Canterbury Politics and International Relations

After quick fire questions about state violence, Gaza and fixing Brexit, each candidate made a final pitch for votes. A show of hands reveals hardly anyone has changed their opinion or intention! And now we are done! #CCCUHustings24

30 seconds to answer these questions - tweeting will be paused

Green - university funding - if we take out international students we reduce net migration but we also lose all the money they pay to universities and spend in our towns. Greens want to get rid of tuition fees but priority needs to be schools and FE colleges

SDP - a tricky question for a lecturer! Fixing the fee has eaten away at budgets, We have been making efficiencies - I don't think anyone has a clear solution but the current situation is not fair on young people

How should we fund universities? Reform - like the NHS universities should be more efficient rather than raising fees Lib Dems - HE is 4th/5th industry in the UK generating revenue for the economy. Need to recognise that. Businesses should pay for their employers degrees

How should we fund universities? Con: I work at the university! Fees do not cover the costs of educating students but rather that increase fees, we need to support universities. Hard question for me!

Reform - better public transport to let young people get to where the work is Reduce university degrees to two years to cut the costs #CCCUHustings24

Green - raise minimum wage to £15 per hour Build more social houses - of the right type in the right place, more rental accommodation and clamp down on airbnb #CCCUHustings24

SDP - cut tuition fees and cap debt, and have an alternative vocational and technical education #CCCUHustings24

Lib Dem - renegotiate Brexit to allow young people to travel #CCCUHustings24

Con - support more young international students coming here

Another question from our school participants - what will you do to support young people in cost of living crisis?

NHS - Money or reform? Reform - NHS let down by incompetence, waste, bureaucracy and scandals. More nurses and doctors and fewer people behind computers Conservatives - there are no quick fixes. Locally we need to bring back services to Kent and Canterbury hospital

Does the NHS need reform or just more money? SDP - We need a national care service to resolve bed blocking Greens - Need more money to fix buildings - and toenails need cutting much sooner Lib Dems - have a right to see GP and reduce need to go to A&E - free personal care

What about tax? Con - keep tax low and spend wisely. Labour will raise taxes SDP - more efficiency and think innovatively - online sales tax and land uplift tax Reform - raise threshold before people pay tax, scrap VAT on energy bills and reduce fuel duty

Questions - what about tax? Lib Dems - reverse tax breaks for big banks and tax social media companies and energy windfall profits Greens - our manifesto is fully costed and we need more revenue - we can't cut taxes when austerity is happening - tax wealth and capital gains

Question: what is a woman? Some answers more nuanced and considered than others. Support for trans rights and the ability for people to express their true selves from Conservative, Lib Dem and Green candidates #CCCUHustings24

Lib Dems - raise tax thresholds to get people out of tax, improve our food strategy to reduce prices and sort our energy costs

SDP - The Green Party plan will blow a hole in the budget. Part of the solution for poverty is family focused tax free allowances

Louise Harvey-Quirke - as someone who used to be on benefits, there is no shame in that We need to sort our maintenance so absent parents meet their obligations and recognise this is a complex issue