00:00And in alphabetical order, we have David Brooks,
00:03representing the Alliance for Democracy and Freedom,
00:06Neil Darby from the Liberal Democrats,
00:09Trevor Hart, representing the Conservatives,
00:12and we've got Mark Hendrick for Labour.
00:16We've got Michael Averlet, who is an Independent.
00:19And finally, we've got Joseph Omiaka
00:23from the Rejoined Union Party.
00:26Now, you may or may not know that there are actually
00:2810 candidates standing in the Preston constituency
00:30at the general election.
00:31We did, of course, invite all of them here tonight,
00:34but four of them have had to send their apologies.
00:37They are, in alphabetical order,
00:38Yusuf Bailak, who is standing as an Independent,
00:41Jane Denius from Reform UK,
00:44Derek Killeen from UKIP,
00:46and Isabella Metcalf-Ryder from the Green Party.
00:50Although, by the wonders of technology,
00:52you will be hearing from a couple of them shortly.
00:55And that's because we thought we would start this evening
00:57by giving each of the candidates their chance
00:59to make their pitch to the people of Preston in 60 seconds.
01:04We're going to go in alphabetical order
01:06with the people you can see on the stage here.
01:08But first, as I say, we gave the opportunity
01:11to the people who weren't here tonight
01:13also to send the video if they would like
01:15so that they could at least make their 90-second pitch
01:17so that you would be able to be with us this evening.
01:21Two of them took up that opportunity,
01:23Yusuf Bailak and Isabella Metcalf-Ryder.
01:25So the screen will now return.
01:28You'll be confined to the view of these gents here
01:30just for a few minutes.
01:31But we'll hear from our two other candidates
01:34who weren't here this evening
01:35but who did, nevertheless, want to address you.
01:37But first, Yusuf Bailak, standing as an Independent.
01:48So I felt that it's the opportunity now
01:51came at this late stage of my life
01:54to represent this whole town of mine
01:57and also the community which involves us Muslims
02:00and also the rest of the community.
02:02And it's time that I actually voice,
02:06a true voice for the people of Preston
02:10in all aspects of politics, socially, economically.
02:15So I say to all Prestonians that we belong to this town
02:19and I now feel that it's time for me
02:22to contribute whatever I can to this town.
02:25And indeed, where our children are going to go
02:28for the future, what I hope legacy we want to leave
02:31for our children in education, in their morality,
02:34and also in terms of making sure that everybody
02:37feels a stakeholder in this society.
02:45Hi everyone, I'm Isabella Metcalf-Ryder,
02:47the Green Party Parliamentary Candidate for Preston.
02:50Apologies for not being able to be there tonight,
02:52but I'm really glad I'm able to address you in this way.
02:55All the polls are clear.
02:57The Conservatives are set for a historic defeat
02:59and Labour will win a landslide majority.
03:02The concern is that Keir Starmer's Labour government
03:04will not implement the real change
03:06that we so desperately need.
03:08It's clear that we need more than just a few small tweaks
03:10to undo the damage of the last 14 years
03:13of Conservative governments.
03:15Green MPs in Parliament will push Labour
03:17to be better, be braver, be bolder,
03:19be more ambitious on everything from workers' rights
03:22and the NHS, to climate action, support for Gaza,
03:26and eradicating poverty.
03:28I know in particular that many people feel let down
03:32by Keir Starmer's Labour, in particular by Keir Starmer
03:36declaring that Israel had a right to cut off water
03:38and electricity to Gaza, and ordering his MPs
03:42to not vote for a ceasefire in Parliament.
03:46It's particularly disappointing that our MP here in Preston,
03:49Sir Mark Hendrick, followed Keir Starmer's orders
03:52and did not vote for a ceasefire.
03:55The Green Party have been clear in our stance
03:59since the very beginning of this crisis,
04:01calling for an immediate mutual ceasefire,
04:03the unconditional release of all hostages,
04:06and the suspension of arms sales to Israel.
04:09Vote Green on the 4th of July for real hope and real change.
04:13Thank you.
04:19...the people of Preston, and as I say,
04:20they will go in alphabetical order.
04:22So starting down at the far end there,
04:24we have from Alliance for Democracy and Freedom,
04:27David Brooks.
04:27David, your 90 seconds start now.
04:31Good evening, everybody.
04:31Thank you for coming tonight.
04:34I'm an independent candidate from the ADF.
04:37I'm not whipped and I'm not dictated to and told what to do,
04:41what policies to push, what ideologies to push.
04:44Most of these gentlemen here will be told
04:46that there's only two genders.
04:48We're paying an extortionate amount of money for net zero,
04:50and 98.5% of all greenhouse gas is produced by nature
04:55and essential to nature.
04:56We've got a cost of living crisis
04:57where kids are struggling to eat, struggling to heat their homes.
05:02We've got so many other issues,
05:04like we've got additives and sweeteners in the foods
05:06that are causing cancer.
05:07Only the other month,
05:08Diet Coke was in the news for causing cancer.
05:10There's some serious issues,
05:11but we seem to be skirting around the main issues
05:13with anecdotal stuff,
05:16supporting wars in nations, killing kids,
05:21wars of attrition, cutting water off, cutting food off.
05:25It's disgusting.
05:26It's about time somebody stood up who's not whipped,
05:28somebody independent, who's not pushed,
05:30who's not got an ideology,
05:31who just wants to serve the people
05:33and some honest policies and some truths
05:35that need to be told.
05:37David Wellington, thank you very much.
05:40And next we move to Governor Leatherbat and Neil Darby.
05:43We're standing or we're sitting just to win?
05:45Entirely up to you, Neil.
05:46You could be heard, so yes, yeah.
05:48Make yourself more comfortable.
05:49I'll sit if that's all right.
05:50So good evening.
05:51My name's Neil Darby.
05:52I'm the Liberal Democrat candidate
05:54to be your MP here in Preston.
05:57I'm also, as it happens,
05:58one of the youngest candidates that we have that's standing.
06:01And I'm here to stand for the future of Preston,
06:03and I'm here to stand for change.
06:05But I should be clear that being a young candidate
06:07is not the same as being inexperienced.
06:10In my day job,
06:10I work for a local Lancashire family business,
06:13and I'm also the trustee for three local charities.
06:16I've been a councillor here in Preston for 10 years,
06:19and I have the good honour of being the mayor of Preston,
06:21the youngest mayor of Preston in over 170 years,
06:25in 2022, 23.
06:27And in everything I do,
06:28I strive to be visible and to be accessible,
06:31and to reach out across the community,
06:33because that is what I strongly believe
06:34our representatives are here to do.
06:37My top priorities in this election
06:39are to tackle the crisis that we have in our NHS
06:42and in our social care system,
06:43to tackle the crime that we have,
06:46and to tackle the ongoing cost of living.
06:48I'm standing because I strongly believe
06:51that Preston deserves better.
06:53I believe that with my proud history
06:55of representing this city,
06:56and the policies that I stand for,
06:58I'm the right man to take this city forward
07:00into the future as our MP.
07:02Thank you.
07:03Mayor, thank you very much indeed.
07:06I'm Trevor from Conservatives, over to you.
07:08You've got 90 seconds, start now.
07:09Thank you, good evening.
07:11I'm Trevor Hart, and I made Preston my home
07:14when I was about 11.
07:16So I didn't start off in Preston,
07:17but I came and then I went to teach.
07:20So I trained, I started my career in Coventry,
07:23but I came back to my home,
07:25what I considered to be Preston.
07:27From the age of 11, I started here,
07:29and then as I started my career,
07:31head teacher in a local school in Preston.
07:35Education is something that I'm passionate about,
07:38providing the good start for our children,
07:42looking after them, helping them develop,
07:45making sure that we've got good schools in our city,
07:49in the right places, is a passion of mine.
07:52As well as that, the National Health Service,
07:55the hospitals, if we're lucky,
07:58we're gonna get a new hospital built in Preston.
08:00It's really, really critical that that happens.
08:04I've been spending far too much time at the hospitals.
08:08I lost my wife to cancer.
08:10I went through cancer myself recently.
08:12I know what a good service it can provide.
08:16The model we've got in Rosemary is something
08:18that we should be presenting for all of our hospitals.
08:21It's really, really important.
08:23Working with the police,
08:24making sure that our city is crime-free
08:28as far as we're able and better and better.
08:30It's so, so important.
08:32Those are three passions of mine
08:34that I would want to bring forward
08:36to help our city to get better.
08:37Trevor, you've got to be strict with the time.
08:39Right, that's absolutely fine.
08:41That's who I am.
08:42We move on next, please, to Preston's Vice-President,
08:45David Regers, to Mark Hendrick.
08:48Thanks, Paul.
08:49It's a great honour to represent the people of Preston
08:51in Parliament.
08:53I've been selected again to stand as your Labour
08:56and Co-operative Party candidate
08:58for the forthcoming election.
09:00And since I last stood, we now have a changed Labour Party
09:04and ambitious plans as well to rebuild this country.
09:08We want to get economic stability back,
09:11cut NHS waiting times,
09:13launch a new security border command,
09:16set up Great British Energies,
09:18crack down on anti-social behaviour
09:20and recruit 6,500 new teachers.
09:24For the last 14 years as your MP,
09:26I've seen firsthand many of the problems
09:28that people of Preston have faced.
09:31And I've worked tirelessly to try and improve the lives
09:33of thousands of individuals
09:35who have suffered under this Conservative government.
09:38By electing a Labour government, we can achieve real change.
09:42I'm also a strong advocate for issues that matter to you,
09:46international conflicts, animal rights, justice,
09:50civil rights, many others that people reach out to me
09:53every day to help with.
09:56Many of you will be extremely concerned
09:57about the war in Gaza.
09:59I am too.
10:00And whilst I didn't vote for the S&D motion,
10:02I did vote for the Labour Party motion,
10:04which also supported a ceasefire.
10:07The Labour Party totally supports an immediate ceasefire
10:10from both sides, along with recognition
10:13of the state of Palestine and a two-state solution
10:16as a way forward.
10:17Mark, that's your 90 seconds, I'm afraid.
10:19Thank you very much indeed for that.
10:21Move, move, move, move, move, move.
10:25Get out of the way.
10:26Really bad behaviour.
10:28So my name's Michael Lardwick,
10:29I'm standing on behalf of Preston Independence.
10:32Preston Independence was formed as an organisation in March
10:36because we felt that the political parties
10:38in this country simply didn't represent us.
10:40Political establishment talks down to us,
10:43they never listen.
10:44And that, for us, formed through our campaign
10:46around Gaza in the first instance.
10:48Since November, 75% of the population
10:51have been in favour of a ceasefire.
10:5358% of the population are in favour
10:55of stopping arming Israel,
10:57yet there's no politician in the mainstream political parties
11:00who speak out for those things.
11:02And that rolls forward, it rolls forward
11:04to how our NHS is treated,
11:06how our education systems are treated.
11:08Even things like Ashton Park in the south,
11:10or parts of Ashton Park in Preston,
11:12when the local population don't want such things to happen,
11:15the political establishment just don't listen.
11:18Now Mark said he'd been MP for 14 years,
11:20I think he's had for 25,
11:22but that's perhaps symbolic of the fact
11:25that he's not around enough for the people in Preston,
11:28that people don't know where his office is,
11:30that people don't know how to get in contact with him.
11:33I don't think we've got an MP who represents us.
11:36Labour will win the election on the 5th of July,
11:38but what I'm arguing for is somebody who will stand up
11:41for the people of Preston, speak out in Westminster,
11:44isn't whipped, and will put Preston and people first.
11:47CHEERING
11:51And finally, we have Joseph Omiaka from Rejoin EU.
11:55Joseph, your 90 seconds start now.
11:57Thank you very much.
11:59Rejoin EU is a party made up of people
12:02from right across the political spectrum,
12:05both Leavers and Remainers,
12:07who've come to recognise that Brexit has been a disaster
12:11and is the fundamental problem that we face in this country.
12:15The Office for Budget Responsibility and Goldman Sachs
12:19have estimated that the total economic hit to this country
12:23has been over £100 billion,
12:26and 4% to 5%, depending on the estimate,
12:28a decrease in our GDP during that time.
12:32This is far worse than anybody predicted
12:35before the referendum happened.
12:38And you can see this even in Preston itself.
12:41I mean, all of us, if we're honest,
12:43we can see that Preston has been going downhill,
12:46shops are closing, the place is just much less vibrant
12:49than it was before the referendum happened.
12:53Britain's position in the world
12:55has also been diminished as a result of Brexit.
12:58There is no patriotism in waiting
13:01for some fantasy Brexit fairyland
13:04where everything's going to come right,
13:06because it's not going to happen.
13:07All that's happening is that our opportunities,
13:09our children and our grandchildren's opportunities
13:12are being diminished.
13:14Now, Labour will win this election,
13:17but every vote that you cast for re-join EU
13:22sends a clear message to Keir Starmer
13:26that this issue cannot be avoided anymore.
13:30Joseph, I'm going to have to put you up there,
13:31but thank you very much indeed.
13:33That's all I can do to support our opening speeches.
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