FOUR of Monmouth’s parliamentary candidates told locals about their policies on international development and fair trade, at a hustings meeting on Tuesday night.

Candidates Martin Blakebrough, for the Welsh Liberal Democrats, Plaid Cymru’s Jonathan Clark, David Davies for the Welsh Conservative Party and Labour’s Hamish Sandison, gathered at St Michael’s Centre, Abergavenny, for the meeting organised by International Development Charity VSO.

The charity works by sending volunteers out to developing countries to help in the fight against poverty.

The hustings, which was chaired by Margot Seabourne, saw candidates being questioned on issues including how they would ensure equality nationally and internationally and decrease the gap between the rich and the poor; how they would deal with the rising world population and how they would help fair trade progress.

Mr Blakebrough said he would work for a fairer tax system, look at opportunities to allow organisations such as VSO to twin with developing countries, and would bid for better education and the empowerment of women in developing countries.

Mr Clark said Plaid Cymru would also work to give women in developing countries better access to education, better literacy and health programmes in developing countries and better access to resources.

He also said he would work for more education of fair trade delivered in schools.

Mr Davies explained he would work to focus money more on developing countries, would encourage the idea of young people volunteering to work abroad to raise a more positive attitude to international development and would work for more fair trade groups.

Mr Sandison said he would work for debt cancellation, to improve the funding for ethical trade and UK aid and work for better education in developing countries and better fair trade.

Representatives from the Green Party and the UK Independent Party did not attend.