May 2015 Election Special FREE! TOMMY MORE TIMES A Cartridge World Award Winning School Newspaper It s Election Time! Thursday May 7th is the date for the United Kingdom General Election - this means that on this day, everybody in the country over 18 has an opportunity to vote for who they want to be the next Member of Parliament of their area and the next Prime Minister of the country. As a newspaper, we approached all of the Prospective Parliamentary Candidates for Southend West. These were: Conservative, Labour, Liberal Democrats, UKIP and the Green Party. This special free edition includes interviews with all of the parties except the Liberal Democrats as they did not respond to our interview request. We hope you enjoy this different edition of the newspaper - it is our first free newspaper we have ever released. As always enjoy, John Jenkins 10/A - Editor Tommy More Times 2015 1
Sir David Amess MP (with Ann Widdecombe) CONSERVATIVE David Amess - A (green) Ann Widdecombe - W (blue) 1. Could you please briefly explain the Tories policies? W - The most important thing is the economy we will repay debt and keep it steady. We will have growth we are now the second largest growing economy in the world. That has been done in last 5 years, we will maintain this. 2. Other candidates in this area have inexperience in Southend West. Does this put you ahead of the rest? A - I would never take anything for granted. I hope my experience is an advantage. We have had two public meetings and the debates were civilised. All candidates are sensible and have sensible policies I pointed out that in the likelihood of a coalition; you need somebody who has experience who will get the best out of the area and make the most of the resources. W - David brought up 5 children who went to different local schools. He know the schools and NHS. He and his family has used NHS and know the area. He underestimates himself. He has the local and parliamentary knowledge. 3. According to electoralcalculus.co.uk [1], the Conservative party have 94% of winning the seat on may 7th, Labour follow with 3% and UKIP are third with 2%. The Lib Dems, Greens and others do not get above 0%. Do these figures surprise you? A - I was MP for Basildon and the bookies didn t have odds calculated on most people but had odds on my constituency and they thought I would lose the place. We retained the seat so I am always cautious. It is mildly reassuring. 4. Does it worry you that Nigel Farage sees Essex as a potential UKIP area? A - If you re going to be a serous national party you need a whole range of policies not just ones about the EU. They have a more sensible manifesto that in 2010 but I am not convinced that they can be considered. I tell people what I stand for it is up to me to tell people what I stand for and UKIP can tell people what they stand for. 5. How would you persuade a young voter to vote UKIP on May 7th? A - Unfortunately over the years, parliament has lost its power one politician doesn t have lots of power and I hope to encourage young people to vote to try and get this power back. 6. Does working on TV increase your votes? W - I don t think it means if you go on Strictly Come Dancing, more people vote Tory people think that they know you better and want to talk to you about policies. 7. Should people decide who gets their vote based on party or person? W - You should always vote for government in general election Ask yourself how do I want this country governed? Vote for the party, not the person. 8. If there were to be a coalition is Southend West, whom would you want to join forces with? A - I would not join forces with anybody I don t like coalitions and there s no need for there to be one in this election. 9. If you are re-elected, how would that make you feel? A - I would be very happy and the people would ve made the right decision. Tommy More Times 2015 2
Julian Ware-Lane LABOUR 1. Could you please briefly explain Labour's policies. Labour stands for the many. Ours is a better plan than does not leave ordinary working people worse off. Labour is the party of equality, of work, and of aspiration. We will build an economy that works for working people. We will cherish the NHS. We will help families and communities thrive. We will reform government to give more power to people. Labour will stand up for Britain's interests in the world. 2. This is your first time standing for Southend West. Does it worry you that inexperience in this area may mean that your potential seat could slip to the Tories for the 18th time in this area? I would not describe myself as inexperienced here. I have lived longer in the constituency than other my rivals - I was born here in 1959.. I am a borough councillor - unlike any of my rivals. This is my third General Election, and I have campaigned for many years. Of course I hope that the Conservatives do not win, but ultimately the fate of Southend West lies in the hands of voters. I can only present my alternate views and see what happens. Tommy More Times 2015 3
3. According to electoralcalculus.co.uk, the conservative party have 94% of winning the seat on May 7th, Labour follow with 3% and UKIP are third with 2%. The Lib Dems, Greens and others do not get above 0%. Do these figures surprise you? I am well aware of the electoral arithmetic. It is a fact that more people did not vote at all in 2010 in Southend West than voted for David Amess's Conservative Party. 4. Mr Farage, the UKIP leader sees Essex as a potential UKIP area. Does this worry you? I find the general thrust of UKIP's policies, which is to blame everything on foreigners, very disappointing. There is undoubted potential here for the right-wing UKIP, and they won a byelection in the county last year, but I hope that they will be frustrated on May 7th. 5. How would you persuade a young voter to vote Labour on May 7th? Labour is the party of fairness and a more equal society. Labour is also the party of lower tuition fees, and of job creation. Labour promises action on education, and promises a proper vocational education and apprenticeships. Labour also promises more house building so that the next generation will be able to afford to buy a home of their own. 6. Ed Miliband has been known to be made a 'figure of fun' on social media. Will this narrow his chances of being made Prime Minister until 2020? I think the narrative as regards to Ed Miliband is changing, and this is because people are seeing a lot more of him at the moment. However, it is what he stands for that is important. Party. 7. Should a voter decide who gets their vote based on party or person? 8. If Sir David Amess is re-elected, how would that make you feel? If David Amess is re-elected I would congratulate him, whilst obviously being disappointed at not winning myself. We must respect democracy. Tommy More Times 2015 4
Jon Fuller GREEN PARTY 1) Could you please briefly explain the Green party's policies? We recognise that the greatest threat we in Britain and the whole of humanity face is climate change, so all of our policies are directed towards delivering a zero carbon economy. We are appalled that the country's economy now mainly works for the super rich while nearly 1 million people depend upon foodbanks to survive and nearly 1 in 4 children grow up in poverty. Our party is all about delivering fair taxation - getting the money back from the super-rich and redistributing it. For example we will introduce a wealth tax, increase taxes on those earning over 100,000 and introduce two new higher council tax bands to secure the funds the nation needs. We will end "right to buy", since it has been a catastrophic policy failure, contributing to councils' inability to build the homes our nation needs. We will build 500,000 social to rent homes, taking the price pressure off the private sector and help to reduce prices for those who want to buy. WE will end the privatisation of the NHS and introduce an 'NHS Reinstatement Bill' to remove the market mechanisms from the NHS. By scrapping Trident we will be able to afford to increase spending on the HNS by 12Billion. We believe that the EU question must be faced up to - it won't go away. So we disagree with LibDems and Labour, and feel that the nation must be permitted the right to self determination and so we will organise an EU referendum to settle the issue once and for all. We are also determined to take power back from the super-rich delivering democratic reforms, like making the House of Lords a fully elected chamber and introducing Proportional Representation. We oppose the racism of the extreme right wing, we want to deliver a humane response to those fleeing torture and threat to life. We will honour our international commitments on asylum and international foreign aid. We are the antidote to cruel UKIP policies. 2) This is your first time standing for Southend West. Does it worry you that inexperience may mean that your potential seat could slip to the Tories for the 18th time in this area? I decided to stand because the LibDems and Labour parties have lost their way and no longer represent the socially progressive voter. Labour started the NHS privatisation process and the LibDems gave up caring about the environment (supporting Fracking & aviation expansion). Both local Lab/Lib candidates support widening of the A127 to three lanes and expansion of Southend Airport. Those who care about environmental issues will find it very difficult to vote for them. Those of us who want to stop the mass loss of life that climate change will cause have a duty to try to stop, or change the LibDem and Labour parties. That is one of my primary goals - to bring humanity and compassion back to the LibDem and Labour parties. I also want to give the people of Southend one last chance to say "not in my name". So it is not a question of experience or "inexperience" - it is a question of conscience. (And, besides, I have been winning all the public debates so far!!!) 3) How would you persuade a young voter to vote Green on May 7th? I am altruistic and work for the common good. I don't offer policies that might 'buy' votes. I would appeal to those altruistic sentiments inside us all and ask young voters to think about the poorest people on the planet - and get serious about tackling climate change. I would ask young voters to think about the nearly 1 million people who were forced to depend upon food banks last year - and elect the party that will deliver fair taxation (taxing the super rich instead of throwing money at the super rich). Tommy More Times 2015 5
4) Should a voter decide who gets their vote based on party or person? It should only be the policies. I detest the American presidential style of beauty-parade politics. 5) Why/how are the Green party different? We will address the greatest single threat your generation will ever face - climate change. In your lifetime you will witness unprecedented upheaval and loss of life caused by climate change. The degree of pain your generation will suffer will be lessened if the Green Party gains enough seats in Parliament to influence policy (or the other parties finally wake up to scientific reality). 6) If Sir David Amess is re-elected, how would that make you feel? Despite grinding poverty getting worse, the Conservatives will continue to cut taxes for the rich. So, like all civilised people, I will be very worried indeed for the poor. I don't care about my own feelings, nor any fleeting loss of pride. I only care about protecting the weak and poor; and avoiding mass loss of human life. By comparison, nothing else really matters!! Brian Otridge United Kingdom Independence Party (UKIP) 1. Could you please briefly explain UKIP's policies? WE believe we are big enough to make our own laws, in our own parliament; that we should have the sovereign right to control our own borders; that we should be fiscally responsible, and stop adding to our national debts and expecting our children and grandchildren to pay the bill. In this year, the 800th anniversary of Magna Carta, we believe we should seize the opportunity for real change in our politics; rebalance power from large corporations and big government institutions and put it back into the hands of the people of this country. Taxpayers could get so much better value for their money if we left the EU, made reasonable cuts to the foreign aid budget, replaced the unfair Barnett formula, scrapped HS2, ended health tourism and cut the cost of government. These are our plans and they give us a budget to invest in Britain the other parties can only dream of. Without adding a penny to our burgeoning national debt, without cutting vital services and without raising taxes, we can, over the course of the next parliament: Invest an extra 12 billion into the NHS; put 5.2 billion more into social care; build a dedicated military hospital and abolish hospital parking charges End income tax on the minimum wage; cut income taxes for middle earners; scrap inheritance tax; abolish the bedroom tax and increase the transferable personal tax allowance for married couples and civil partners Fund 6,000 additional posts spread between the police service, the prison service and the Border Agency Cut business rates for small businesses Waive tuition fees for students taking a degree in science; technology; engineering maths or medicine Increase defence spending to 2 per cent of GDP to honour our NATO obligations Invest 1.5 billion into mental health and dementia services Tommy More Times 2015 6
2. This is your first time standing for Southend West. Does it worry you that inexperience may mean that your potential seat could slip to the Tories for the 18th time in this area? I am not the only UKIPper in this position. However, I bring transferrable skills to the task with my 21 years in the RAF and as many years again in industry, operating in senior professional roles. I had key roles in the 2013 and 2014 elections too, operating as a Campaign Manager in 2014. 3. Mr Farage, your leader, sees Essex as a potential UKIP area. Why is this? It is purely down to numbers - the European and local election results in 2014, where in Southend UKIP took 37% in the Euros and the Conservatives 27%, and in the locals we held our own in wards where we stood, equalling the average Conservative vote. In other some South Essex seats our Euro and local results were even better. There's also something very special about Essex people - no one is going to push them around, and they feel that's what successive governments have been trying to do. 4. According to electoralcalculus.co.uk, the conservative party have 94% of winning the seat on May 7th, Labour follow with 3% and UKIP are third with 2%. The Lib Dems, Greens and others do not get above 0%. Do these figures surprise you? I do not believe that electoralcalculus has been operating with the right data sets - they operate almost exclusively on the 2010 results and opinion poll results. I am an amateur psephologist and have done my own nationwide analysis of the 2014 resutls and polls. The latter have some aspects of their methodologies which tend to reduce UKIP levels of support, for instance, factoring out the "Don't Knows" in their responses by the proportion of votes each party took in 2010. UKIP has grown massively in support since then, as last year's results showed. 6. Some people consider UKIP to be racist, what is your response to this? My response is to ask those people making that accusation on what evidence they make it. The OED definition of the word is "the belief that all members of each race possess characteristics, abilities, or qualities specific to that race, especially so as to distinguish it as inferior or superior to another race or races." UKIP expresses no such view. Many of our members are of ethnic minorities, as are many of our voters. In fact, accusing UKIP of this is insulting to our BME members and voters. 9. How would you persuade a young voter to vote UKIP on May 7th? There are nearly a million unemployed young people in Britain today, and many of the jobs on offer to them are low wage and hotly contested by low skill immigrants from Eastern Europe. Controlling immigration, British youngsters would get first chance on them. Secondly, a lot of young people who take on a lot of debt with student loans are finding themselves in financial trouble with those loans, as there are not enough professional jobs for them. We would abolish student loans on STEMM subjects. Also, British industry has been decimated by the Climate Change Act 2008 pushing up Energy prices, not just for householders but also energy-consuming industry. We would abolish that act, and work to rebuild British industry, and the export markets for our products across the whole world, not just the EU. 10. If Sir David Amess is re-elected, how would that make you feel? (Please don t avoid the topic) I would feel I had given it my best shot. I know that my constituency would be amongst the last to fall to UKIP in South Essex, and I am a realistic person. Also, the government that forms after May 7th is likely to be a very messy and bitty coalition, that may not last very long, and the bookmakers think there is about a 3/1 chance of that happening, so I would be ready to fight another election, in which I feel that the presence of more UKIP MPs in Westminster (including Nigel Farage) would greatly increase my chances of winning another election this year. Tommy More Times 2015 7
May 2015 Election Special FREE! WHO TO VOTE FOR? YOUR LEADERS Contact Us WOULD YOU LIKE A CERTAIN TEACHER TO BE INTERVIEWED BY THE TOMMY MORE TIMES? LET US KNOW AT OUR EMAIL ADDRESS OR SPEAK TO A MEMBER OF THE LOYAL NEWSPAPER TEAM. Email - tommynewlook@gmail.com Twitter - @TommyMoreTimes Thank you for picking up a copy of this months newspaper! - See you in June! Facebook - www.facebook.com/tommypaper Tommy More Times 2015 8