GENERAL election candidates for Newport West clashed again at a debate on Monday in Pill.
About 40 audience members at the Evangelical Alliance Wales chapel on Mountjoy Street quizzed candidates on education, the NHS, defence, engaging young voters and the international aid budget ahead of the General Election on May 7.
Asked about what they would do to keep momentum with regeneration in Newport, Plaid Cymru candidate Simon Coopey said his party wants to improve social housing and impose stricter controls on landlords so tenants aren’t afraid to ask for improvements to their properties. In places like Pill this could help the whole area, he added.
Wales Green Party leader Pippa Bartolotti asked where the overall vision for Newport was, saying: “Why was the bus station split in half so Admiral Insurance could have the prime spot opposite the train station, where the bus station was originally supposed to be?”
She described Westminster cuts as an "ideological choice" not a necessity and said: “Austerity has to stop. I have people come to me who can’t pay the bedroom tax, who have to pay for the entertainment in their mother’s nursing home. You can vote against the cuts on May 7 and try a new approach which I promise you will not bankrupt the nation like the banks did.”
Tory Nick Webb said regeneration is a great interest of his and says we have already seen a lot happening in the right direction. A lot of that comes not from political parties but people focussing on the city itself, he says, such as the Labour council’s drive to get Friar’s Walk going. He says the Business Improvement District in the centre has let traders take a lead in regeneration. It’s important an MP could take a ‘team Newport’ role and push for improvement. He says transport will be vital in attracting business and he would push for better links as an MP.
Labour incumbent Paul Flynn says whoever becomes Newport West MP will have virtually no impact on decisions on city regeneration. “People are offering all kinds of grandiose ideas but it won’t happen. The main responsibilities are national and international.” He says we should focus less on the negative, saying the treasures of Newport are permanent, such as Tredegar House, the Celtic Manor, the rural areas around the city and the spirit of the people. He says people can go to Pill School at assembly time and see Muslim and Christian children worshipping in different ways but praying together.
Newport East Lib Dem Paul Halliday, stepping in for Ed Townsend, says it’s true that MPs don’t have a lot of direct impact on regeneration. But he says MPs can fight on behalf of their constituents for better cities, working with community groups to empower them. That can help with issues like graffiti, he said. Mr Halliday said the closure of the University of South Wales’ Caerleon Campus will have a huge impact locally, as well as the loss of adult education courses at Coleg Gwent, which should be addressed.
But some audience members said they hadn’t had enough concrete answers about regeneration, claiming the candidates were “just on the campaign trail”.
UKIP candidate Gordon Norrie did not attend.
Newport East candidates will go head to head at a debate from 7.30pm until 9pm on Friday at St Julians Baptist Church.
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