SLEEPING rough, the chance of a rejected Brexit deal, school  and NHS funding, overseas aid and foodbanks were the topics of debate at a hustings in Wotton for the Cotswolds MP candidates.

Wotton Baptist Church was the chosen venue for the event on Monday (May 22) evening, organised by Churches Together.

The church’s minister Tom Wharin stated that the wonderful weather made the evening more suited to cricket and picnics instead of politics.

All five of the major parties were represented, (clock-wise below) Geoffrey Clifton-Brown for the Conservatives, Dr Andrew Gant for the Liberal Democrats, Sabrina Poole for the Greens, Mark Huband for Labour, and Ukip’s Chris Harlow.

Gazette Series:

The first topic of debate was about access to housing for the homeless.

Former journalist Mr Huband emphasised that his party had pledged in their ‘fully-costed manifesto’ 5,000 houses for the homeless, while Ms Poole said her party aimed to implement rent controls and reinforce the disabled benefit system.

The constituency’s MP for the past 25 years Mr Clifton-Brown decried the ‘sad position’ that the country is in regarding this issue, but had ‘imaginative schemes’ that would secure housing for everyone.

Both the Ukip and Lib Dem candidates see the issue directly linked to mental health, Mr Harlow stating that more outreach was needed and that there should be a stronger focus in the NHS.

Dr Gant said he is proud of his party’s commitment to mental health but much more needs to be done.

The audience member who asked the question stated that none of these really answered her question, much to the agreement of many in the crowd.

Debate turned to the possibility of a ‘no deal’ response to Brexit negotiations.

The Tory’s candidate, a Leave advocate, said: “‘No deal’ is better than a bad deal, but a second referendum makes no sense whatsoever, I’m dead-set against it.”

Mr Gant said that the Brexit negotiations don’t necessarily mean the UK would end up with a good deal, it could simply be that ‘the other guy does’.

Ukip’s Mr Harlow stated that Brexit would mean we can get our own deals with the countries outside of the EU – a point which caused the other candidates to shake their heads in disapproval.

Chris Mapp, chairman of governors at the British School in Wotton, asked about the school funding crisis, he would like to seal real-term cuts reversed and for Gloucestershire to be funded fairly.

Mr Clifton-Brown said there would be an increase in real terms and as much per school as last year and stated that he actively opposed the new formula – which wasn’t a popular move to make in the Conservative party.

The Lib Dem candidate, a school governor himself along with Mr Harlow, said that schools were facing choices they really shouldn’t have to.

He said that he as a governor had to choose between losing a numeracy and literacy teacher or four teaching assistants.

His party is proposing an extra £7 billion for schools, along with free school meals and a qualified teacher in every class.

Mr Huband decried the proposed loss of a teacher from the governor’s school and a potential 19 job losses from Cirencester College.

Green party candidate Sabrina Poole said: “I have to re-apply for my job each year, these cuts are having a huge effect on staff morale. I aim to stand up for schools not just in Gloucestershire but across the country so that no schools lose out.”

The largest roar from the crowd came from Mr Harlow’s answer about the use of the UK’s GDP for overseas uses, claiming that the current 0.7 per cent was ‘too much’.

Dr Gant said that while the 0.7 per cent was not much: “It is an important national standard, enough to achieve things – to do good.”

Labour’s Mark Huband said that there was a need to ‘recalibrate our position in the world’ through a possible increase in a bid to find ‘new friends’ post-Brexit.

Sabrina Poole stated that her party would raise this funding in order to support refugees around the world who are: “Under severe pressures in their bid to find a new home.”

The most passionate debate of the night came from a question about foodbanks, a woman in the audience – who works at a foodbank – stated that one in five people now use them, how would the candidates solve the issue?

Mr Gant would raise income tax and reverse benefit cuts so that fewer people are forced to resort to foodbanks.

He decried the current one per cent cap on public sector pay increases, which are effectively a pay cut he says.

Mr Huband thought the situation where foodbanks are an expected norm is shameful – that we think when visiting a supermarket ‘oh there’s the foodbank donation box’ and think nothing of it.

Labour intends to raise the minimum wage to £10 an hour to alleviate the number of people forced to make use of a foodbank.

Sabrina Poole agreed that the amount of people using foodbanks is shameful - especially in a country which has so much money compared to others, the Greens would help prevent the reliance on foodbanks by removing zero-hours contracts and improving public sector pay.

Conservative Clifton-Brown said that the problem is not yet properly understood and more work needs to be done to find out why people are turning to foodbanks but stated that more people were not paying tax.

He said: “We need to understand why because it is not acceptable.”

The woman who asked the question quashed ideas that people could go to foodbanks who did not need to, stressing that all applicants are means tested and can only be referred, she said: “There is a shameful increase under this Tory government – it’s happening in your [Clifton-Brown] district!”

Mr Harlow stated that the minimum wage should be just that, the lowest possible pay, meaning that those on this level should not have to make National Insurance contributions, there should not be a tax on the minimum wage.

The question which caught the five candidates off guard asked for their political and personal guiding principles.

Dr Gant said that his principle as a liberal guided him, sharing values despite differing backgrounds, and guided by his family and three teenage children.

Mr Harlow said the freedom from oppression and poverty guides him as well as his role as an independent voice in politics.

Conservative Clifton-Brown said that standing up for what he believes in guided him as well as the aim of: “Leaving the world a little better than when I found it.”

Mark Huband said that both his children and experiencing the world’s different societies have helped to guide him.

Sabrina Poole said that living in a society that is more democratic was her guiding principle, alongside her own personal faith.

The final question was whether the NHS is under-funded or if it just needs to be run more efficiently.

There was cross-party agreement that the problem involved both answers, requiring much more funding but that, just like any business, there are areas which could and should be tightened or improved.

Sabrina Poole decried the fact the Cirencester Minor Injuries unit was no closed at nights due to funding restrictions, while Clifton-Brown stated that Labour has ruined the economy – leading to an under-funded NHS.

Mr Gant said that income tax would be raised by 1p and all the profits of this would go directly to the NHS.

Mr Huband stated that one solution could be a greater input in funding for prescriptive medicine so that fewer people have to go to hospitals in the first place.

For more information on the Cotswold MP candidates read our rundown here.