PAUL Flynn’s claim that his opponent sounded “like a speaking clock with the Tory manifesto” was among the most colourful exchanges of Newport West’s first election hustings of 2015.

The Labour candidate accused Tory rival Nick Webb of going into ‘automode’ defending the coalition record, but Mr Webb hit back, asking: “What - you think it’s a bad thing that we’ve created 2,000 jobs a day?”

Around 50 people turned out for the lively debate between General Election candidates, held at the Salvation Army Hall on Hill Street.

Organised by the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament, the event focused on defence policy and in particular whether the nuclear deterrent Trident should be renewed in 2016.

The Green Party’s Pippa Bartolotti, Labour’s Paul Flynn and Conservative Nick Webb addressed the crowd, as well as Liberal Democrat candidate for Newport East Paul Halliday stepping in for Ed Townsend.

Noticeably absent were Plaid Cymru candidate Simon Coopey and UKIP’s Gordon Norrie.

Going against the party line, Paul Flynn and Paul Halliday both said they were against the UK having any nuclear weapons, leaving Nick Webb the defender of both Labour and Conservative policy to retain Trident.

Opening the debate, Wales Green Party leader Pippa Bartolotti said: “The Green Party is committed to immediate and unconditional decommissioning of nuclear weapons. Only then would we have the right to stop other nations having nuclear weapons.

“We are totally against mass killing and the threat of mass killing. There is little to no threat of a direct invasion and no amount of nuclear weapons is going to stop terrorism and cyber warfare.”

Paul Halliday said it was thanks to the Liberal Democrats we could even discuss whether to renew Trident, as without them in coalition with the Tories it would have been done automatically. “I’m vehemently opposed to nuclear weapons”, he said. “This isn’t about the £100bn renewal price. For me this is simply to do with ethics. If we hold to that truth that says a life has worth and has value than we can never as a nation support a weapon that kills indiscriminately.”

Paul Flynn, MP for Newport West since 1987, said: “We’ve known from both Iraq and Helmand that punching above our weight means spending beyond our means and dying beyond our responsibilities. Trident is a useless virility symbol that can’t be used without guaranteeing our destruction - and the destruction of our whole species. If we put half the effort into peace-building as into war mongering the world would be a better place.”

Turning to rival Nick Webb later in the debate, he said: “The last thing I think we want in Newport is someone who will join a group in parliament we call the ‘Give War a Chance’ party. All that Nick has said tonight, he will be a recruit for them leading us to more waste, more futility, more lost lives in future and a more divided world.”

Mr Webb replied: “I wouldn’t expect your endorsement Paul. What I would say is that when you saw the passion on Michael Gove’s face at that Syria vote [when MPs voted against military intervention in Syria in August 2013], it wasn’t because he wanted to ‘Give war a chance’, it was because he wanted to save lives, from people whose president was dropping barrel bombs of chemical weapons on them. I think it’s ethically wrong if we don’t help people whose lives are in need.”

Nick Webb told the audience: “I hope to never see a nuclear weapon used but to remove that capacity from our military would be a signal to the world that Britain has taken a back seat on international affairs. Such an outcome would be bad for Britain and bad for those we have helped over the years.”

The next Newport West hustings will be held at 7pm on April 13, organised by Evangelical Alliance Wales, at Vineyard Chapel on Mountjoy Street.