Election debate in Didcot

With two days to go before the election, Churches Together in Didcot and District organised an Election Debate at the Cornerstone last night (Tuesday 4th May). It was great to see an almost full house of people in the theatre, and all but one (UKIP) of our candidates present to take questions.

It was, though, pretty disappointing to find out quite how little most of the candidates have engaged with the issue of the environment. Climate change is one of the most pressing issues facing the world yet only two of the four even mentioned the environment in their introductory speeches. They were, unsurprisingly, the Lib Dem and Green candidates.

I’ll try not to be party political about this but it was good to see that the Green Party candidate, Adam Twine, got more applause than anyone else. And not just for talking about the environment (people may be surprised to find the Greens have policies on other issues - although you could argue that they are all related).

I was keen that someone would ‘ask the climate question’; someone else got there before me which saved me from stage fright. It was slightly frustrating that the chair did not invite a follow-up question (as he had for the discussions on previous subjects), as we just got each candidate’s standard spiel, without a chance to challenge it. They definitely needed to be challenged.

Adam Twine explained that the Green Party policy on climate change is a ten per cent reduction in carbon emissions year on year - not unreasonable given that many people have voluntarily signed up for just that via the 10:10 campaign.

The other three seemed to think that a bit of loft lagging would save the world. Oh, and individuals ‘doing their bit’. They might think that’s a palatable message when they are worried about scaring the voters, but it bears no relation to the reality of the situation.

The Labour and Conservative candidates - closer together than they would like to admit - both talked nervously about people not being ready to change their lifestyle.

Adam Twine talked about choices, values, priorities - and the need to be serious. And that is the crux of the matter. I felt that none of the other candidates was actually taking this issue seriously at all.

More election resources

Friends of the Earth list of the candidates who have signed their climate pledge

Guardian article by ‘The Age of Stupid’ director Franny Armstrong on how Greens should vote.

Election briefings from the Methodist Church Joint Public Issues Group, including a summary of the three main parties’ manifestos.

Disclaimer: this is a personal view.