:00:08. > :00:12.Theresa May has called a snap general election.
:00:13. > :00:14.THERESA MAY: At this moment of enormous national significance,
:00:15. > :00:19.there should be unity here in Westminster.
:00:20. > :00:22.Come on, it's what we all wanted - isn't it?
:00:23. > :00:25.In just over a week's time we'll all be heading back to the polls
:00:26. > :00:35.So what are the issues that it get us all going here in Yorkshire,
:00:36. > :00:39.and more importantly, who do you trust to sort them out?
:00:40. > :00:43.The main thing I'd say for me is the NHS, it's in a bit of a mess,
:00:44. > :00:47.Poor people are being left behind and being crushed, as always,
:00:48. > :00:50.and the politicians are just saying what they have to say.
:00:51. > :00:53.During an election they promise you the moon but when they get in,
:00:54. > :00:58.Here in Halifax last time around there were only a few
:00:59. > :01:00.hundred votes separating the leading political parties.
:01:01. > :01:02.This time the Yorkshire election battle grounds
:01:03. > :01:13.Hello, we're at the Square Chapel Arts Centre in Halifax.
:01:14. > :01:15.Tonight, our audience will get the chance to put their questions
:01:16. > :01:18.to the politicians fighting for their vote.
:01:19. > :01:37.This is Election 2017, a BBC Look North special.
:01:38. > :01:46.Anyone will tell you what a grand place Halifax is, but come on,
:01:47. > :01:51.two visits to the area from our two main party leaders in two weeks
:01:52. > :02:00.Our panel tonight, John Healey from Labour and Wentworth and Dearne
:02:01. > :02:06.He's a shadow housing secretary and admits all the leaders he's
:02:07. > :02:14.Rishi Sunak took over from William Hague as
:02:15. > :02:21.Some majority you've got there, Rishi.
:02:22. > :02:24.Natalie Bennett is a former leader of the Greens.
:02:25. > :02:26.If you want to chop a tree down in Sheffield Central,
:02:27. > :02:30.The Lib Dems were nearly wiped out last time round.
:02:31. > :02:35.Di Keal, from Thirsk and Malton, is hoping it's different this year.
:02:36. > :02:37.Bradford South's Stephen Place is hoping to rise to
:02:38. > :02:48.And welcome to the leader of the Yorkshire Party, Stewart Arnold.
:02:49. > :02:51.If the vote was about to be the best place to live you'd
:02:52. > :02:53.have a handsome lead I think, wouldn't you?
:02:54. > :02:56.You can follow the debate on social media.
:02:57. > :02:58.The hashtag is GE2017 Yorks, and on your local
:02:59. > :03:05.Our first question tonight comes from Morgan.
:03:06. > :03:09.Manchester is just 30 miles from where we sit tonight.
:03:10. > :03:11.What will your party do to reduce the chance
:03:12. > :03:14.of another terrorist attack following last week's atrocity?
:03:15. > :03:19.OK, let's move immediately to Rishi Sunak.
:03:20. > :03:23.I think we all watched those events on TV and were horrified.
:03:24. > :03:25.The first thing is to pay tribute to the incredible
:03:26. > :03:27.professionalism of the police, who responded magnificently,
:03:28. > :03:30.but also to the people of Manchester as you said,
:03:31. > :03:33.I think they responded with incredible strength
:03:34. > :03:37.and solidarity in the face of a heinous, heinous crime.
:03:38. > :03:39.In terms of going forward, there are three things
:03:40. > :03:42.The first is making sure that our intelligence services
:03:43. > :03:44.remain the best in the world, investing in MI5,
:03:45. > :03:51.Secondly, we need to listen to our security services
:03:52. > :03:59.about the tools they need to do their job.
:04:00. > :04:03.That things like giving them access to the Internet browsing history
:04:04. > :04:05.of suspected terrorists, or exclusion orders,
:04:06. > :04:08.which prevents people from returning back to the UK if they are suspected
:04:09. > :04:10.of plotting terrorist activities abroad.
:04:11. > :04:12.Those are some of the practical steps we've been taking.
:04:13. > :04:14.The third thing is to put this in context.
:04:15. > :04:17.Right now there are I think 200 different active investigations
:04:18. > :04:19.that the security services are looking at with regard
:04:20. > :04:22.There are 3000 people on the high priority watch list,
:04:23. > :04:24.so the scale of this problem is significant.
:04:25. > :04:27.I think we have to think about prevention.
:04:28. > :04:30.We have to look at what is really awful Islamist...
:04:31. > :04:41.Reality, you've cut one fifth of police officers in West Yorkshire.
:04:42. > :04:51.If you look at what we have done and the Home Secretary was talking
:04:52. > :04:55.about this last week and asked the head of the counter
:04:56. > :04:58.terrorists in the UK, is it question of resources
:04:59. > :05:00.The counter-terrorism budget is increased.
:05:01. > :05:03.There are 1900 more officers going into MI5, MI6 and GCHQ
:05:04. > :05:06.The only manifesto that talks about tackling Islamist extremist
:05:07. > :05:08.ideology is the Conservative manifesto, which is setting
:05:09. > :05:13.I think it's right to stand up for what's important in this country.
:05:14. > :05:16.We have a great country, we have great laws, great values,
:05:17. > :05:22.and people need to integrate into British society
:05:23. > :05:24.and that's the only way we'll ultimately solve this problem.
:05:25. > :05:26.Some members of your Cabinet actually want MI5 completely
:05:27. > :05:31.That would stop this look into trying to stop terrorism.
:05:32. > :05:35.There's been no discussion in Shadow Cabinet about anything like that.
:05:36. > :05:40.No, Jeremy Corbyn in the wake of the bombing in Manchester
:05:41. > :05:42.has said very clearly, just like Theresa May,
:05:43. > :05:44.the security services get what they need in order to do
:05:45. > :05:49.It was a magnificent response in Manchester.
:05:50. > :05:52.The government, to its credit, got it right, by raising
:05:53. > :05:54.the threat level to critical, putting troops on the street.
:05:55. > :05:56.A couple of things need to happen now.
:05:57. > :06:05.How did this man escape them after he was alerted to them over
:06:06. > :06:10.There is also questions that now need to be launched
:06:11. > :06:11.by the Home Secretary, between the border
:06:12. > :06:16.Was he stopped at the border when he came back from Libya?
:06:17. > :06:20.If he was stopped, why was he let go?
:06:21. > :06:21.And finally, the point about the police.
:06:22. > :06:27.Policing is now more and more complex, as crime
:06:28. > :06:30.The number of counter-terrorism cases that the police
:06:31. > :06:33.and the security services have to track is increasing all the time
:06:34. > :06:35.and neighbourhood policing is needed more than ever.
:06:36. > :06:38.We've lost in this region 2300 police since 2010.
:06:39. > :06:41.We have to put them back on the street.
:06:42. > :06:44.You haven't got any plans to support the police in the future.
:06:45. > :06:49.In South Yorkshire, this year, we got 2.5 million less
:06:50. > :06:57.in the budget than we had last year, so the last seven years
:06:58. > :06:59.of police cuts is due to continue for the next five,
:07:00. > :07:04.Would you like to make a point about what you've heard from these
:07:05. > :07:09.Basically, all I'd like to say is it's all well and good you saying
:07:10. > :07:12.we are going to be doing this, we are going to be doing that,
:07:13. > :07:18.If things like this keep happening and you keep telling us
:07:19. > :07:20.you are putting this in place, things like this
:07:21. > :07:25.Why weren't there troops in and around these areas
:07:26. > :07:28.It's almost like you've let something like this
:07:29. > :07:37.I'm going to Di Keal, for the Lib Dems' view.
:07:38. > :07:41.I think the thing that really worries me about this going forward
:07:42. > :07:43.is that we've seen since this incident, this dreadful incident
:07:44. > :07:46.in Manchester last week, a spike in hate crime,
:07:47. > :07:48.race hate crime in Manchester, and we need to work so hard
:07:49. > :07:55.My daughter is at University of Manchester.
:07:56. > :08:02.She spends her weekends working with the Sikh community,
:08:03. > :08:05.working across the community, to try and bring people together,
:08:06. > :08:07.and I think that's the sort of approach we need to take.
:08:08. > :08:10.Yes, we do need more police, we'd need more community police,
:08:11. > :08:13.definitely, because they're the level of police that pick up
:08:14. > :08:17.But we also need to work really hard on community cohesion.
:08:18. > :08:19.What about Natalie Bennett, what Jeremy Corbyn said the other
:08:20. > :08:23.day, that foreign policy of the government has caused this
:08:24. > :08:29.I don't think that's exactly what Jeremy said but I think
:08:30. > :08:32.to start off with we do have to start with the local,
:08:33. > :08:37.Tory austerity is showing in fewer police in our streets
:08:38. > :08:39.and our communities and that has one impact.
:08:40. > :08:40.There's also the question about the Prevent strategy
:08:41. > :08:44.and the way in which that has demonised communities.
:08:45. > :08:47.We've heard everyone from Liberty to the NUT saying what we need
:08:48. > :08:50.instead is an engage strategy, but it's also true that
:08:51. > :08:53.if we have an unstable, insecure world, a world that's been
:08:54. > :08:56.partially created by our policies of foreign intervention,
:08:57. > :08:59.Iraq, Afghanistan, Libya, a world in which we are selling arms
:09:00. > :09:05.to Saudi Arabia, an unstable world, the eddies will come back to us
:09:06. > :09:11.What we need to do is support human rights and democracy around
:09:12. > :09:13.the world and that will make the whole world safer,
:09:14. > :09:16.and it will be better and safer for others as well.
:09:17. > :09:24.It seems to me that human rights is the root of the problem.
:09:25. > :09:29.Legislation tends to protect the extremist at the expense
:09:30. > :09:34.of innocent people, and the sooner we instigate Brexit and get rid
:09:35. > :09:40.Lock them up, then you don't have to keep tabs on them and then
:09:41. > :09:44.I'll let that comment go without comment for the moment.
:09:45. > :09:47.Gentleman at the front with the nice tie.
:09:48. > :09:51.The thing that concerns me about all this is two things.
:09:52. > :09:53.One is we are letting these people back in after they've
:09:54. > :09:59.The other thing is when the Labour Party leader talks
:10:00. > :10:04.about being friends, he did talk about being friends
:10:05. > :10:07.with the IRA, when the IRA terrorists were killing our boys
:10:08. > :10:11.and blowing up British people and they expect us to vote for them.
:10:12. > :10:27.The attitude seems to be from your party to lock them up
:10:28. > :10:29.without charge when they come from say Syria or Libya.
:10:30. > :10:37.He said further down the line there may be a point to be made
:10:38. > :10:40.and maybe we have a grown-up talk about this with regards
:10:41. > :10:42.to internment at some later stage, but not for now.
:10:43. > :10:45.I think you have to listen to what these two main
:10:46. > :10:49.One of them, post-Manchester, is going to have a review,
:10:50. > :10:52.The Tory party are going to have a commission.
:10:53. > :10:54.They are having a commission into historical child sex abuse.
:10:55. > :10:57.It's taken five years and about three or four different leaders.
:10:58. > :11:02.You've got to listen to what they are saying.
:11:03. > :11:06.A review and a commission right now are about as much use
:11:07. > :11:15.And so we need to have, people are frightened and worried
:11:16. > :11:17.as Manchester continues to mourn and grieve, quite rightly,
:11:18. > :11:20.we are all getting over the shock and horror of what happened
:11:21. > :11:23.and we've now got to start saying what is going to happen.
:11:24. > :11:25.Ukip have said anybody, we've been saying this for quite awhile,
:11:26. > :11:29.anybody at this moment in time who's left this country and gone to Isis,
:11:30. > :11:30.we should immediately revoke their passports
:11:31. > :11:33.and revoke their citizenship and then we don't have that problem.
:11:34. > :11:38.There are 3000 people wandering the streets
:11:39. > :11:41.of this country right now, that's what they are telling us,
:11:42. > :11:44.3000, can I finish off, and we don't know who they are,
:11:45. > :11:47.we don't know where they are, we don't know what their intent is.
:11:48. > :11:51.The Yorkshire Party, do you have any policy on this at all?
:11:52. > :11:53.Well, obviously Yorkshire has suffered its own terrorist
:11:54. > :11:57.activity just last year, in the far right murder of Jo Cox,
:11:58. > :12:01.so we are not immune and we know we have experienced ourselves
:12:02. > :12:04.of this and we are united with Manchester obviously
:12:05. > :12:09.I don't know that 2300 police would have made the difference,
:12:10. > :12:13.but clearly, if you start to take those off the street,
:12:14. > :12:15.if you take them out of the intelligence services,
:12:16. > :12:17.if you take them out of communities policing activities,
:12:18. > :12:26.then surely that's got to have a knock-on effect.
:12:27. > :12:34.Yorkshire losing those police have to be rectified. Quick comments from
:12:35. > :12:38.the audience. We've had Lee Rigby and the Manchester attack but the
:12:39. > :12:43.security services have kept us safe for the last 12 years. We've had two
:12:44. > :12:51.horrible attacks, the other was 12 years ago, and they should be
:12:52. > :12:56.commended. Yes, sir? The police have said on reports that the bomber in
:12:57. > :13:02.Manchester was known to the police. Why was he allowed to leave the
:13:03. > :13:02.country? Why was he allowed to come back?
:13:03. > :13:10.APPLAUSE OK, very quickly, and that? I would
:13:11. > :13:13.say the lady mentioned this point, we have exclusion orders, we should
:13:14. > :13:18.make more use of them and stop people coming back. It was opposed
:13:19. > :13:22.by Jeremy Corbyn. You have only used it once. It's been used more, we
:13:23. > :13:26.haven't commented on the number. This is the kind of practical step
:13:27. > :13:30.we need to be doing. Jeremy Corbyn has taken pride in opposing
:13:31. > :13:33.anti-terrorist just lay on since he was elected. All the things you are
:13:34. > :13:42.talking about other things we need to do, but we need someone prepared
:13:43. > :13:45.to put these things on the statute book. Quickly? You are right, this
:13:46. > :13:47.is one off. There have been lots of plots foiled. We failed in this.
:13:48. > :13:51.There are questions for the police and the border for Stanford. Stephen
:13:52. > :13:55.Place, you're wrong. We're talking about that, and it's needed, but
:13:56. > :13:58.over the next parliament we'll have 10,000 extra police officers back on
:13:59. > :14:02.the street, because across the country we've lost them in West
:14:03. > :14:07.Yorkshire, we've lost in South Yorkshire, we've lost 20,000. We
:14:08. > :14:10.need them back. We need to move on. Thank you, thank you very much
:14:11. > :14:17.indeed for your responses on that one. Our next question comes from
:14:18. > :14:25.Tim Newton. A year ago we voted to leave the EU that's why we're this
:14:26. > :14:28.general election. Of the two prospective prime ministerial
:14:29. > :14:32.candidates, who can best be trusted to get the best Brexit deal for
:14:33. > :14:37.Yorkshire and the north of England? OK, that's a direct question. I'm
:14:38. > :14:41.going to ask Stephen Place about that one. It certainly isn't Jeremy
:14:42. > :14:45.Corbyn, in my opinion. He's not going to take us through Brexit.
:14:46. > :14:50.There's a lot of anti-feeling about him and what is going to do. Theresa
:14:51. > :14:53.May is trying to be strong and stable but she's already
:14:54. > :14:56.backsliding. She has that we will remain under the auspices and
:14:57. > :15:00.management of the European Court of Human Rights. A big part of the
:15:01. > :15:06.Brexit debate was our own sovereignty. You are spent force
:15:07. > :15:10.now. You say that, I'm here, Harry. I'm standing in Bradford.
:15:11. > :15:13.Politically, do you not feel you are? Not at all, that's not what I'm
:15:14. > :15:17.getting on the streets on the doorsteps when I'm talking to
:15:18. > :15:20.people. Let's not delude ourselves, Ukip are not going to get into
:15:21. > :15:25.power. What we are after is offering a strong and individual voice in
:15:26. > :15:29.Parliament, a fresh voice, something new. Isn't it just, Natalie, a
:15:30. > :15:36.straight choice between two party leaders? Absolutely not. The Green
:15:37. > :15:40.Party in the last election, we got 1.1 million votes. That's more than
:15:41. > :15:45.we got in every previous general election added together. Because of
:15:46. > :15:49.the electoral system we got one MP, the great Caroline Lucas. We are
:15:50. > :15:53.aiming to get a strong group of Green MPs, three to five, and what
:15:54. > :15:57.we will be doing in Parliament is fighting for the best possible deal
:15:58. > :16:01.and one of the key point is we want to keep free movement of people
:16:02. > :16:04.within the EU. That enriches all of our lives and our young people
:16:05. > :16:09.should have the same kind of freedoms, the same opportunities,
:16:10. > :16:14.that their elders have had. We don't want to reduce people's freedoms and
:16:15. > :16:18.options. We want to do that. We want to ratification referendum so we see
:16:19. > :16:20.what the deal is, people get to decide for themselves whether they
:16:21. > :16:25.like the destination or not. We didn't decide in the Brexit
:16:26. > :16:29.referendum, it was like saying you are in Sheffield, drive north.
:16:30. > :16:33.Depending on your heading and distance, there's a lot of different
:16:34. > :16:37.destinations. People should be able to say Will they like that
:16:38. > :16:42.destination and do they want to go back. If it came to a hung
:16:43. > :16:49.parliament would you support Jeremy Corbyn? We would never support
:16:50. > :16:52.Theresa May and the Conservatives. Respond to that? The Lib Dems are
:16:53. > :16:56.taking a completely different attitude to this discussion than
:16:57. > :17:04.everybody else. As you are probably well aware, we don't believe that
:17:05. > :17:06.the country under Theresa May or Jeremy Corbyn would be going in the
:17:07. > :17:10.right direction, because they are talking about a very hard Brexit,
:17:11. > :17:13.which would not be good for this country, would not be good for
:17:14. > :17:20.employment, would not be good for the cost of living and a whole host
:17:21. > :17:28.of other things. We are not wanting to redo the referendum, yes or no.
:17:29. > :17:31.They don't want a second referendum. Actually, it's been quite
:17:32. > :17:33.interesting. They don't want a second referendum but I think they
:17:34. > :17:41.have a right to a referendum and to have a say about the final deal.
:17:42. > :17:46.Because basically they voted yes or no. Am going to ask the audience to
:17:47. > :17:51.react to that. This gentleman? Brief comments. This is quite a
:17:52. > :17:55.controversial concept, but it would be something that Ukip might want to
:17:56. > :18:01.take on or any other party. I'd like to see on ballot papers and option
:18:02. > :18:07.to vote for a vote of no-confidence in the democratic system.
:18:08. > :18:12.APPLAUSE And to open discussions in
:18:13. > :18:16.alternatives. The lady at the front? I think there's a lot of arrogance
:18:17. > :18:23.with Theresa May and a hard Brexit. APPLAUSE
:18:24. > :18:27.If we are member of any other club and we decide to leave, if there are
:18:28. > :18:35.terms on the table it's up to that club to say what it is, so standing
:18:36. > :18:40.and slapping off EU is going to get the worst deal possible. So I think
:18:41. > :18:46.Theresa May is the worst possible person. The gentleman right in front
:18:47. > :18:50.of the microphone? Surely come if we had to have a vote on the final
:18:51. > :18:56.deal, the EU would not give a decent deal. Exactly. A lady in white? I'm
:18:57. > :19:00.concerned about the liberals saying that we will have another vote if we
:19:01. > :19:04.liked the deal law we don't like the deal. Because it could go on ad
:19:05. > :19:08.infinitum. We could always be having a vote, if we don't like it or the
:19:09. > :19:14.majority don't like it. They all get together again heads round the
:19:15. > :19:20.table, right up another agenda and it could go on and on and on, and I
:19:21. > :19:25.think we should trust whoever is in power, whether it's Labour or
:19:26. > :19:30.Conservative, and work of the team. Listen to what we are saying, the
:19:31. > :19:33.people, but worked as a team. Thank you, Madam. We will come back to
:19:34. > :19:37.some reaction in a moment. John Healey, in your very blunt way you
:19:38. > :19:44.said Jeremy Corbyn in the past couldn't cut it as a leader. How can
:19:45. > :19:49.you see him seeing us through Brexit? You said earlier on I've
:19:50. > :19:52.served under four different Labour leaders on the front bench in
:19:53. > :19:55.government and opposition, and they've all had flaws and all
:19:56. > :19:58.benefited from somebody telling them bluntly things they don't
:19:59. > :20:02.necessarily want to hear from somebody who doesn't necessarily
:20:03. > :20:06.agree with them. If you asked this question, it's a very good question,
:20:07. > :20:09.if you ask this question of the 27 leaders of the other European states
:20:10. > :20:13.they might say to Theresa May because they see not strong and
:20:14. > :20:18.stable but weak, wobbly, and won't give a straight answer. We saw it
:20:19. > :20:21.with the backtrack on cuts in tax credits in the Autumn Statement,
:20:22. > :20:25.national insurance contributions from self employed at the budget,
:20:26. > :20:28.not causing a snap election, which she promised she wouldn't do, and
:20:29. > :20:33.most recently on the dementia tax and cap on social care. What
:20:34. > :20:39.happens, she starts to backtrack and buckle under pressure as soon as
:20:40. > :20:44.she... As soon as she finds opposition. If I'm one of those
:20:45. > :20:48.other European Union leaders, this is the sort of head of the country
:20:49. > :20:54.I'd quite like to negotiate with. Very briefly... It isn't just,
:20:55. > :20:59.Natalie Bennett is right, it's not just a question of the two leaders.
:21:00. > :21:02.It's a question of the basic plan to negotiate for this country the best
:21:03. > :21:07.deal, and for others, very different. Not really the crash out,
:21:08. > :21:11.willing to put and determined to put jobs, the economy first, clamped
:21:12. > :21:15.down on immigration because the freedom of movement ends, and
:21:16. > :21:20.finally it's the interests of the jobs in this region that matters
:21:21. > :21:24.most. Quarter of a million jobs directly linked to exports to the
:21:25. > :21:29.European Union. We need strong Labour MPs, a plan that secures the
:21:30. > :21:33.closest of tariffs -- tariff and barrier free access to that single
:21:34. > :21:38.market. So much of our prosperity in this region depends on it. Rishi,
:21:39. > :21:42.Theresa May was very quiet when it came to the whole referendum debate.
:21:43. > :21:47.Why should she be the person to lead us through it? Very briefly, please.
:21:48. > :21:50.If you vote for her you know what you're getting, it's
:21:51. > :21:54.straightforward. Brexit is an opportunity for this country. The
:21:55. > :21:58.Brexit deal she has outlined is straightforward, we will be back in
:21:59. > :22:02.control of our borders, our laws, and our money. Those are paramount.
:22:03. > :22:07.You are right to focus on a binary choice between the two of them
:22:08. > :22:12.because in 11 days' time the election one of the two of those
:22:13. > :22:17.people will sitting across the European Union to negotiate. It will
:22:18. > :22:20.not be an easy deal. As you turn every time she opens her mouth, she
:22:21. > :22:26.changes her mind. The gentleman at the back. You've given me a great
:22:27. > :22:30.reason not to vote for Theresa May. You spelt out exactly what she's
:22:31. > :22:34.going to do, hard Brexit, she doesn't have the mandate and I'm not
:22:35. > :22:40.going to vote for her now. The gentleman? The reason I voted for
:22:41. > :22:43.Brexit was because I feel that the EU is undemocratic. There was never
:22:44. > :22:49.a conversation between the EU and the public. We've got to vote once
:22:50. > :22:56.every so often. I feel similarly... Quickly. It's the same with our
:22:57. > :23:01.domestic politicians as well. I want to know, how are you going to make a
:23:02. > :23:05.better conversation between ourselves and our politicians? The
:23:06. > :23:09.lady in purple? It seems to me it is such an important negotiation that
:23:10. > :23:14.the word negotiate is really important. Not I Theresa May, just
:23:15. > :23:16.stand there and tell them off, but Jeremy Corbyn is willing to talk to
:23:17. > :23:19.people and that's what you've got to do to get a good deal.
:23:20. > :23:26.APPLAUSE The Yorkshire Party, how will you
:23:27. > :23:30.make sure that Yorkshire gets some benefit from this Brexit situation?
:23:31. > :23:34.As a very interesting question, because I don't think we are at the
:23:35. > :23:37.moment. The choice between Corbyn and May, it's interesting to note
:23:38. > :23:43.that in neither party's manifesto is there a single mention of Yorkshire.
:23:44. > :23:47.That's how little we are figuring in their interests. Theresa May took
:23:48. > :23:50.ten months before she actually came to Yorkshire and that was only
:23:51. > :23:54.because of the general election being called. I don't think we have
:23:55. > :23:59.any voice at all in this process. Very quickly from the audience. The
:24:00. > :24:06.gentleman at the front. Thanks, Harry. The point is everybody seems
:24:07. > :24:12.to forget that originally we didn't sign up for an EU, we signed up for
:24:13. > :24:22.a single market, market. That's a European market. Why should we have
:24:23. > :24:27.an extra government running our government? One final point, you've
:24:28. > :24:30.not made, yet? When it comes to the negotiations I'm a bit worried about
:24:31. > :24:34.Jeremy Corbyn and Diane Abbott, because the way they've proven to be
:24:35. > :24:38.with figures, before we know it they will have signed is up to ?50
:24:39. > :24:44.billion a year to ongoing contributions to EU when we've left.
:24:45. > :24:49.A quick comment, hasn't this been a fiasco of the Shadow Cabinet, come
:24:50. > :24:53.on, be honest? You always are. Quite the opposite. A detailed manifesto,
:24:54. > :24:56.a big plan for dealing with some of the really deep-seated problems that
:24:57. > :25:00.we face in this country, ignored over the last seven years and in
:25:01. > :25:05.some cases made worse, like on policing by the Conservatives. For
:25:06. > :25:09.the first time, fully covered and costed, both what the new plans will
:25:10. > :25:14.cost and ways of raising that funding. You may laugh, sir, but
:25:15. > :25:19.I've been a Treasury minister and I know how you do this. It's not easy,
:25:20. > :25:22.that we've set that out before people and frankly the only numbers
:25:23. > :25:28.you'll find in the Tory manifesto are the page numbers. Thank you. We
:25:29. > :25:38.have to move on to our next question. It's from Nigel. How would
:25:39. > :25:42.the panel decreased the north- south divide and ensure a great
:25:43. > :25:46.distribution of wealth away from the London and the south-east? The
:25:47. > :25:53.North-South divide, you have a view about that? You are right, there is
:25:54. > :25:56.a north-south divide. We need to devolve powers, take powers out of
:25:57. > :25:59.London, away from the dead hand of Westminster and Whitehall, up to
:26:00. > :26:05.Yorkshire, so we set our own priorities here, our own commitments
:26:06. > :26:08.and spend accordingly. There are two things happening. One, the things
:26:09. > :26:13.that are happening to us that we don't necessarily want, that we have
:26:14. > :26:16.no say in, like for example fracking, HS2, when we might prefer
:26:17. > :26:21.better east-west trans-Pennine links, and there are other things we
:26:22. > :26:25.do want, like better connectivity in terms of our rail infrastructure,
:26:26. > :26:28.like in terms of things like educational investment, that are not
:26:29. > :26:34.happening to other at all. So I want to see a model rather like Scotland,
:26:35. > :26:37.Wales, Northern Ireland and London, where Yorkshire takes control, sets
:26:38. > :26:43.its own priorities, spends the money according to what we want to appear.
:26:44. > :26:46.Daya Keel -- Di Keal, Lib Dems? I'm very concerned about the North-South
:26:47. > :26:50.divide because I think what's happening at the moment is this Tory
:26:51. > :26:53.government is quite determined to impose on the north something we
:26:54. > :26:58.really do not want. Stewart has mentioned it, fracking. There is
:26:59. > :27:02.overwhelming opposition to fracking in the North of England will stop
:27:03. > :27:06.we've seen it in planning applications as they are going
:27:07. > :27:09.forward and they've been totally ignored by this government. Now in
:27:10. > :27:14.their manifesto they are actually going to take democracy away from
:27:15. > :27:19.local people in the North. The desolate north, I think George
:27:20. > :27:23.Osborne's father-in-law referred to as ours, and it was fine to frack is
:27:24. > :27:28.up here. The powers will be taken away and decisions on fracking made
:27:29. > :27:31.up Westminster, well away from local democracy and that the Shia led and
:27:32. > :27:34.pushed by the Tory party. How is that in the interest of the North,
:27:35. > :27:39.they will make it the industrial wasteland that they are talking
:27:40. > :27:43.about -- they are cheerleading. Theresa May has come to Yorkshire a
:27:44. > :27:47.few times but she said very little about what she will do for
:27:48. > :27:50.Yorkshire. Don't you feel a bit embarrassed about that? I think
:27:51. > :27:54.she's carrying on with the programme of government that was put in place
:27:55. > :27:58.by George Osborne, who was passionate about creating Northern
:27:59. > :28:01.Powerhouse. We saw the results of the mayoral elections, genuine
:28:02. > :28:05.devolution from London to all the provinces of the UK. Yorkshire needs
:28:06. > :28:08.to be part of that, I agree. It's for Yorkshire to come together and
:28:09. > :28:13.figure out the right geography for others and the settlement forums.
:28:14. > :28:17.The opportunities there. The transport situation, ?6 spent in
:28:18. > :28:23.London to ?1 in Yorkshire. That's not on, is it? The gap is closing,
:28:24. > :28:27.we have Transport for London, we have transport for the North, it's a
:28:28. > :28:32.new body to get the money to spend across the North transport
:28:33. > :28:44.priorities. Like the M62. Would you commit to hate chess three, Halifax
:28:45. > :28:51.would benefit? -- HS3. I support that. Natalie Bennett? I'm going to
:28:52. > :28:54.answer you, no, the fact is, as the point has been made, the North has
:28:55. > :28:58.had lots of things imposed on them. I've been with the protesters over
:28:59. > :29:03.at Blackpool and they are holding signs that said Lancashire said No,
:29:04. > :29:08.that's what the county council said and London overruled it. Harry, you
:29:09. > :29:12.have an important point in terms of money. HS2, the Green Party is
:29:13. > :29:16.utterly opposed to hate just do. You might think that's a bit surprising,
:29:17. > :29:20.we are Greens, we're supposed to like trains, but I will focus money,
:29:21. > :29:26.people and resources even more London. What we need is investment
:29:27. > :29:30.in the trains. I came on the train from Sheffield today. It was slow
:29:31. > :29:33.and rattly. We need investment in our local and regional trains and we
:29:34. > :29:38.desperately need to put the money back into regional and local buses.
:29:39. > :29:41.Bus services are really crucial to people, as well as investment in
:29:42. > :29:44.walking and cycling, active transport in our communities to get
:29:45. > :29:50.round our communities and between our two images in the North. Stephen
:29:51. > :29:56.Place, your party is against HS2? This is a railway that will cut a
:29:57. > :30:00.scar across the main part of England and cost they say 50-60,000,000,000,
:30:01. > :30:05.you can double that. It will be at least 120 billion in our estimation.
:30:06. > :30:08.To get somebody from London to Birmingham 30 minutes quicker than
:30:09. > :30:14.now. It's a vanity projects. They are so ignorant and will not make a
:30:15. > :30:17.decision and the in the times we are in now, when people are having to go
:30:18. > :30:21.to food banks to feed their children, we are going to spend all
:30:22. > :30:26.that money on a railway. It's a nonsense. 2010, we were told about
:30:27. > :30:31.the Northern Powerhouse. I can't find any evidence of a single brick
:30:32. > :30:35.laid, a single business started up, a single railway track being done.
:30:36. > :30:39.They've used part of the money into Hull to rebuild flood defences. It's
:30:40. > :30:46.a con. I want to hear from the audience, Nigel? You've heard some
:30:47. > :30:50.answers? We've been I think HS2 is the white elephant. It doesn't need
:30:51. > :30:54.to be built. It's only going to improve real-time by 30 minutes and
:30:55. > :31:00.why don't we spend the billions and put it in the NHS? We might not have
:31:01. > :31:04.such a big problem. The gentleman with the moustache? Thanks for
:31:05. > :31:07.explaining about extra infrastructure investment, but which
:31:08. > :31:10.party is going to invest in the skills we need to actually make sure
:31:11. > :31:14.that infrastructure in Yorkshire gets built, because we've been sadly
:31:15. > :31:21.lacking in that sort of spend for many years. Thanks for the question.
:31:22. > :31:25.The lady at the back? Watch the microphone, it's dangerous! When you
:31:26. > :31:29.are on about various parts of Yorkshire getting their own mares
:31:30. > :31:32.and one thing and another, when you think about Yorkshire, Yorkshire is
:31:33. > :31:40.Yorkshire, we are all involved together. Absolutely, yes, OK. The
:31:41. > :31:43.gentleman there? Two quick points. Are we going to end up with
:31:44. > :31:48.Yorkshire Nicola Sturgeon at some point? And the other thing is do
:31:49. > :31:52.people keep saying that the North should be more like the South? It's
:31:53. > :32:00.already way better than that. APPLAUSE
:32:01. > :32:05.A lady in a white top? I take great exception to what the colleagues
:32:06. > :32:09.said on the Conservative Party about the Northern Powerhouse. For the
:32:10. > :32:13.past seven years all we've seen is austerity and this area has become
:32:14. > :32:17.the northern poor house and what you are putting in in your manifesto is
:32:18. > :32:19.absolutely shameless. I've got to give you the chance to respond to
:32:20. > :32:25.that but briefly. APPLAUSE
:32:26. > :32:29.In the last Parliament Yorkshire created more jobs from the entirety
:32:30. > :32:33.of France, so that doesn't seem to me to be a record to be ashamed of.
:32:34. > :32:36.It's great progress. There's more investment going into infrastructure
:32:37. > :32:40.in the north. Without a doubt there's been a change in sentiment
:32:41. > :32:44.led by George Osborne to make the North great again. I get the
:32:45. > :32:50.impression you have more to add on that, have you? The lady in the
:32:51. > :32:54.white? Yes, I have. What your party is doing to the NHS, what your party
:32:55. > :32:55.is doing to our local schools, how is that, how can you account for
:32:56. > :33:03.that? APPLAUSE
:33:04. > :33:05.Respond quickly. On schools and the NHS, there's more money that's been
:33:06. > :33:08.going in. Why bobbin LAUGHTER
:33:09. > :33:12.It might be that we would like to see more money going in, of course
:33:13. > :33:18.that's fair but to say there is non-going in is not right. There are
:33:19. > :33:21.10,000 more doctors, 10,000 more nurses, 15,000 more teachers across
:33:22. > :33:25.the country so it's not fair to say nothing has happened. The NHS is
:33:26. > :33:28.under enormous strain but is coping well, and with a sensible economy
:33:29. > :33:32.that's where you need to get the funds to keep investing in the NHS
:33:33. > :33:41.and that's what you will get. We've been fed up four years in Yorkshire
:33:42. > :33:43.that we get neglected. You get somebody like Nicola Sturgeon, she
:33:44. > :33:46.shouts, rants and raves and could they get so much money in Scotland.
:33:47. > :33:50.We want some brass here. Discuss. The answer is not a Yorkshire Nicola
:33:51. > :33:54.Sturgeon, I have to say. We have a deep north-south divide. The North
:33:55. > :33:57.is by far the best place to live and my favourite time of the week is
:33:58. > :34:00.when the train pulls out of King's Cross Station and heads home.
:34:01. > :34:06.Exactly the problem is what you articulated, Rishi. You said Theresa
:34:07. > :34:09.May is carrying on with George Osborne's policy. You're the Steph
:34:10. > :34:15.over the next few years in transport more than half the total investment
:34:16. > :34:19.in transport is said to be in London -- over the next few years. All
:34:20. > :34:26.regions, Yorkshire is set to get the least. Its long-term. The divide
:34:27. > :34:29.comes on incomes, job opportunities, skills levels, levels of business
:34:30. > :34:33.investment. It is long-term. We start to do it, a bit like we did
:34:34. > :34:37.under a Labour government, with Yorkshire forward, serious
:34:38. > :34:41.investment to stimulate the economy... We have the slowest
:34:42. > :34:47.economy in Britain in Yorkshire, Rishi? That's a fact. The slowest
:34:48. > :34:51.growing economy. Across the North... A faster rate than elsewhere which
:34:52. > :34:54.is very positive and you talk about investment in the north. Under the
:34:55. > :34:58.last Labour government the show runs investment going to Yorkshire was
:34:59. > :35:02.lower than it is today. If it where it needs to be? Absolutely not, but
:35:03. > :35:09.it's a darn sight better than I was under Labour. Yorkshire Forward, the
:35:10. > :35:14.best of the regional development agencies until it was abolished in
:35:15. > :35:17.2010, a budget of ?300 million and left when you axed it, South
:35:18. > :35:23.Yorkshire offered a deal by George Osborne worth only ?30 million a
:35:24. > :35:27.year. This is chicken feed. The Northern Powerhouse is a PR stunt
:35:28. > :35:33.that was only devised to make people try and believe somehow the Tories
:35:34. > :35:34.care about the North. They. Don't APPLAUSE
:35:35. > :35:42.They don't stand up for the North and really what this region needs is
:35:43. > :35:46.strong Labour MPs in Parliament, in government or opposition, giving a
:35:47. > :35:50.voice to our areas down there. What you heard said in the last few
:35:51. > :35:56.minutes, the gentleman in the pink shirt? We need more money in the
:35:57. > :36:00.NHS. I work for the NHS. The trusts in the country are in serious
:36:01. > :36:07.deficit. It's come down a little bit but still in deficit. Our nurses are
:36:08. > :36:16.getting food from food banks. OK. They are squeezed frozen, because
:36:17. > :36:20.only 1%. Can I respond to those points? New ways some fair points
:36:21. > :36:24.but the factor of the matter, the average nurse's salary in this
:36:25. > :36:28.country is ?31,000, so there's no reason foreign average nurse to be
:36:29. > :36:34.at a food bank. Average increase in pay in the NHS was 4%, when you take
:36:35. > :36:38.into account various bindings. In terms of more money going to the
:36:39. > :36:42.NHS, there's ?8 billion more going into the NHS, which is exactly what
:36:43. > :36:48.the CEO of the NHS said he wanted. He was backed, given the money and
:36:49. > :36:53.there are pay rises happening at 4% on average and nurses earning
:36:54. > :36:59.?30,000 on average, ?21,000 when they start, should not need to go to
:37:00. > :37:03.food banks. In real terms, since 2010, a 12% real terms cut in
:37:04. > :37:10.nurses' pay, which is making people struggle to survive. I must go on,
:37:11. > :37:13.sorry. We've busted on that one. On Sunday we heard the views of young
:37:14. > :37:18.people in a special debate. It's still available on the BBC look
:37:19. > :37:24.North Facebook page. George took player part and is here with a
:37:25. > :37:30.question. -- Georgette took part. They seem to benefit the most. How
:37:31. > :37:35.we you when the generation gap which young people are hit hard and older
:37:36. > :37:39.voters keep getting richer? Why bobbin I'll go to Ukip for your
:37:40. > :37:43.reaction? They are being left behind, you are being left behind,
:37:44. > :37:47.without a doubt. It's going to be a situation where you will actually be
:37:48. > :37:51.worse off than your parents and I think that's criminal. The biggest
:37:52. > :37:56.problem I think, well, one of the biggest problems, is housing. Quite
:37:57. > :38:00.clearly. I was 19 when I bought my first house. I think my youngest son
:38:01. > :38:04.is 31 and has just bought his first house and that's the gap and the
:38:05. > :38:08.divide and he's got a good job. Young people are just quite simply
:38:09. > :38:13.being left behind. There's a gap with regards to the apprenticeship
:38:14. > :38:18.programme, which used to run and used to run very well locally, with
:38:19. > :38:24.local skills councils managing those apprenticeships, but they've gone
:38:25. > :38:27.and so that's been diluted. With regards to technical colleges,
:38:28. > :38:32.they've all gone. People go to college, they are put under so much
:38:33. > :38:37.pressure now. I have family members who are doing GCSEs. 29 exams, they
:38:38. > :38:41.are doing, in the period of a month. Ridiculous. Why bobbin I'm sorry I
:38:42. > :38:46.cut you off, it's an opportunity to talk about this old divide, can we
:38:47. > :38:51.call it? Yes, I understand what you're saying but I think what we
:38:52. > :38:56.need to do is support people across the piece. We do have an older, a
:38:57. > :38:59.growing older population, so we do need to support people right across
:39:00. > :39:03.the piece, but I think we do need more housing for young people. We
:39:04. > :39:06.need more affordable housing. The Liberal Democrats have committed to
:39:07. > :39:11.that. There are lots of things we will also work on. Our colleague has
:39:12. > :39:16.mentioned apprenticeships. I've just been meant boring and older
:39:17. > :39:20.apprentice to get her through her programme -- I was meant. Those
:39:21. > :39:24.other things we need to investing in order to help our young people. Once
:39:25. > :39:31.they are married and a family, free childcare for the under twos and
:39:32. > :39:34.paternity leave, so families are supported. But it's got to be
:39:35. > :39:38.support right across the board, because we do have an older
:39:39. > :39:43.population. We'll go to the audience in a moment. Any thoughts about
:39:44. > :39:47.that? Just as we have a north-south divide in infrastructure investment
:39:48. > :39:49.we have a north-south divide in education spending because it's fair
:39:50. > :39:55.to say some kids in London are getting twice as much money spent on
:39:56. > :39:59.them then kids in York, and this has to change. We have to invest in the
:40:00. > :40:03.skills, the education and skills and training, which will bring this
:40:04. > :40:08.economy up. In reference to a question and a point made earlier.
:40:09. > :40:11.It's not just about money. It's also about the collaboration and strong
:40:12. > :40:14.leadership that is needed, because London was in exactly the same
:40:15. > :40:20.position as Yorkshire is now. It was bottom of the league. But bringing
:40:21. > :40:22.everybody together they've pushed through the London Challenge, London
:40:23. > :40:26.are at the top of the league tables and we need to do something similar
:40:27. > :40:31.in Yorkshire. Isn't the problem that young people don't vote, generally
:40:32. > :40:34.speaking? Political apathy is a response to the fact that
:40:35. > :40:38.politicians don't speak to us all for us. I'm not saying that older
:40:39. > :40:41.voters should be supported, but I'm not talking about those with
:40:42. > :40:45.families. I'm talking about young voters who don't feel like they are
:40:46. > :40:48.presented and I want to feel more. Natalie Bennett is the only person
:40:49. > :40:53.who was mentioned young voters tonight and I live in Leeds,
:40:54. > :40:57.leaflets haven't mentioned students. I want to see more engagement with
:40:58. > :41:00.the issues that matter to young people. Isn't it true that over the
:41:01. > :41:04.last seven years the reason young people have been left behind is
:41:05. > :41:07.because the Conservative Party don't think it is politically expedient to
:41:08. > :41:11.focus on young people, because they know their voters will march to the
:41:12. > :41:13.polling station, the older people? Why bobbin
:41:14. > :41:18.APPLAUSE This young lady has made an
:41:19. > :41:21.excellent point. She's been let down and the younger generation has been
:41:22. > :41:28.let down by the older generation. All of you on that panel tends to
:41:29. > :41:33.make four or five-year plans for your next election to get your next
:41:34. > :41:38.job, and it's all short term is. We need 30 or 40 year plans, so that
:41:39. > :41:42.our young and in the national interest benefit. That's the
:41:43. > :41:46.problem. Natalie Bennett. APPLAUSE
:41:47. > :41:50.I want to say, Georgia, thanks for recognising the Green Party does
:41:51. > :41:54.address young people and I'd start with what's happening in schools,
:41:55. > :41:57.which are being tended to exam factories, where young people are
:41:58. > :42:01.shot through exam after exam after exam. The Green Party will abolish
:42:02. > :42:10.saps and Ofsted and get schools providing an education for life, not
:42:11. > :42:15.just for exams -- we will abolish Sats. We've opposed university
:42:16. > :42:19.tuition fees, the rogue university tuition fees. It's a weight of debt
:42:20. > :42:24.on people's shoulder for 30 years that 70% will never pay off. John
:42:25. > :42:30.Healey, can we afford university tuition fees? Yes, we can. The
:42:31. > :42:33.British political system is biased against young people and really
:42:34. > :42:39.young people should be demanding and expecting much more of politicians,
:42:40. > :42:45.especially from government. The hard fact is almost four in 5/60 fives
:42:46. > :42:51.voted in the last election, only two in five under 25s, so that given the
:42:52. > :42:55.licensed to the government to pick on younger people, axing housing
:42:56. > :42:58.benefit support for the under 21s, locking out first-time buyers from
:42:59. > :43:04.the housing market and slamming the door with tuition fees. 15 seconds.
:43:05. > :43:08.The Labour manifesto for the first time has plans on all those, which
:43:09. > :43:14.is why so many young people are registered to vote, but they must
:43:15. > :43:17.vote. Young people I focus on three things. He will get you the best
:43:18. > :43:22.deals throughout your career, who will help you with a job and who
:43:23. > :43:27.will help you buy your first house? Why bobbin thank you very much
:43:28. > :43:31.indeed. one thing that would make a huge differences if we had votes at
:43:32. > :43:37.and we had... APPLAUSE
:43:38. > :43:40.Doesn't time fly when you are having so much fun. Thanks to our panel,
:43:41. > :43:44.thanks to our wonderful audience and I hope you've made up your mind as
:43:45. > :43:50.to how you will vote on the 8th of June. From all of us here,.
:43:51. > :43:52.APPLAUSE -- from all of us here, goodbye.
:43:53. > :44:02.APPLAUSE Hear the arguments
:44:03. > :44:05.from the politicians themselves.