General Election 2010: The candidates speak

### James Plaskitt Labour

I was a university lecturer in the 1980s. It is partly what drove me into
politics! I was appalled at the low level of funding. Buildings were
pretty rough. Courses were crowded. Student facilities were pitiful.
Even so, too few young people who would have benefited from a degree had
the chance to get into university. This was the system after years of
neglect under Tory governments.

I wanted to change that – and we have. Just take a look at how the
University of Warwick has expanded in recent years – and still is. And
that’s typical of the sector as a whole.

Funding per student is up by one-third under this Labour government. It
halved under the Tories! We have 200,000 more places in our universities
and 23 of the world’s top 100 universities are British.

These are the changes I came into politics to make. Now we have to secure
them for the future. And there are big differences between the parties on
this.

The Tories want swinging cuts in public spending now – across the board.
Their spokesperson in Parliament is on the record saying too many people
are going to university, and the fee rise is just a question of whether
it’s going to be £5,000 or £7,000.

That won’t secure the sort of future I want to see for universities or
students. Instead, here’s what we should do. In a tight climate for public
spending, we should safeguard teaching and research resources. We should
reject the Russell Group’s aim of unlimited fees and a ‘free market’. We
must maintain grant assistance and subsidised loans – if we continue with
the fee system after the outcome of the current review.

So I won’t be voting for a slimmed down university system or for unlimited
fees. Nor will I be voting for uncosted promises, like the ones you will
get from the LibDems.

But I have voted for our Graduate Guarantee – which will put in place a
comprehensive scheme this summer to support up to 400,000 graduates
looking to start a career. I voted for the tax package on the banks to
help pay for it too!

So, votes make a difference. Many of the votes I have made in Parliament
in recent years have helped transform our universities and improve the
student experience. And on most occasions we were opposed by the other
parties.

There are a lot of votes on student issues coming up in the next
Parliament: how much funding for universities; whether or not to have a
free market in fees; whether or not to shrink the sector; and how to
secure graduate career opportunities. Who is going to decide in your best
interests?

That’s for you to decide in this election, and it’s why your vote counts.

_James Plaskitt is the current MP for Warwick and Leamington Spa_

### Chris White Conservatives

I’m standing to be the next MP for Warwick and Leamington because of one
simple thing: I love our area and I want to do all I can to make it an
even better place to live.

I have been a local resident for many years and feel I am a part of this
strong and vibrant community. I volunteer with several local charities
such as the Warwickshire Association of Youth Clubs, the environmental
charity Action 21, and last year I visited Chad with the Leamington-based
charity CORD. I was also proud to work with students from Warwick to
repaint a room in Leamington’s Old Library for use as a community centre –
so I know the efforts students make to help in the local area.

As you can tell, I believe a great deal in public service. I never set out
to be a career politician but I believe that I can do more to help in my
local community as our MP. I don’t have the typical politician’s
background; I studied engineering at Manchester, have an MBA from Bath and
worked for MG Rover at Longbridge. I believe that this experience in the
real world will stand me in good stead if I become our MP.

I have three main priorities that will guide me if I am elected: bringing
jobs back to the area, protecting our front line services, and campaigning
against over-development.

David Cameron is determined to get our economy moving again. We will start
by stopping Labour’s ridiculous tax on jobs that will see seven out of a
ten working people, many of them the lowest paid in Britain, taxed nearly
£150 more. I believe we owe it to our recent graduates and students to
create the best opportunities possible after university. We will also
support entrepreneurs by cutting corporation tax and abolishing taxes on
the first ten jobs created by new businesses, as they will generate the
wealth to bring jobs back to Britain.

We will protect our front line public services, but we will also be
radical. We want to replace government targets with trust in the
professionalism of teachers, doctors and nurses.

We believe when you trust people, they do will do the right thing. We will
also put local people in charge by giving them greater power of education,
policing, health and their local environment. We want to create a ‘Big
Society’ and this will only come when people are given more control over
their lives.

Finally, I believe in cleaning up our politics. I was angered by the
expenses scandal, and have promised that I will never claim expenses on
things like food or take a ‘second job’.

However we have got to do more, such as giving local people the right to
sack their MP if they are dishonest and cutting the cost of politics so
that people get value for money.
I hope to earn the right to help make things better and deliver the change
we need.

_Chris White is the Conservative candidate for Warwick and Leamington Spa_

### Alan Beddow Liberal Democrats

My son is currently reading English at university, so I understand
first-hand how difficult it is to be a student today – the realities of
being saddled with debt, the poor quality student accommodation, the cost
of transport, and the lack of decent jobs at the end. Being a student
should be a journey of discovery and opportunity and the beginning of
lifelong friendships. Everyone who is capable should have the chance of
this experience but universities and young people are bearing the brunt of
Labour’s economic failure.

We know that our country’s economic success depends on the skills and
capabilities of its workforce, so it never makes sense to add financial
barriers to anyone with the ability to read a degree nor slash university
budgets in times of recession. The Liberal Democrats are the only party
committed to scrapping tuition fees and have a fully costed plan to make
it happen.

But voting Lib Dem is about much more. It’s about principles that Labour
and the Conservatives have long lost. At the heart of our manifesto is
“fairness”. How is it right that in our society a full time worker on
minimum wage loses nearly £1000 in tax while big business and the very
rich treat tax as if it is optional? How does our political system lend
itself to chasing votes in a few marginal seats, like Warwick and
Leamington, and the auctioning of political influence to trade unions or
offshore donors? Can our national fortunes depend less on high risk casino
banking that privatises profits for a lucky few and socialising debt when
it all goes pear shaped? We have war-time levels of debt that you are
going to pay back through higher taxes over the course of your lives.
We can and must do better. Lib Dems want fair taxes; a fair start for
children; fair, transparent and local politics; and a fair sustainable
economy.

What has this government done for us? Banning smoking in public and the
Freedom of Information Act are the only positives that come to mind.
Remember the illegal Iraq war – Brown signed the cheques. Remember the
lies, the spin, our under-funded troops in Afghanistan, billions wasted on
ID cards, and the banning of peaceful protest outside Parliament, the
abolition of the 10p rate but promises to raise the inheritance tax
threshold to match the Conservatives?

Indeed, if you think the Conservatives offer a force for change, don’t be
fooled by chameleon Cameron. Many will be too young to remember a
Conservative government; the heart ripped out of our manufacturing
industry condemning many towns to unemployment; the chronic
under-investment in our public services from which we are still
recovering; the cynical tax cuts and interest rate manipulation ahead of
elections resulting in boom and then bust. George Osborne has already told
us they would slash again. What’s more the Conservatives would drive us
away from Europe. We can’t fight climate change, international organised
crime and terrorism on our
own.
If you want to change society, don’t vote tactically. They will tell you
the Lib Dems can’t win here, but we can. In the most recent County Council
elections, Lib Dems got a higher percentage of the vote than Labour. It’s
a once in a generation chance to change the face of British politics, vote
Liberal Democrat.

_Alan Beddow is the Liberal Democrat candidate for Warwick and Leamington Spa_