Election hustings
ONE issue dominated debate at the general election hustings in Lochgilphead.
BY THE time you read this we will know who has been elected to serve as constituency MP for Argyll and Bute.
But on Tuesday evening it was still all to play for as a general election hustings was hosted by Lochgilphead Community Council, chaired by Iain Ritchie. Predictably, the evening was dominated by the twin elephants in the room of Brexit and the prospects for indyref2. Questions on subjects as varied as mental health, child poverty, nuclear weapons and terrorism seemed inexorably to be drawn back to these themes.
As the meeting got started there was ini- tially broad agreement among panel members that the problems which must be addressed with urgency in Argyll and Bute are digital connectivity, or the lack of it, along with an upgrading of transport infrastructure. Jobs, too, and quality jobs at that, are also vital.
It didn’t take long, though, for the candidates to veer off into political point-scoring. They strayed into devolved issues, though this was a general election hustings.
They traded jibes over the potential consequences of Brexit. And, unsurprisingly, there was a good deal of discussion on a potential future referendum on Scottish independence as the debate sparked into life.
On independence, Conservative candidate Gary Mulvaney said: ‘We had a referendum in 2014. The people decided and that decision needs to be respected.’
SNP candidate Brendan O’Hara disagreed, arguing that the result of the Brexit poll in Scotland constituted a material change to circumstances, saying: ‘Scotland will decide Scotland’s future.’ He went on to accuse the unionist parties of raising the issue as ‘a smokescreen’ to avoid talking about the real issues.
Answering a question from the floor on how the candidates would address child poverty in the UK, Alan Reid, LibDem, said: ‘I would reintroduce child benefit to third and later children, invest in jobs and infrastructure and improve education.’
Mr O’Hara blamed the policy of austerity for the problem. ‘We are creating the conditions for our own downfall,’ he argued. ‘This is not an accident. It is state created.’
Asked by an audience member about spending on nuclear weapons as opposed to the environment and renewable energy, the LibDem, Conservative and Labour candidates were broadly in favour of retaining the Trident system based on the deterrent effect and the fact that, as pointed out by Mr Mulvaney, there are many jobs dependent on Trident at Faslane.
Labour candidate Michael Kelly said: ‘Nuclear weapons are not there to be used and are not likely ever to be used. They are a diplomatic weapon which gives the UK a seat on the UN Security Council.’
Mr O’Hara described the UK’s nuclear system as ‘immoral and illegal’.
Time and time again the debate at Lochgilphead joint campus was dragged back to Brexit.
The UK’s approach as we go through the EU divorce process seemed, at that point, uppermost in the thoughts of many ahead of the election. That, of course, and the prospect of another vote on Scottish independence.