

01:03:41and as people

01:03:43we need to respect one another

01:03:45and respect one another's views

01:03:48and we must represent

01:03:50all of our community.

01:03:51We need to take the politics

01:03:53out of this,

01:03:54show some respect.

01:03:55Yes, there are some changes

01:03:57that are needed

01:03:57and some tweaks

01:03:59but come on,

01:03:59let's show some respect here

01:04:01and take it out of politics

01:04:03and deal with it appropriately.

01:04:06Thank you, Paul

01:04:06and your thoughts

01:04:07on single-sex spaces?

01:04:11Thanks.

01:04:12Single-sex spaces

01:04:15and women's rights

01:04:16are critical for me.

01:04:17The current legislation

01:04:18is actually ambiguous

01:04:20and it actually needs strengthening

01:04:22and making clear

01:04:23because it's being interpreted

01:04:25by other parties

01:04:26to exploit this situation

01:04:29where women can't have

01:04:31single-sex places

01:04:33to go to

01:04:34and they should be

01:04:35and we're all aware

01:04:36of the situation

01:04:37that happened up in Scotland

01:04:38in prison

01:04:39where the gentleman,

01:04:42the man who was identified

01:04:44as a woman

01:04:45actually raped a woman in prison

01:04:47and this cannot be acceptable

01:04:50but let me make this

01:04:51absolutely clear.

01:04:53If somebody identifies

01:04:55as a woman

01:04:57who's born as a man

01:04:59then that is the prerogative

01:05:01for anybody to identify

01:05:03how they wish.

01:05:05That is the environment

01:05:09of the country

01:05:10that we live in.

01:05:11The democracy,

01:05:12the freedom,

01:05:13the freedom of expression

01:05:14and the freedom to follow

01:05:15a religion or not

01:05:17but I will absolutely fight

01:05:19to make sure

01:05:20that single-sex women

01:05:24always have a safe place to go.

01:05:27Thank you.

01:05:29Thank you and Andy

01:05:30finally to you.

01:05:32I always thought that

01:05:34there were people

01:05:35who had XX chromosomes

01:05:36and people who had XY chromosomes

01:05:39and that one's a lady

01:05:40and one's a man

01:05:41and I'm pretty much of that opinion.

01:05:44Now as Andy says

01:05:46if people want to

01:05:47do what they want to do

01:05:49that's fine

01:05:50but if they're going into

01:05:52ladies changing rooms

01:05:53and I'm talking about men

01:05:54who want to identify

01:05:57as a woman

01:05:59if they're going into

01:06:00women's changing rooms

01:06:01and putting them under threat

01:06:02or making them concerned

01:06:03or whatever

01:06:04then they shouldn't be allowed to do it

01:06:06and if they're doing it in schools

01:06:07they shouldn't be allowed to do it.

01:06:08Andy thank you.

01:06:10A few quick final ones

01:06:12before then we open it up

01:06:13to the floor

01:06:14but put the emphasis

01:06:15on the word quick here

01:06:17so if you wouldn't mind

01:06:17even just do a couple of sentences

01:06:20some light-hearted ones

01:06:22some more serious

01:06:23this one particularly interesting

01:06:25are there any issues

01:06:26which you all agree on

01:06:28and why?

01:06:29and why is it so difficult

01:06:30in certain things

01:06:31to see progress being made

01:06:33in British politics?

01:06:34Paul start with you.

01:06:38I'll stay sat down

01:06:38because I'm sure there is

01:06:40and that's one of the things

01:06:41that I want to see in parliament

01:06:42after this election

01:06:43is where we can agree

01:06:44we need to agree

01:06:45because it's to the benefit of us all

01:06:47I suggest one area

01:06:48we do agree on is Ukraine.

01:06:51Catherine.

01:06:52The NHS shouldn't be a political football

01:06:54and Lancashire is better than Yorkshire.

01:06:57Andy.

01:07:00There are a lot of issues

01:07:02that need to be taken out

01:07:03of party politics

01:07:04this five-year term

01:07:06where you're yo-yoing

01:07:07between one decision

01:07:08against another

01:07:09one opinion against another

01:07:10we should identify those

01:07:12those long-term decisions

01:07:13that need to be made

01:07:15and get cross-party agreement on it.

01:07:17And that's it.

01:07:18Yeah I think

01:07:19well if you look at the parliament structure

01:07:21there are cross-party committees

01:07:23which is great to come up with solutions

01:07:25for the needs of our country.

01:07:28So and I actually believe

01:07:30that the one cross-party issue

01:07:33that all parties support

01:07:35is that we do have

01:07:37a cost of living crisis in this country

01:07:39and we need to put measures in place

01:07:42to provide support

01:07:44for those individuals

01:07:46who are in need.

01:07:49And I think there has

01:07:51certainly been evidence of that

01:07:52by the Conservative government

01:07:54and I think the rest of us

01:07:55all of us agree

01:07:58that cost of living crisis

01:07:59is critical.

01:08:02And if you want to keep the mic

01:08:04I will go to you first

01:08:05for the next one.

01:08:06The question actually asks

01:08:08for a list of priorities

01:08:09top three priorities

01:08:10for Southern Rimmel

01:08:11but I've been around long enough to know

01:08:12it's not wise to ask a politician

01:08:14for a list because

01:08:15they'll probably give you one

01:08:15even if you don't ask for it.

01:08:17Can we just start with one top priority

01:08:20for South Rimmel, just the one.

01:08:22My top priority for South Rimmel

01:08:25would be to put measures in place

01:08:26to address the cost of living crisis

01:08:28for the poorest and most vulnerable people

01:08:31living in our community

01:08:33in South Rimmel.

01:08:34Thank you, come back down the line Eddie.

01:08:37I think we need a Member of Parliament

01:08:39who's going to work with

01:08:40South Rimmel Borough Council

01:08:42understand in detail

01:08:44what's going on around the council

01:08:46and around the borough

01:08:47and then decide

01:08:48what's going to be prioritised.

01:08:50Paul, I agree with Andy.

01:08:59Sorry, I thought we had to

01:09:01call parties on those things.

01:09:02Sorry, I forgot the question.

01:09:08We need a new hospital

01:09:09and we need safe streets

01:09:10more police officers

01:09:11more doctors

01:09:11more nurses

01:09:12and more investment.

01:09:14Catherine, keep the microphone

01:09:16your favourite thing about South Rimmel.

01:09:18The people.

01:09:19Paul?

01:09:22Yeah, the community are wonderful.

01:09:25I think it's just a fat place

01:09:26the way it really is.

01:09:28And then...

01:09:30I agree with everything

01:09:31the last three have said.

01:09:33And the very last one.

01:09:35I agree with Nick.

01:09:38Proving that the public

01:09:39has the best questions

01:09:40when it comes to this kind of thing.

01:09:42Have any of you ever

01:09:43placed a bet unwisely?

01:09:46And I can't imagine

01:09:47why that wouldn't come up.

01:09:49But it's not the matter

01:09:50it's on the review board I'm afraid.

01:09:51So yeah, away you go.

01:09:52I've placed unwise bets

01:09:54on barrel football

01:09:56but I've never placed a political bet

01:09:58nor would I.

01:10:00Catherine?

01:10:01Yeah, right, I haven't either.

01:10:02What part of it was I?

01:10:05Andy?

01:10:07I've only ever bet on myself

01:10:08but it was interesting

01:10:09I was in the pub last night

01:10:10and there were two blokes

01:10:12called William Hill.

01:10:14What are the odds on that?

01:10:16I don't know.

01:10:20I have never been tempted

01:10:22to place any bets

01:10:25on the dates of

01:10:26when a general election would be.

01:10:28But believe it or not

01:10:29I did...

01:10:30I had heard rumours

01:10:31from a rave with souls

01:10:32that the election

01:10:33was going to be in July.

01:10:34So I'm just glad

01:10:35I didn't place a bet.

01:10:37The only time I have betted

01:10:39is actually

01:10:41on the Grand National

01:10:42but I don't do that anymore

01:10:43because of

01:10:45animal welfare

01:10:46so that's my bit.

01:10:48Thank you to all of you for that

01:10:50and now at the moment

01:10:51we've all been waiting for

01:10:53which is opening the floor up to you

01:10:54to ask your questions.

01:10:56My boss is very kindly

01:10:57going to give you the mic out.

01:11:00Can I ask all those

01:11:00who want to ask a question

01:11:01to put their hand up please?

01:11:07Thank you all the candidates.

01:11:10I have supported

01:11:12the Conservative Party

01:11:13since I was a teenager

01:11:17but at the moment

01:11:18I'm undecided

01:11:20so could you give me a reason

01:11:21why I should vote you?

01:11:37Because ultimately

01:11:38I think what attracts you

01:11:38to the Conservatives

01:11:39is still true.

01:11:41We believe in security.

01:11:43We believe that

01:11:43you're better off

01:11:45spending your money

01:11:47and you know how to do it best.

01:11:48We believe that

01:11:50taxpayers' money

01:11:51should be spent efficiently.

01:11:52We believe in the rights

01:11:53of the human individual

01:11:55and I would say that

01:11:58what you've got here

01:11:59as your Conservative representative

01:12:01is a fact-tied

01:12:02northern ankle biter

01:12:03that's going to go and shout

01:12:04for sales rule

01:12:05down in London

01:12:06and there's a track record of doing so.

01:12:11Thanks.

01:12:12Mr Sunak has said

01:12:14I don't do negative politics

01:12:17but there's certain times

01:12:18I'm just going to have to make

01:12:19my reference to that.

01:12:21Mr Sunak says

01:12:22don't look back

01:12:23the last 14 years

01:12:24look to the future.

01:12:27Yes look to the future

01:12:28but you've got to base

01:12:29your judgment on history.

01:12:32We're always told that

01:12:33history defines decision making

01:12:35and we've got to end this chaos

01:12:38because it's caused untold damage

01:12:40to our country.

01:12:42What I'd like you to vote for me

01:12:43is I have a track record

01:12:44of public service.

01:12:46I've served in the British Army

01:12:47for 15 years.

01:12:48I've been a councillor

01:12:50on South Ribble Borough Council

01:12:51for 17 years.

01:12:53I've led the council here

01:12:55for five through the pandemic.

01:12:58My actions speak

01:12:59for what I think of South Ribble.

01:13:00I'm embedded in the community

01:13:02I know the community

01:13:04and I've always put

01:13:05the community first interests at heart.

01:13:08Well thank you very much.

01:13:12There aren't many people in here

01:13:13we've got a massive majority

01:13:14at the last election

01:13:15and I've been a Conservative

01:13:17voter all my life

01:13:18but I feel that

01:13:19the current Conservative government

01:13:21there are some great people

01:13:22in the Conservative party

01:13:23but the current Conservative government

01:13:24has let us down badly.

01:13:26That's why I wouldn't vote for Conservative.

01:13:29I think if you remember

01:13:30the last Labour chancellor

01:13:32was it Liam Byrne?

01:13:34He left a little note

01:13:35for the incoming chancellor

01:13:38that said that no money left mate.

01:13:40That's going to happen again.

01:13:42I'm not being negative

01:13:43I'm being realistic.

01:13:45We're not going to get into power this time

01:13:47but you're just going to watch next time.

01:13:49So give us a chance

01:13:50and give us a chance

01:13:51to get in the people's faces

01:13:53and put real greats

01:13:55back in Great Britain.

01:13:58Hi thanks.

01:13:59So I'm already a community campaigner

01:14:02as a borough councillor

01:14:03elected borough councillor

01:14:04for Penrhytham.

01:14:06I care passionately about my community

01:14:11and if you elect me as your mayor

01:14:13you will not get a Westminster party parrot.

01:14:17I will be there to scrutinise the government

01:14:19whoever the government is

01:14:21and ensure that the residents of South Ribble

01:14:24get the best outcome for their issues

01:14:26and I will fight on their behalf.

01:14:28Thank you.

01:14:35Can I just broaden out slightly.

01:14:38Both parties talk about what they're going to do.

01:14:40They talk about improving housing

01:14:43once your house is being built.

01:14:44They talk about improving the health service

01:14:46putting more resources in

01:14:48but what they don't and what they've missed out

01:14:50is the basic fact

01:14:51that we've not trained enough doctors

01:14:54nurses, builders, electricians over the years

01:14:57and on every single issue

01:14:59we've failed to deliver

01:15:01on providing that resource.

01:15:03We've got the most qualified baristas in the world

01:15:06because of Labour Party policy years ago

01:15:08to encourage people to go to university

01:15:10so you get people who come away with a degree

01:15:13but their prospect of getting a decent job

01:15:15is pretty minimal.

01:15:16We've got a housing situation

01:15:18where the multiplier when I bought a house

01:15:21was something like three times my income.

01:15:23The multiplier now is a massive number

01:15:27which makes it totally unviable.

01:15:29What are you going to do to try and change this thing

01:15:31and you talk about

01:15:32I'm sorry I don't know what the age profile in this room is

01:15:35but I bet it's a bit older than it should be.

01:15:38There's an awful lot of young people

01:15:40who are dissatisfied and disgruntled

01:15:42with the way in which politics

01:15:43just doesn't address their needs.

01:15:46I don't care if you tax pensioners

01:15:48I wish you would.

01:15:49I wish some people would turn around and say

01:15:50tax us more

01:15:51we've got away with murder for so long

01:15:53and yet we are imposing such restrictions

01:15:56on the young whose prospects are so low.

01:15:59So what on earth are you going to do

01:16:02to improve that situation in real time?

01:16:12Specifically on housing

01:16:14we need I mentioned this in the answer previously sir

01:16:17we need local authorities to build

01:16:20mass building of affordable high standard.

01:16:25There's plenty of builders.

01:16:27There are plenty of builders.

01:16:28The other thing we need to do

01:16:30to address your issue about trades

01:16:32I was at Runshaw College the other day

01:16:35and I don't know if everyone's aware here

01:16:37but coming this September

01:16:39the current government is ditching BTECs

01:16:43the most important vocational qualification

01:16:47that our young people have

01:16:49to enable them to learn a trade.

01:16:52So we need to make sure we repeal

01:16:54I don't know what you're laughing about Catherine

01:16:56it's a really really important issue

01:16:59vocational training for our young people.

01:17:04That's what trains your joiners

01:17:06it's what trains your bricklayers

01:17:08and we need to maintain those qualifications

01:17:11so local authorities must be empowered

01:17:14by the incoming government

01:17:16to build a raft of affordable high quality housing

01:17:21up and down the country.

01:17:26Thank you and thanks for your question

01:17:30housing and the NHS are massive issues

01:17:32that affect our generation

01:17:35our younger generation.

01:17:36I think if I turn to your point about housing

01:17:38the first thing I'd say

01:17:40is that the housing laws

01:17:43need to be totally overhauled.

01:17:46I think at the moment

01:17:47we build about 250 houses a year

01:17:50in the UK in England

01:17:52and the Liberal Democrat party

01:17:57want to shift that up to 380,000

01:17:59but with a commitment

01:18:00to build 150,000 affordable homes

01:18:04and the way we'll do that

01:18:05is by changing legislation

01:18:07because at the moment

01:18:08all the power sits with the developers

01:18:10and not the local authorities.

01:18:13So that's something that needs to be changed

01:18:16and we need to stop developers

01:18:17from land banking as well.

01:18:19Sorry what was the other question?

01:18:22You've missed the point

01:18:22about where the builders are going to come from

01:18:24because do they exist?

01:18:25Well again I think a failing of us

01:18:29leaving the European market

01:18:32has led to that

01:18:32because we had lots of people

01:18:34coming into the country

01:18:36from Poland and these other places

01:18:39who were builders coming in

01:18:41and contributing to our construction industry

01:18:43and now we've left the EU

01:18:45a lot of those people have left.

01:18:49A bloke who's in the know told me

01:18:51I can't confirm this

01:18:53but a bloke who told me

01:18:54who's in the know told me

01:18:55the other day

01:18:56that in this country

01:18:57there are 58,000 brickies.

01:19:00How are we going to build all these houses

01:19:01with just 58,000 brickies?

01:19:03You can't.

01:19:05You're going to need to join the EU yeah.

01:19:09Do you mind if I just carry on please?

01:19:13So where are we going to get the brickies?

01:19:17I think I'm right in saying

01:19:18we make nurses get degrees now.

01:19:21I think we're right in saying

01:19:22we make police people get degrees now.

01:19:25Half of these don't need degrees

01:19:26and there's everyone on the beat

01:19:28and on the ward

01:19:29and learning from people

01:19:30learning from really good nurses.

01:19:33It's just

01:19:34all these magic numbers

01:19:36come from somewhere.

01:19:37I've no idea where they come from

01:19:39but you've got to get down to brass tacks

01:19:40and figure out who can do what

01:19:42where they can do it

01:19:43and when they can do it

01:19:44and you can't build all those houses

01:19:45if you haven't got people that can lay bricks.

01:19:53Andy's correct.

01:19:55You don't need a degree

01:19:56to be a policeman or a nurse

01:19:57and that's why we got rid of it.

01:19:59The gentleman is correct.

01:20:01We need more training places.

01:20:02The reason as Paul references

01:20:04yes we are stopping BTECs

01:20:06that don't line across with T levels.

01:20:08Why are we doing it?

01:20:09Because people were spending

01:20:11our children were spending a load of time

01:20:13getting a qualification

01:20:14that was totally meaningless.

01:20:16I've got three million pounds

01:20:18for the Buttermere building

01:20:19which is a STEM building

01:20:21at Runshaw College

01:20:22which allows people to do

01:20:23not only T levels but aligned trains

01:20:26and the other thing

01:20:27that that investment is allowing for

01:20:28is people to do boot camps and cross-train.

01:20:30It's not just about what decisions you make

01:20:33up to 18 and 21.

01:20:35If you mention the barista

01:20:37that's maybe not fair

01:20:38but let's say for example

01:20:39that barista wants to become a bricklayer

01:20:41or a computer engineer.

01:20:43This Conservative government

01:20:44has put in place

01:20:46both the mechanism

01:20:47and the opportunity for them to retrain

01:20:49if they can go to boot camps

01:20:51to get a hand

01:20:52or we've created this thing

01:20:53called the lifetime skills guarantee

01:20:54which will give them up to £6,000

01:20:56to get a degree

01:20:57because we recognise

01:20:58you can't just suddenly turn a job off

01:21:01if you're trying to look after somebody.

01:21:03With pointless A levels, pointless degrees

01:21:06we've created T levels

01:21:07we've invested in the colleges to deliver it

01:21:09and the final point is

01:21:11right now there is still a slightly

01:21:15socialist whiff

01:21:16to the way our further education colleges

01:21:18work at the moment

01:21:19because we would love

01:21:22to train more gas engineers

01:21:23and more brickies within South Liverpool

01:21:25but at the moment that's done at Preston College

01:21:27so if I'm re-elected as your MP

01:21:29the next thing I will be doing

01:21:30is getting practical training places

01:21:33that closes that gap

01:21:34between 16 and 21.

01:21:41From the back

01:21:4426, 5 to 16 year olds

01:21:46have got mental health problems

01:21:48in this country

01:21:49and that rises to 1 in 4

01:21:51for 17 to 19 year olds.

01:21:54What are you going to do

01:21:56about this pandemic, epidemic

01:21:59whatever you want to call it

01:22:00of mental health issues

01:22:03across the country

01:22:05and especially in South Liverpool

01:22:07where parents and their children

01:22:09are waiting 2, 3, 5

01:22:13and even 7 years

01:22:15for CAMHS support

01:22:17CAMHS being children

01:22:18and adolescent mental health services

01:22:20what are you going to do about it?

01:22:27I think it is such an important question

01:22:30so there is some

01:22:31COVID has really done a number

01:22:34on a lot of our young people's

01:22:36mental health

01:22:37and so I've actually spent

01:22:38about the last year

01:22:40thinking quite hard about them

01:22:41and it comes into three buckets

01:22:43I think the first one

01:22:44is about understanding

01:22:46medically and scientifically

01:22:48in the long term

01:22:49what the root causes

01:22:50of these things are

01:22:51because as you rightly allude

01:22:52it's an increasing trend

01:22:54and I think there is some risk

01:22:56that because we don't understand

01:22:58the underlying root causes

01:22:59of what causes auditory

01:23:01hallucinations for example

01:23:02and psychosis

01:23:03that we don't have effective treatment

01:23:05you speak to the medical professionals

01:23:06and the doctors

01:23:08and they'll often say

01:23:08well we'll just try you

01:23:09on the different drugs

01:23:10to see if that can work

01:23:11I don't think it's acceptable

01:23:13with all of these advances

01:23:14in modern medicine

01:23:15that we guess with something

01:23:17as important as someone's mental health

01:23:19so if I'm re-elected

01:23:20and I was actually doing it at the time

01:23:22I want to have a charity set up

01:23:25which looks into research

01:23:27for the biological causes

01:23:28of mental health

01:23:29very much like breast cancer research

01:23:31was 40 years ago

01:23:32because it is out there

01:23:34and they are biological phenomena

01:23:36having said that

01:23:37there is at the moment

01:23:39because there's that kind of slight

01:23:40lack of understanding

01:23:41about what is truly disease

01:23:44and what is perhaps

01:23:46the normal ups and downs of life

01:23:47there's a very jagged edge

01:23:49and we're really struggling

01:23:50to empower individual professionals

01:23:52in CAMHS for example

01:23:54to say yes you have got a condition

01:23:56and we will need to either medicalise

01:23:58or help in a different way

01:23:59versus like that's a terrible

01:24:01you know let's start with some CBT

01:24:04or some conversational choices

01:24:06and the system is getting overloaded

01:24:08if you imagine a bell chart

01:24:11you know of 100 people

01:24:13in the population

01:24:14historically the line was

01:24:16you were poorly

01:24:17the line was here on the graph

01:24:19and what's happening is

01:24:20the line is coming further

01:24:21and further along

01:24:22which involves more people

01:24:23and we've got a system

01:24:24that's set up for a very narrow

01:24:27description of a mental health issue

01:24:29and that needs to align across

01:24:32so I think the most important thing

01:24:34is how to make sure

01:24:35that we can help people

01:24:37so you'll have heard talk about

01:24:39helping people with mental health conditions

01:24:41through DWP

01:24:42and helping make sure

01:24:43that they're getting access

01:24:44to the right...

01:24:45The question wasn't about people

01:24:47it was about children

01:24:48and young people

01:24:50the adult mental health problem

01:24:52but to be fair

01:24:58there's a biological cause

01:24:59of mental health

01:25:00that will be the same

01:25:01with children and adults

01:25:04and actually that's why

01:25:06I'm focusing in on

01:25:07using the power of science

01:25:08and specifically AI

01:25:10to help us have confidence

01:25:12in how we treat and support

01:25:13our children

01:25:13and I don't assume it's

01:25:14involved enough

01:25:23I don't want a charity

01:25:25establishing to deal with this

01:25:26I want the government

01:25:27to deal with this

01:25:28and first things first

01:25:33there has to be a recognition

01:25:37by the government

01:25:38that this is a very real

01:25:40and prevalent issue

01:25:42because it is

01:25:43it really is

01:25:45and once we recognise

01:25:46that it's a real issue

01:25:48we then need to put

01:25:49pastoral support

01:25:51into the schools

01:25:53and the education establishments

01:25:56now

01:25:56and it's going to take some investment

01:26:00recognise that there is a real issue

01:26:03get the support in there

01:26:05for these young people

01:26:07and stop this stigma

01:26:09this stigma that

01:26:09this current government has

01:26:11that there's nothing wrong with them

01:26:12because there's no biological effect

01:26:14that's been established

01:26:16because mental health

01:26:17is a very very very challenging issue

01:26:19for a lot of young people

01:26:21they need support

01:26:23they need help

01:26:24and they need recognition

01:26:31I'd just like to pick up

01:26:32on something that Catherine said

01:26:34that you said that Covid caused

01:26:36many of the issues going on here

01:26:39it wasn't Covid

01:26:40it was the decisions

01:26:40your government made

01:26:42about Covid

01:26:43that's caused these problems

01:26:47yeah I agree with you

01:26:50on the other hand

01:26:50I do agree with you

01:26:51that there are

01:26:53medical issues

01:26:54and socialistic issues involved

01:26:57you know that goes from

01:27:00parents to schools

01:27:01parents with the cost of living crisis

01:27:03as Anush says

01:27:04they're under great pressure

01:27:05and that's going to bounce down

01:27:07onto the kids isn't it

01:27:08so this isn't a simple

01:27:10there's not one

01:27:10I'm sorry to you know suggest

01:27:12that there isn't a simple answer to this

01:27:15we've got to get government

01:27:16thinking the right way

01:27:18but we've got to work

01:27:19within our families

01:27:20within the local communities

01:27:22with the schools

01:27:24one size doesn't fit all

01:27:26one size never has fit all

01:27:28so we've got to figure out

01:27:30almost actually

01:27:32yeah definitely

01:27:32on an individual basis

01:27:34and the government can't do that

01:27:36that's got to be at a much lower level

01:27:37that's got to be at a much more

01:27:39local level

01:27:40a much more caring level

01:27:42and let's try and work towards that

01:27:49okay so as far as I'm concerned

01:27:52there is a underfunding

01:27:55and total neglect

01:27:56of children's mental health services

01:27:58in this country

01:28:00and what the Liberal Democrats plan to do

01:28:02to start to address this

01:28:04is we are the only party

01:28:06that suggested

01:28:07that we appoint a cabinet member

01:28:10for children and young people

01:28:13who has a dedicated brief

01:28:15to look at the issues

01:28:17around young children

01:28:19and mental health

01:28:22we'll also put

01:28:23a dedicated professional

01:28:27health professional

01:28:30in every single primary school

01:28:32and every single school

01:28:35in this country

01:28:37so that we have someone there

01:28:39who can help the parents

01:28:41and help the children

01:28:43in the actual school

01:28:45and I think these measures

01:28:48are go in a positive direction

01:28:51to address

01:28:53the terrible mental health issues

01:28:56that our young children have

01:28:58if we don't do this

01:29:00it continues on into the future

01:29:02which then leaves it

01:29:03with the NHS to sort out

01:29:06and therefore as a result of that

01:29:08you get this continuing costs

01:29:10to the whole of people's lives

01:29:11so at the moment

01:29:13what we've got is not working

01:29:18thank you

01:29:19I'd like to ask

01:29:20about national security

01:29:22I don't think it's really cropped up that much

01:29:24in this election

01:29:25certainly not this evening

01:29:28and I think maybe

01:29:29might come to Catherine

01:29:31as a representative

01:29:32of the governing party

01:29:35I'm ex-RAF

01:29:36ex-Border Force

01:29:37and ex-MOD civil servant

01:29:40and I noticed in your plans

01:29:42to spend two and a half percent of GDP

01:29:44on defence

01:29:45there's part of that

01:29:47as an assumption

01:29:47you can put 17,000

01:29:49full-time equivalent jobs

01:29:50at the civil service

01:29:51so very specifically

01:29:54to the tune of 17,000

01:29:56full-time equivalent jobs

01:29:58what do you not want

01:30:00the Ministry of Defence to do

01:30:01in the next five years

01:30:02that it currently does?

01:30:07thank you very much for your question

01:30:08and thank you for your service

01:30:09because it's important

01:30:10I think there's a

01:30:11potentially a slight misunderstanding

01:30:13so the two and a half percent

01:30:15commitment to defence spending

01:30:17is to take the civil service jobs

01:30:19across the whole

01:30:20back to the level they were before COVID

01:30:23so it's not specifically

01:30:26within to the MOD

01:30:29mate I can't hear you

01:30:30I can't hear you

01:30:30there were 72,000

01:30:32across the civil service

01:30:33that includes 17,000

01:30:34from the MOD

01:30:35because it's one of the three

01:30:36biggest departments

01:30:37along with DDVP and HMRC

01:30:39so 17,000 is the equivalent

01:30:42for a part of the MOD

01:30:45and what was your figure

01:30:46in the MOD civil servants

01:30:47before COVID?

01:30:49no it's 54,000 at the minute

01:30:52so you're taking 17,000

01:30:53yeah but what was it before COVID

01:30:55because the commitment

01:30:55is to take it back to COVID

01:30:57no and I think

01:30:57that's a really interesting point

01:30:59because the civil service

01:31:02it has got great individuals in it

01:31:04but I think we've alluded to it

01:31:06in the answer to other questions

01:31:07more broadly it's a nightmare

01:31:09I can remember when I was

01:31:10putting IT systems in

01:31:11going into an MOD shed

01:31:13that lost 20 million pounds

01:31:15with the Vulcan windscreens

01:31:16because they'd stored them

01:31:17the wrong way around

01:31:18you know you go to HMRC

01:31:20they're a part of the phones

01:31:22it's because they're working from home

01:31:23the idea that there aren't

01:31:24efficiencies to be had

01:31:25within the civil service community

01:31:28especially seeing as it's swelled

01:31:29significantly post-COVID

01:31:31the birds

01:31:32but what I would say

01:31:33is of all the people here

01:31:34on this table

01:31:35and the parties we represent

01:31:37the Conservatives have got

01:31:38the strongest track record

01:31:39in national security

01:31:40they have developed

01:31:41the orcas deal to make sure

01:31:42we have a nuclear deterrent

01:31:44both now and into the future

01:31:45working with our friends and partners

01:31:47we've committed to two and a half percent

01:31:50of GDP spent

01:31:51and the thing

01:31:52one of the things I'm most proud of

01:31:54as a member of parliament

01:31:55is the front footed support

01:31:56we gave to Ukraine

01:31:58when many countries

01:31:59in the Western world

01:32:00were disseminating

01:32:01a dissembling

01:32:02and saying well maybe

01:32:03we shouldn't worry about Paris

01:32:04and you know

01:32:05some of our European friends and partners

01:32:07had 55 percent of their energy

01:32:09coming from Russia and Ukraine

01:32:11were a lot worried

01:32:12and we said

01:32:13absolutely not

01:32:14this is a question of moral dignity

01:32:20okay I can

01:32:21I shall stop there

01:32:22I'm afraid it's very hard to hear

01:32:24when you heckle them from the back

01:32:26so the specific question I think

01:32:39was how we um

01:32:43is it Jonathan is it yeah

01:32:44Jonathan is it

01:32:45how they're going to increase

01:32:47and spending to 2.5 percent

01:32:51and then but then still cut jobs

01:32:53at the same time

01:32:54so we have a significantly

01:32:57different approach to this

01:32:59the Ministry of Defence

01:33:00I'm an ex-serviceman

01:33:01I know what I'm speaking about

01:33:03you look at the UK forces now

01:33:06they're at the lowest level

01:33:08since the Napoleonic Wars

01:33:10that's fact

01:33:11they've been cut

01:33:12and cut

01:33:13and cut

01:33:14for the last 14 years

01:33:16you no longer

01:33:17have enough ships

01:33:18for the Royal Navy

01:33:19we no longer have enough sailors

01:33:21for the Royal Navy

01:33:22the Conservatives commissioned

01:33:24two huge aircraft carriers

01:33:26but then didn't have any airplanes

01:33:28to fly off

01:33:32you were commissioned

01:33:32two years ago

01:33:33I think I remember

01:33:34that you were in power

01:33:36listen

01:33:37can they not be heckled please

01:33:38can they not be heckled please

01:33:39Catherine

01:33:40thank you

01:33:41they commissioned

01:33:42two aircraft carriers

01:33:44that didn't have any aircraft

01:33:47we are in a chronic situation

01:33:49with our forces

01:33:50and we need that investment

01:33:51we've committed Jonathan

01:33:53to two and a half percent

01:33:55of GDP spent

01:33:57as soon as our economy

01:34:00can afford it

01:34:01so that we don't have to cut

01:34:0317,000 jobs

01:34:05from the MOD to fund it

01:34:07because that is a foolish thing to do

01:34:11we need the civil servants

01:34:13in the Ministry of Defence

01:34:14to support the rebuilding

01:34:16of our forces

01:34:17across the board

01:34:19to bring us back

01:34:20to being the United Kingdom

01:34:21that we were 20 years ago

01:34:24hold on to your question

01:34:28thank you

01:34:29I always thought

01:34:31that the first job

01:34:32of any government

01:34:33is to defend the country

01:34:35and with the depletion

01:34:39of service people

01:34:42with the depletion of equipment

01:34:43that's gone on

01:34:44with this conservative government

01:34:45the one thing they are not doing

01:34:47is defending this country

01:34:48particularly

01:34:49in the pretty anxious moments

01:34:51that we're facing right now

01:34:53with Ukraine

01:34:54with China

01:34:55with Iran

01:34:56with North Korea

01:34:57I don't think we're in a very good place

01:35:00what we would do

01:35:02is as my two colleagues

01:35:04on the right have said

01:35:05is increase

01:35:08defence spending

01:35:09to 2.5% of GDP

01:35:11in three years

01:35:13and then increase it to 3%

01:35:15within the next six years

01:35:18we'd have pay review

01:35:19and increases

01:35:20across the country

01:35:22you know that a private soldier

01:35:24earns less than an Amazon driver

01:35:27that really encourages people

01:35:28to join the services doesn't it

01:35:32we protect the military

01:35:33from civil war

01:35:36we'd have a new ministerial department

01:35:38for veterans

01:35:39to make sure that the people

01:35:40that have come out of military

01:35:43are getting treated properly

01:35:46we try and get

01:35:48it would be hard

01:35:48with the wages at the moment

01:35:50but we try and aim

01:35:51for 30,000 new soldiers

01:35:53and an increase in the service population

01:35:56across the other

01:35:58air force and the royal navy

01:36:00we could give tax incentives

01:36:03to attract investment

01:36:05in military technology

01:36:07and manufacturing

01:36:10we'd have a real good look

01:36:11at defence procurement

01:36:12because I've been in procurement

01:36:13and it's a bag of spanners

01:36:16and we'd help

01:36:19we'd give free education

01:36:20to people leaving the military

01:36:22to help them get back

01:36:24into the world at large

01:36:30Jonathan

01:36:31it's that long

01:36:31since you asked the question

01:36:32I'm not really 100% sure

01:36:34what it is you

01:36:36specifically said

01:36:37but I will try and articulate to you

01:36:40what we at Liverpool Devils want

01:36:42so I actually worked

01:36:44and used to travel down

01:36:45a lot to Abbey Wood

01:36:47in Bristol

01:36:47and deal with the MOD staff there

01:36:50on the Typhoon Programme

01:36:51and they were great people to deal with

01:36:54it's a brilliant complex there

01:36:56one of the things I struggled with though

01:36:58was the procurement strategy

01:37:00and I do think that

01:37:02we need a comprehensive

01:37:03industrial strategy

01:37:06so that our costs are reduced

01:37:09in our procurement

01:37:10and one of those ways of doing that

01:37:12would be to have an industrial strategy

01:37:14shared with our European partner companies

01:37:17who countries

01:37:18who we actually buy

01:37:19a lot of these goods and services from

01:37:22and also design them

01:37:23for instance the Typhoons

01:37:25a four nation collaborative programme

01:37:27if I can turn

01:37:28so I think that's what we need

01:37:30an industrial strategy

01:37:31to reduce costs

01:37:32the other thing is

01:37:33I know that I think at the moment

01:37:35I think you talked

01:37:36did you talk about the Royal Air Force

01:37:38or the Army

01:37:39but anyway

01:37:40if you take the Army as an example

01:37:42I know that we've got around

01:37:4377,000 personnel in the Army

01:37:46as a result of significant

01:37:49cuts from by the Conservative government

01:37:51and one of our ambitions

01:37:53would be to increase

01:37:55the regular Army

01:37:56back up to 100,000

01:37:58to get us somewhere near

01:38:00to being battle ready

01:38:02I'm sorry if that's not

01:38:03particularly answered your question

01:38:04but we are also committed

01:38:08again to spend at least

01:38:09two and a half percent

01:38:10on defence

01:38:17yes

01:38:18so Andy

01:38:19we have got a veterans department

01:38:20we took it out the MOD

01:38:22and put it in the Cabinet Office

01:38:23so I've been serving with Johnny Mercer

01:38:24in the Cabinet Office

01:38:25to achieve the aims that you want

01:38:28to the aims of the Armed Forces

01:38:31I think it's particularly laudable

01:38:32that you should be listening

01:38:33to what Ben Wallace said

01:38:34because he was a great Defence Secretary

01:38:36and he said you can take

01:38:37the troop numbers up

01:38:38but what you end up with

01:38:39is what you had under Labour

01:38:41which is a very hollowed out Army

01:38:42because you've got the men

01:38:43and the bodies

01:38:44or the women and the bodies there

01:38:46but you haven't got the kit

01:38:49and they're not equipped properly

01:38:50to access it

01:38:51you end up having 73,000

01:38:53well felt for fighting troops

01:38:55with 30,000 reservists

01:38:56but I have a final question for Paul

01:38:58which is have you ever met Jonathan

01:39:00before tonight?

01:39:05about

01:39:06I think I saw him last about four years ago

01:39:13no it's fine

01:39:16um

01:39:34it's not about

01:39:36a knee jerk or a gotcha moment

01:39:38I believe that women's rights

01:39:40in this country

01:39:41are under serious threat

01:39:43for the first time

01:39:44probably since the suffragette movement

01:39:46and my question is very specific

01:39:49do you think it's right

01:39:51for a biological male

01:39:53to be on the same ward

01:39:55in the same bay

01:39:57as a woman?

01:40:05hi thanks for your question

01:40:07no I don't think it's right

01:40:10we have to look at the cause

01:40:12and it's probably

01:40:14the um

01:40:16again underfunding of the NHS

01:40:19because you can also have

01:40:21women and men in the corridor

01:40:22you can also have them outside

01:40:24in the car park

01:40:26our NHS will always deal with the

01:40:30issues that people come in with

01:40:33but our hospitals don't have

01:40:35the capacity

01:40:36or are not modern enough

01:40:39after they've been crumbling

01:40:41to probably accommodate

01:40:43proper areas

01:40:45for women and for men

01:40:51well in terms of the ideological choice

01:40:54I absolutely prefer

01:40:56that women being treated

01:40:58in wards in hospitals

01:41:00should have their own ward

01:41:14I mean the point is

01:41:15that it's an ideological choice

01:41:18made by the NHS

01:41:19they believe it's correct

01:41:20for self-identified men

01:41:23who actually are male-bodied

01:41:25to be placed on the same

01:41:26in the same room

01:41:28as female patients

01:41:31I don't think it is

01:41:34as a nurse

01:41:35and I worked in the health service

01:41:37for about 30 years

01:41:39as a nurse

01:41:40I'm telling you

01:41:40it's very very dangerous

01:41:43for the men

01:41:44and for women to be in wards

01:41:46and specifically on that point

01:41:48in health care

01:41:49no I don't think it should happen either

01:41:53no I don't believe in wards

01:41:57no I don't

01:41:58and the problem is

01:41:59you've got to change the law

01:42:01to allow for that protection

01:42:03to be put in place

01:42:04and the Labour Party are saying

01:42:05we won't change the law

01:42:06and they are all over the place

01:42:08on this one

01:42:13Hi, yeah it's just a quick one really

01:42:21I think one of the biggest things

01:42:22I'm thinking about

01:42:23that's going to cause change

01:42:24in the next five to ten years

01:42:26is artificial intelligence

01:42:28and how it's going to change

01:42:29our lives completely

01:42:30from the jobs we do

01:42:32or any of our lives

01:42:33and how we socialise

01:42:34all those kinds of things

01:42:36I just wondered why

01:42:37you thought your party

01:42:38was the best place

01:42:40to lead us through that change

01:42:41because I think it's a big change

01:42:42that's coming

01:42:42and I've not heard much about it

01:42:46Fantastic question

01:42:47as a fully paid up science nerd

01:42:49and a member of the

01:42:50Science and Technology Select Committee

01:42:51all the way through Parliament

01:42:53we've done a huge inquiry on AI

01:42:55it's 200 pages

01:42:56if you need a certain language to read

01:42:58you can get it on the Parliament website

01:43:00but the short version is

01:43:01it is a game changer for everything

01:43:03so the teachers came to us and said

01:43:07we can't tell the difference

01:43:08between a 15 year old's essay

01:43:09and an AI's essay

01:43:10we're going to have to go back

01:43:11to doing paper exams

01:43:13with the kids

01:43:14to secure their understanding

01:43:17I speak to biological researchers

01:43:19that are looking into

01:43:20developing new drought resistant crops

01:43:22for Africa

01:43:23and they are using the AI

01:43:24to predict how the DNA proteins are folded

01:43:27they don't actually go and look at the protein

01:43:29because the AI predicts it so accurately

01:43:31it means they're getting a lock and key

01:43:33and then there are

01:43:34so there's technological opportunities

01:43:36but there are also technological threats

01:43:38I've been privileged to some briefing

01:43:40and I'll obviously only share

01:43:41the public part of that

01:43:43which is that

01:43:44if man knows it on the planet right now

01:43:47AI pretty much knows it

01:43:49so for example

01:43:51if you want to mechanically do something

01:43:53that might seek to do someone's harm

01:43:55and you use your AI in a bad way

01:43:57that is possible

01:43:58and that's why

01:43:59whilst it's not the most retail and sexy thing

01:44:02you can say that about quite a lot

01:44:03of what the Conservatives have been doing recently

01:44:06that Bletchley Park AI summit

01:44:08that I was peripherally involved in

01:44:10is really important

01:44:11because we got the world together

01:44:12and said guys

01:44:13can we agree some rules on this

01:44:15just to get some basic timelines in

01:44:17for what we as the Western democracies

01:44:19are willing to do

01:44:20because if AI

01:44:22it's big terminator

01:44:23but smarter and faster

01:44:25and it's not there yet

01:44:26but we need to be as regulators ahead of it

01:44:29so I think it's a fantastic question

01:44:30and I'll happily pick up with you outside

01:44:34I believe so we can get as many questions as we can

01:44:37I know Steph

01:44:39just so everyone's aware

01:44:42fully embrace it

01:44:43but what I would say

01:44:45is that I agree with

01:44:46what Katherine said there

01:44:47but we have to regulate this carefully

01:44:50I'm aware already

01:44:51of developments in serious supercomputing

01:44:54and we need to

01:44:55we've got to be really really careful

01:44:57with the regulations and safeguards around AI

01:45:00but we must embrace it

01:45:02because I think the

01:45:03the lone party manifesto specifically states

01:45:05about the use of AI

01:45:07sorry within diagnosis

01:45:09which can be ultimately instance

01:45:11but yes Steph

01:45:13you do need to embrace it

01:45:14it is ultimately is the future

01:45:17but the safeguards and the regulation

01:45:19are absolutely critical here for all of us

01:45:24I really question whether

01:45:27teachers who think that

01:45:2915 year old SA

01:45:32and an AI SA

01:45:33can't be distinguished between each other

01:45:35no the AI coppers the mistakes

01:45:37it begins with

01:45:38well yeah I know I know I know

01:45:39my partner has this

01:45:41to deal with all the time

01:45:42so but we've got to face facts

01:45:44as everyone said

01:45:45AI is here to stay

01:45:47there's good aspects to it

01:45:48there's some very dangerous aspects to it

01:45:51and it's evolving

01:45:53so we've got to create

01:45:55the government bodies

01:45:57the intelligence in industry

01:45:59in education

01:46:00in the health sector

01:46:02to understand what are the good bits

01:46:03and what are the bad bits

01:46:05and we need

01:46:06from a government perspective

01:46:07to make sure that we're not attacked by

01:46:11foreign AI

01:46:12that can dismantle

01:46:13you know whole aspects of our society

01:46:15in at the drop of a hat

01:46:19yeah it is a good question

01:46:21it's a future that could be

01:46:22quite a frightening world

01:46:24this is a global issue obviously

01:46:26and we do need regulation

01:46:31and protection in place

01:46:34and I think we need to have

01:46:35collaborative agreements

01:46:37with the providers of AI

01:46:40to make sure that the rules

01:46:42and regulations are put in place

01:46:44to protect us

01:46:45I see AI as the granddaughter

01:46:47of social media

01:46:49so you know the Facebook

01:46:51and all and the WhatsApp

01:46:52and all the other powerful

01:46:55technology platforms out there

01:46:58that have already ruined people's lives

01:47:01the child suicide

01:47:04the people you know

01:47:05urban myths going out there

01:47:08and people getting

01:47:10totally the wrong information

01:47:11so that's not being regulated anyway

01:47:14and certainly with AI

01:47:15as I say it's a global issue

01:47:17and I think it's something that

01:47:20we need to get on the agenda

01:47:21of the G18 or G22 agenda

01:47:28because we need to come up

01:47:29with regulation and protection

01:47:31on a global basis

01:47:32because it is pretty frightening

01:47:34what it's capable of

01:47:42now Catherine said

01:47:43that if you ring up the HMRC

01:47:46you don't get a reply

01:47:48she's absolutely right

01:47:49but what she didn't say was why

01:47:52and I'll tell her why

01:47:54it's simply because you cut

01:47:56the number of staff

01:47:58who work in the HMRC

01:48:00and the worst consequence is

01:48:02it's not just that you can't get through

01:48:05the tax gap

01:48:07between the amount of taxes raised

01:48:11and the amount that should be raised

01:48:13based on the incumbent

01:48:15has got wider and wider

01:48:17and if you have solved this problem

01:48:20our tax revenues will increase

01:48:23and our services

01:48:24will not be the mess they're in

01:48:26because they're underfunded

01:48:28it's a consequence of what we've done

01:48:30to the revenue

01:48:38as a Conservative

01:48:38I genuinely believe in something

01:48:40called the Laffer Curve

01:48:41which is you get to a point

01:48:42where you set tax rates such

01:48:45that people stop paying them

01:48:47and we have prioritised

01:48:50in this country

01:48:51reducing tax for the most vulnerable

01:48:53raising the national living wage

01:48:54raising the threshold

01:48:57an average earner on £35,000

01:48:59now pays the lowest tax rate

01:49:01since about the 1970s

01:49:03so we've asked those

01:49:05that are more fortunate in society

01:49:06to shoulder quite a large part of the burden

01:49:08so here's a stat for you

01:49:101% of taxpayers pay 29%

01:49:14of the tax in this country

01:49:15and therefore losing them

01:49:18or them making a choice

01:49:20to go and invest and live elsewhere

01:49:23loses us money

01:49:24and when historically

01:49:27you cut tax rates

01:49:28when you cut the tax rate

01:49:30you actually get more money in the revenue

01:49:32so as a Conservative

01:49:34I'll always believe

01:49:35that it's important to be responsible

01:49:36with people's money

01:49:37but that it's also important to make

01:49:40I'm so sorry sir

01:49:41I can't hear you when you're shouting

01:49:50yeah I think what the gentleman was saying

01:49:52was the lack of resource

01:49:57in HM revenue

01:49:58to address the tax claiming

01:50:04or the lack of being able

01:50:06to recover taxes

01:50:07from people who should obtain tax

01:50:10it's another public service

01:50:12that's been cut

01:50:13under this government

01:50:15it's underfunded

01:50:17it doesn't consider

01:50:19you know it's another one

01:50:19of these public service companies

01:50:21where you have to fill a form in

01:50:23a triage

01:50:24for the elderly people

01:50:25of this country

01:50:26that's not good enough

01:50:28and we need more staff

01:50:29in HM revenue

01:50:30because if we can address

01:50:32the shortfall

01:50:33in payment of taxes

01:50:35and the loopholes

01:50:36that are currently available

01:50:37for the very rich

01:50:38then yes we would have

01:50:39more money available

01:50:41to bolster the British economy

01:50:42thank you

01:50:46there's one simple word sir

01:50:48austerity

01:50:49so the heart was pulled

01:50:51from nearly every single

01:50:53public service in 2010

01:50:56when the government

01:50:57the Conservative government

01:50:58Mr Cameron

01:50:59and Mr Ogg was born

01:51:00commenced the journey of austerity

01:51:03and by hell are we paying the price now

01:51:05that's what's caused this

01:51:12I love Catherine's answer

01:51:13that the Conservatives

01:51:16are reducing taxes

01:51:17when we've got the highest tax

01:51:19in 70 years

01:51:22well we've got the highest tax

01:51:25across you know for 70 years

01:51:26it's also quite interesting

01:51:28that in the last year

01:51:29we were talking about

01:51:30rich people spending money

01:51:329,000 millionaires

01:51:34have left this country

01:51:35because they don't believe

01:51:37that the Conservatives

01:51:38are delivering higher taxes

01:51:39but I agree with the gentleman

01:51:42that

01:51:43yeah HMRC

01:51:44is

01:51:46you know

01:51:46it doesn't do the best job

01:51:48can tell you

01:51:48some people it does

01:51:49I've never had a problem with them

01:51:52but might working from home

01:51:55do something about this

01:51:57I don't know

01:51:58just a question

01:52:05if we fund the HMRC

01:52:08and they in return

01:52:11agree to recover the billions

01:52:13in lost taxes

01:52:14that they don't get

01:52:16into the revenue

01:52:17then I think that's a fair deal

01:52:20any other thoughts

01:52:21on the last question

01:52:23okay thank you

01:52:24so we've got some fairly

01:52:25big ticket questions

01:52:26with international

01:52:28national and regional

01:52:31consequences

01:52:33my question is about me

01:52:34and you

01:52:36so over the last five years

01:52:38I've had cause to

01:52:40try and contact

01:52:40two of the candidates

01:52:42on the poll

01:52:43and I've felt ignored

01:52:45throughout

01:52:46what can you say

01:52:48that's going to make me feel

01:52:49that I'm going to be represented

01:52:50on the 5th of July

01:52:56I only picked up the

01:52:58reform seat

01:53:00candidacy

01:53:02about a week and a bit ago

01:53:04I've answered

01:53:07hundreds and hundreds

01:53:08and hundreds of emails

01:53:10texts phone calls

01:53:12and I've got some in here

01:53:13that will support that

01:53:15and I've been thanked

01:53:17innumerable times

01:53:18for just the courtesy

01:53:20of answering a question

01:53:23or responding to somebody

01:53:24so if I get in

01:53:26I'll sit with anyone

01:53:27I'll sit with anyone

01:53:28discussing problems

01:53:29I'll listen to them

01:53:30we might not agree

01:53:32inevitably

01:53:33you know we won't always agree

01:53:35but I want to sit down

01:53:36with the people

01:53:37in this constituency

01:53:38because I think this is personal

01:53:40I think it's really personal

01:53:42and if you want to

01:53:44talk big government

01:53:45talk to the two parties

01:53:47on the right

01:53:48if you want to talk about yourself

01:53:49and what's going on around here

01:53:51and how we can help

01:53:52then talk to me

01:53:57yeah

01:53:59the only thing I would say

01:54:01is that

01:54:02we try and answer

01:54:03all resident queries

01:54:04and the only thing

01:54:06I can think is

01:54:07that we don't have

01:54:09offices

01:54:11during this campaign

01:54:12with manned staff

01:54:15so basically

01:54:16I wouldn't quite say

01:54:17it's me and a dog

01:54:18but we have a very small team

01:54:19in the Liberal Democrats

01:54:21I have received

01:54:2340 odd emails a day

01:54:25from mainly lobby groups

01:54:28and the only way

01:54:29I prioritise that

01:54:31is by answering emails

01:54:33that have actually come

01:54:34from residents

01:54:35with a real issue

01:54:37in the community

01:54:38it is physically impossible

01:54:40for our team

01:54:42to answer

01:54:43all the questions

01:54:44that are piling into

01:54:47my parliamentary email account

01:54:51if we had an office

01:54:52and if we had full-time staff

01:54:55I'm sure my answer to you

01:54:57would be very different

01:54:58thanks

01:55:03thanks

01:55:04I don't know

01:55:04am I supposed to be

01:55:05trying to contact someone?

01:55:06I'm not sure

01:55:07I've been a councillor

01:55:10for 17 years

01:55:11in South Ribble

01:55:12dealing and supporting

01:55:13the community

01:55:14with thousands of issues

01:55:15over that period

01:55:17I've been your council leader

01:55:20in South Ribble

01:55:20for the past five years

01:55:23and through the pandemic

01:55:24dealing with thousands of issues

01:55:27directly for the entire community

01:55:30if I'm elected as your MP

01:55:33I will be here

01:55:34every single week

01:55:35dealing with your issues

01:55:37and you'll have my word on it

01:55:40Catherine finally to you

01:55:41thank you

01:55:42I think it's a very fair question

01:55:43because this question

01:55:44is for the politics

01:55:45because we feel really remote

01:55:46can't we?

01:55:47so since I got elected

01:55:50I moved my office

01:55:52into Leyland

01:55:52because it's got better

01:55:53public transport

01:55:54I meet people

01:55:55and hold surgeries

01:55:56there every Friday

01:55:57I'm hoping that many of you

01:55:58in the room

01:55:59will have a letter from me

01:56:00saying I'm holding a Q&A here

01:56:02come and meet me

01:56:02and talk to me

01:56:04my caseload's been

01:56:05about 30,000 ish

01:56:07probably over to be honest

01:56:09because we don't record all of it

01:56:11within that volume

01:56:12have we copped up

01:56:12on missed emails?

01:56:13yes probably

01:56:14you know I find people

01:56:16that say

01:56:17I wrote to you

01:56:17and you didn't write back

01:56:18and when you chase it through

01:56:20they're sending it

01:56:20to an email address

01:56:21with Catherine as a C

01:56:22rather than a K

01:56:23or there's a reason behind it

01:56:26but I'm guessing you're asking

01:56:29because you want to know

01:56:30whether you have a 24-7

01:56:33on hold

01:56:34ready to act

01:56:35should you ever have a problem

01:56:36can do that

01:56:37am I roughly right?

01:56:39no

01:56:39not really

01:56:40I want to feel recommended

01:56:44I've got a routine

01:56:45to help my issues

01:56:50heard

01:56:50listened

01:56:51and listened to

01:56:52and get my support

01:56:53yeah okay

01:56:54I'm dead conscious

01:56:54the rest of the room

01:56:56won't be able to hear you

01:56:56so forgive us

01:56:57I'm going to cut across you

01:56:59and yeah

01:57:00quite right

01:57:01and long may it continue

01:57:03that MPs are held to account

01:57:06and have chats

01:57:07and are constantly listening

01:57:10like many of the others

01:57:12none of us are MP anymore

01:57:15we're all candidates

01:57:16so I'm probably doing the same

01:57:17as Andrew and Paul

01:57:18which is sitting down

01:57:20and replying to my emails

01:57:21at the computer late at night

01:57:23but so if you want me for anything

01:57:25Catherine at CatherineFletcher.uk

01:57:27Catherine thank you very much indeed

01:57:29and our two hours

01:57:30ladies and gentlemen

01:57:31is up I'm afraid

01:57:32let me thank on your behalf

01:57:34and mine our panel

01:57:35from right to left

01:57:36Ang Turner

01:57:37Andy Hunter

01:57:38Paul Foster

01:57:39and Catherine Fletcher

01:57:40thank you for being a great audience

01:57:42and however you want to do that too

01:57:44and now I'm going to exchange

01:57:45to the past two hours

01:57:47thanks a lot for coming out

01:57:48and giving me great ideas

01:57:49goodbye

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