Wednesday night saw the hosting of the premier hustings event for Isle of Wight West, with all 6 candidates answering hot-topic questions. Island Echo now looks deeper into what each candidate had to say… The joint Island Echo/Isle of Wight Observer hustings was held at Newport Minster with an audience of around 300 people, a summary of which was published on Thursday. Attendees were welcomed by Darren Toogood, owner and editor of Island Echo and the evening was chaired by David Holmes.
Candidate introductions…
In her first public speaking event, Rachel Thacker (ADF) said she was standing because she had often heard people stating ‘politicians do not represent me’ and it was important to get democracy back. She believed that it wasn’t parliament that was sovereign, it should be people who are sovereign. Nick Stuart (Lib Dem) reminded the audience that 50 years ago, Steve Ross came from nowhere to become Liberal MP. He believed he could win again and bring change from nowhere. Meanwhile, Cameron Palin (Green) claimed the Isle of Wight had suffered 14 years of austerity and that we should invest more in green technology and education. Bob Seely (Conservative) said that it was a pleasure to represent the Island. He had tried to be a local champion and had secured £175million of extra funds for the Island as its MP. Ian Pickering (Reform) claimed that Britain is broken because of the inability to find a dentist, high taxation and the cost of housing. He believed his party could overtake the Conservatives to become the opposition to Labour. The winner of the night, according to the exit poll, Richard Quigley (Labour), told the audience that he didn’t want to see people retire here, he wanted them to aspire here. He thought voters faced a simple choice: who would be best for the Island, himself or Conservative Bob Seely? 
What’s the solution for the increasing charges and deteriorating service of the ferries?
Bob Seely said:
“I have spent 8 months writing a report on the ferries and talked to Downing Street. I have gained a manifesto commitment for an all options review. I’ve done the work and have the plan”.
Rachel Thacker: “The ferries need to be regulated and there should be a vote on a fixed link”. Ian Pickering: “The solution is to separate the landing facilities from the ferries, thus creating competition, which would lead to improved services and prices going down”. Cameron Palin: “The ferries should be brought into public ownership. This can be paid for by increasing taxes on those with the broadest shoulders”. Nick Stuart: “We need Island legislation, including regulation of fares and service obligations. There should also be a degree of subsidy as it is a major health, trade and community barrier”. Richard Quigley: “Keir Starmer is the first party leader to acknowledge there is a problem with the ferries. Their directors and headquarters should be made to move to the Island”. 
What would you do to improve school results on the Island?
Richard Quigley said:
“We need to improve education beyond going to university, which isn’t for every child. We are not giving every child a chance due to underfunding from the current government”.
Bob Seely: “The government has done a good job with English and Maths, with reading skills now the best in the world. Isle of Wight Council are responsible for poor education results on the Island”. Nick Stuart: “We burn teachers out. The Isle of Wight education system is as good as it can be under current constraints”. Rachel Thacker: “We should support home education on the Isle of Wight”. Cameron Palin: “There should be free school meals for all. The Ofsted system should be abolished”. Ian Pickering: “Teachers only last 5 years. Your life ends when you become a teacher. We need to look after teachers and attract the right recruits”. 
What can be done to improve the NHS on the Island?
Nick Stuart said:
“The Isle of Wight is a dental desert. Mental health has been neglected. We need to support NHS staff and not treat them as ‘the enemy'”.
Rachel Thacker: “We should stop thinking about profit and think of individuals instead”. Bob Seely: “We have a mental health hub on the Island, a Diagnostic Centre under construction, and a dental bus. There is also an Open University course allowing nurses to be trained without leaving the Island”. Richard Quigley: “We need to value our NHS and reform paperwork for dentists”. Ian Pickering: “Cancel student debt for doctors after 10 years service in the NHS”. Cameron Palin: “We should abolish tuition fees for medical students and invest £50 billion in the NHS” 
The Solent is the most polluted stretch of water on the South Coast. What can be done to improve the environment?
Cameron Palin said:
“Strengthen legislation on sewage and bring the water companies into public ownership”.
Rachel Thacker: “I don’t believe in net zero as it’s making everyone poorer”. Ian Pickering: “The United Kingdom produces no more than 1% of the world’s carbon dioxide. The drive to net zero will cost trillions of pounds”. Bob Seely: “We are making great strides towards net zero. We need an intelligent approach”. Richard Quigley: “Bob Seely is more interested in China than sewage. The Tories haven’t delivered”. Nick Stuart: “The technology exists to reach net zero. The political will does not”. 
Find out who your local councillor is, how and where to vote and the results of previous elections at www.isleofwight.vote - the Island's new hub for all things related to Local and General Elections, brought to you by Island Echo.
Oh look more protecting corrupt cops
The main concern not only for the Island but mainland Britain and now most of Europe, is the never ending amount of people flooding into our Island, Country and Continent.
As most all are doing so because either they have breed their own homelands into a state of unbearable crime, poverty, hatred and religious intolerance, then those problems follow them to whatever areas they choose to settle in en-masse.
So instead of taking on our ways of life, blending in, as many smaller amounts of immigrants have done over the years, these people are forcing their way of life and their problems on us all. And we are having to pay for it and not just in monetary terms.
Vote Reform to help alter this never ending scenario imo
Vote reform let labour win.
Vote Conservative and Labour will still win. When Labour do win we will see the real rot begin.
Vote Reform and let Labour know we don’t have confidence in them as a government and want our country returned to us.
Bet you voted Leave, didn’t you?
In the EU we could employ EU citizens who remained EU citizens. We could send illegal migrants back to the country they first entered the EU (Dublin Regulation). They knew this which is why relatively few came here.
As soon as we formally left the EU in 2020 the “floodgates” opened. Record legal migration and record illegal migration.
And all that came about because you believed the blatant lies Farage was telling you.
And here you are believing him yet again.
Farage caused the migrant crisis. Thinking he’s the cure for it is like thinking smoking is a cure for cancer.
More a case of the French, miffed at us leaving, then had not desire to have the ‘jungle’ camp grow, so easier to allow them the swiftest access out of France to come here to impose on us for the rest of eternity.
Imagine if the boot was on the other foot, and France had left the EU and we were then paying more. We would certainly if we could allow all the costly, troublesome immigrants to leave here to go there as fast as we could.
Record migration has NOT been stopped by the Tories for they never wanted OUT of the EU, and by allowing in more, they ‘think’ they can quash the British main reason for wanting out, so in future form closer links with Europe again, once Labour has ruined the economy and crept closer to the EU.
Nobody had to listen to Farage. Nobody voted to join the EU as Heath took us in illegally, then when we did demand a referendum Cameron thought we would vote to stay but we voted to leave and he resigned. The Conservative Party then had to put the result into motion and leave. But as we know they were very half hearted in leaving and dragged their heals. They had the opportunity to leave fully but did not. Hence we still have to abide by many EU rules thus opening the flood gates to the illegal invaders. End the The International Bill of Human Rights and the invasions will stop. We will then be able to walks our streets safely.
Did you get here by boat? We should have sent you back coming over here taking our jobs and houses. We want UDI to stop you overners. Taking our Drs appointments.
English doesn’t seem to be your 1st language. I didn’t take anyones job and I actually employed a couple of people until they had the sense to move to the mainland.
Not quite. The Conservatives were fully behind Theresa May when they voted her in and followed that up with putting in Boris Johnson who got everything he wanted, Prime Minister and Brexit (under his false narrative of immigration and EU contributions which swayed the vote in 2016). They knew the negatives but thought the EU would roll-over and let them have what they wanted. Naivety in the least, desolation of responsibility towards our country, most likely.
Oh get over it.
Teresa May fu**ed us over when she signed away our rights
Yeah all those pesky migrants from Hong Kong and Ukraine flooded in because of Nigel Farage and Brexit, The EU is on its way down the toilet and people like you still want to be a part of it.
How about you vote for who you want and why, and have the decency to not tell other people how to vote and let them do as they like which is their democratic right.
“have the decency to not tell other people how to vote”..
Isn’t that what all the politicians, and most of the commenters on here are doing… (Especially the ‘reform’ supporters)… Telling other people how to vote….
Personally, I think that the parties should just publish their (fact checked) manifestos, let people read them at their leisure, & decide how to vote…
No canvassing, no ‘hustings’, no TV debates, no pp broadcasts..no media coverage…no f’ing lies…
Mark totally agree.
Whilst it is fine to focus too inward on trifling issues such as pot holes, or the ever broken chain ferry, all things which ‘any’ party could choose to address or ignore if gaining a seat, the MAIN issue facing this country is this never ending amount of people arriving here with nothing, thus having to have ever single thing given to them paid for by us.
Seemingly most sharing nothing in common with us, many not even liking the British, our culture, our morals, our religion and share no love for our countryside, or our history.
If it were French, Germans, Dutch, Greeks then most would seamlessly blend into our culture, but anything from outside of Europe seems less able to do so.
And before we left the EU they were almost exclusively European.
It was Brexit that opened the floodgates. Farage lied to you about that and he’s lying to you again.
We’ve had hordes of Muslims invading us for 30 years! Well before brexit.
It is not just coincidence that since the UK & Europe have had masse arrivals from warmer countries filling our country that increases of rape, stabbing, shooting, acid attacks, mugging, sex slavery, genital mutilation, drug importation and dealing, along with vastly increased poverty, food banks, housing crisis, children’s homes begging for takers of their one night stands/rape results, poor education, longer waits for doc, hospital, dental appointments and of course jails unable to cope.
So I ask anyone British or already an immigrant here, What’s to like about having a never ending amount arriving, UNLESS like the MP’s you own land, or property in abundance to make money from them? For WE, not they, pay the price in all ways
More pointless claptrap about immigrants. Don’t you deformers have any other things to talk about?
QK, IF you hadn’t noticed, which I am sure even you have, endless immigration effects every one of us, and most all issues from the building over our greenfields, to crime, pressure on NHS, and more homes, needing more energy, water, pollution, sewage, traffic, costly education for non English speaking.
So as you know, it is important to ‘talk’ about it, and at election time, is the ONLY time that idiots like you can’t pull the ‘race card’ hence your bitterness in what you hate, ‘freedom of speech’ but ONLY if it fits with your blinkered narrative.
Vote Reform
Brexit caused the migrant crisis and Farage was behind that
A vote for Reform is a vote for the people that caused the migrant crisis.
Maybe that was their plan. Get the gullible to vote for the thing that would cause a crisis the far right could latch onto, then put themselves forward as the solution.
Obviously the people promoting Reform here are plants, the exit polls show support for Reform is tiny on the Island. Don’t be a fool and believe them. Voting for Reform to “stop the boats” is like smoking 20 a day to cure lung cancer.
You idiot, Farage did NOT cause any migrant crisis, the tories did that all by themselves with a botched leaving agreement, still with a PM who is worth £625 million with an increase on last year of over £120 million what do we know anyway. Farage says it how it is, just because most of this bloody country are afraid to speak out because it might be termed “racist” is all wrong, after all Diane Abbot once said “All white people look the same”, and no one batted an eyelid.
https://youtu.be/g5LoUl9ZGtk
Don’t waste your breath fella, he is a remoaner and wont listen to reason or debate because we are all wrong. Lol.
It’s not the legal immigration its the illegal invasion of refugees that is the problem.
Definitely. I couldn’t get into New Zealand, Australia or various other nice countries now I’m over 30! Why are we letting in all these unhealthy, old people? How are their 10 years of tax contributions gonna cover 20 or 30 years of pension and health care?
Have you not noticed the African invasion to the Island only this year?!! Open your eyes. Go outside.
Unsuitable immigration illegal or legal, has, and will cost this country dearly.
Whilst decent immigrants have and will always be welcome, all this rubbish claiming asylum is just a way for freeloaders of the world to try to gain sympathy from gullible people to gain a better life for themselves but at our cost.
Having a never ending supply of any peoples, adds to our traffic, energy needs, landfill, loss of greed fields, huge costs to the working people, as the countries elite gain from renting homes, hotels, and the consequent land price increase as more bodies all need somewhere to live.
Add to that fact that many MP’s family members are involved in immigration law, they and the BBC see it differently, so vote carefully
Why not just issue ‘work visas’ as we used to do, should we need more workers. Then IF and a big IF you have worked in full time work, paid in more than your supplied home, children and your own medical care has cost, along with educational needs after 20 years or so, you gain a right to stay, provided that no-one in your care has committed any crime?
Those two or three would then be a bonus, not a drain on our society.
But until then, vote Reform for the bigger picture which is effecting us all now.
What does it matter what any of them said? They will say anything to get elected and will do none of the things they promise they will deliver. They are all liars and anyone daft enough to go out and vote for them in the misguided notion that they will do anything to make things better deserve all they get. You cannot trust politicians.
Paul, all local MP’s are as toothless as one another, so nothing here will change much whichever you vote for on a local level.
But voting for Reform will force Parties to wake up, as they have in mainland Europe, and take note that the indigenous, and those immigrants already long since settled have had enough of watching this never ending stream of new arrivals drag the wealth, which could be so better spend on us already living here in such needy times, not any and every freeloading chancers and their numerous offspring for eternity.
So vote, but do so for Reform to wake up slumbering UK politics.
Local MPs of any party can do trivial things, IF they can be bothered, SEE the big picture Vote Reform
Well done to Rachel Thacker for putting yourself forward.
Don’t give up if it is what you want to do.
This “individual sovereignty” notion is idiotic. Basically, it means that people will only follow their own laws, which ends with anarchy rather than democracy. She is standing on a false ticket.
Doesn’t matter who the island MP is, as they all do they’re own thing, constituents mean nothing .. it’s about who’s in Government and how loyal the MP is to their party .. Popup Bob only listens to friends and those in the CONs that can offer him a seat on the golden lifeboat ..
So the Labour Candidate doesn’t want pensioners on the island mmm?
I’m sure they’ll take that into account when voting.
Very disrespectful holding such an event in a Church,
bet none of them attend Sunday service etc.
Personally, I think the church is the perfect place for any gathering of hypocrites.
Absolutely!