The big issues: Your Election candidates havetheirsay

Four candidates are ready to go head-to-head to win your vote at the December 12 General Election.

Conservative Robert Goodwill, Labour’s Hugo Fearnley, Liberal Democrat Robert Graham Lockwood and Lee Derrick from The Yorkshire Party are all fighting for the Scarborough and Whitby seat. But who are they and where do they stand on key issues affecting people nationally and locally? We quizzed them:

BREXIT

What’s your stance on Brexit, and what impact do you think it will have on the borough? How do you intend on resolving the current impasse while making sure the will of the people is respected?

Robert Goodwill: It is three and a half years since the people of Scarborough and Whitby voted decisively to leave the European Union. We must stop wasting time and respect the democratic will of the people. The Prime Minister’s deal does genuinely implement that historic decision – even Nigel Farage recognises that, which is why the Brexit Party isn’t fielding a candidate here.

The deal also protects jobs in vital industries such as agriculture, services and manufacturing and will allow us to negotiate a free trade deal with not only Europe but with other trading blocs around the world. We will become an independent coastal state with full control of our fish stocks.

All Labour can offer is more delay and confusion with another referendum in which they can’t even decide which side they would be on. Only the Conservatives can get Brexit done!

Hugo Fearnley: My position has always been to respect the referendum result. I also believe that had the Government not so shamelessly manipulated that referendum decision, to turn it into a damaging economic departure as opposed to a political departure, we’d have left the EU by now. The only sensible way out of the parliamentary deadlock is for a Labour government to negotiate a departure from the EU that will not only protect our economy and our NHS, but also bring an end to this Brexit shambles by protecting our trading arrangements.

The Conservative deal that is on the table now does condemn us to years of uncertainty, does threaten the

NHS and does threaten the viability of our farming sector.

Labour will give the citizens of Britain an informed and realistic choice – a managed and proper departure protecting this country’s interests or Remain.

Graham Lockwood: Every single household is now more than £3,000 poorer, how much more is this fiasco going to cost us? By voting for the Liberal Democrat Party we can stop Brexit, and the Conservative Party wasting any more of our money. No-one voted three years ago to be lied to, and then told we had no other choice.

Lee Derrick: The borough voted heavily to leave and I have to respect that. The failure of Westminster to get it sorted is impacting everyone negatively. Whatever deal is finalised The Yorkshire Party has to approach the Government and seek the best deal for Yorkshire and within that I have to seek the best deal for the borough.

CLIMATE CHANGE

Scarborough Council, which declared a climate emergency earlier this year, has a target of making the area carbon neutral by 2030. As an MP, what steps will you take to ensure concrete measures can be brought in for Scarborough and Whitby?

Robert Goodwill: Climate Change is the challenge of our generation. The UK will host the COP 26 in Glasgow next year and we already lead the developed nations in reducing greenhouse gas emissions. These are down by around 40% compared with 1990 levels. We no longer rely on coal for electricity generation with a target of phasing it out completely by 2025. We must redouble our efforts to meet our net zero target.

Locally, we certainly need to do more. A good start would be to increase the number of electric vehicle charging points. Each of us can play our part by making greener choices in our everyday lives such as reducing food waste.

Hugo Fearnley: There are a number of things which can be done specifically in our constituency, starting with reinstating bus routes and encouraging people onto public transport. With a large rural constituency, there will always remain a need for some private transport and we would encourage the switch to electric vehicles by offering interest free loans and increased charging points within the constituency. As a north coast constituency we are ideally placed to benefit from the massive investment in offshore wind which Labour proposes.

I am also committed to doing everything in my power to assist and work with our farming community, to help not only our environment but the farmers themselves by keeping up with innovative green farming practices.

Graham Lockwood: Tree coverage in Europe averages 35%, in Scarborough and Whitby only 14% is woodland, we should aim for at least 30%. The Liberal Democrats will plant 60 million trees a year in the UK, and restore peatlands. The slogan 46 years ago was ‘plant a tree in 73’, I am happy to say that the one I planted at Newby School is doing well, and I’ve started a tree nursery in my garden.

Tidal lagoon projects work, yet the Conservative Party scrapped the building of the first one in the UK in 2018. We simply must embrace the future and become the world’s global leader in tidal power.

A new building act needs to ensure all new homes are built to the highest standards, and encourage local authority to incorporate renewable energy schemes. Proper insulation of existing properties is a necessity.

Lee Derrick: Commerce doesn’t have to be to the detriment of the planet. Green industry, innovation and research and development are all areas that will contribute to the 2030 target. If we can secure funding to improve our transport infrastructure to not only include better rail and roads but electric vehicle recharging points and better bus services then we can attract investment into the area which can provide quality secure jobs as well as maintain the health of our planet.

LOW PAID JOBS

Recent research from the BBC shows that people working in coastal towns are paid on average £1,600 a year less than people inland. As an MP, how do you plan to address the issue of low paid jobs which is driving young people away?

Robert Goodwill: We need to continue upskilling our workforce and attract more high value investment and employment opportunities to the area. Nationally, over 3.8 million apprenticeships were started between 2010 and 2018 including 8,290 in this constituency. We have amazing employers delivering apprenticeships and training centres like the Construction Skills Village in Eastfield.

We have 270 more businesses in the constituency compared to 2010 and unemployment has almost halved. Companies like Plaxton and McCain have invested heavily. We need to raise young people’s aspirations with employers showcasing the opportunities available locally – particularly in the health and social care sector.

Hugo Fearnley: For nearly a decade now the Tory Government has done everything in its power to make life as difficult as possible for working people. They boast about unemployment figures while people struggle under the yoke of zero hours contracts and still have to rely on benefits and foodbanks to get by.

As for new jobs, Labour is 100% committed to a Green Industrial Revolution which will create tens of thousands of new, highly skilled, well paid jobs and 320,000 green apprenticeships nationally. Unlike the Government’s empty promises of a Northern Powerhouse, I will make certain that Scarborough and Whitby is at the heart of the technological

green revolution which in some other countries is already taking place.

Graham Lockwood: Tidal lagoons producing electricity have many benefits, the one I visited in France took three years to build, and requires regular maintenance, the same is true of wind turbines. New homes need to be built, and older properties require improved standards. Already mentioned is tree planting on a massive scale, 16 local areas are at risk of flooding. Instead of reacting to flood risk, we need to take preventative measures, all of which require labour. There is also the electric car revolution around the corner, charging points are few at present, we are going to need installers, let’s get on with the training.

Lee Derrick: The three main London parties (Conservatives, Labour and Liberal Democrats) have all been in power over the last 20 years and are responsible for the low wage economy. The biggest reasons we have low paid jobs is a lack of spending on education and infrastructure. Our coastal communities and businesses need better infrastructure. Our rail infrastructure is shocking and being at the end of the road may add to our charm for the visitor but society today needs and demands everything now. In order to get all year round industries that will boost our regional job prospects, connectivity and higher value employees are essential.

TRANSPORT

With the A64 still waiting to be upgraded, and rail services unreliable, many feel that unless something is done“wewillbeleftbehind”. What are your plans to improve our transport links?

Robert Goodwill: This area has suffered for many years from poor transport links. The A64, particularly between Hopgrove and Malton, is in desperate need of upgrading. I am pleased that the first element of this work has been included in the Government’s Road Investment Programme. I will spare no effort to ensure that this project stays in the programme and is delivered.

The rail connection between Scarborough and York has been unreliable and overcrowded. The timetable changes in 2018 caused widespread chaos. Network Rail has learned from these mistakes and after a few teething troubles the new timetable is functioning well. Trains arriving late in Scarborough no longer result in delayed departures as the previously arrived train takes the next service. TransPennine have now introduced the new Nova trains, costing £6 million each, with 100 extra seats. Next year Northern Rail will introduce its shuttle service to York on the half hour which will double the frequency of trains.

Hugo Fearnley: I have absolutely no confidence in TransPennine, Northern Rail or for that matter, any of the privately owned rail companies who have proved beyond a shadow of doubt they are motivated by profit alone and have little regard for the fare paying passengers. That is why a Labour government has at the heart of its manifesto, the renationalisation of rail. The rail links in our constituency are abysmal and nationalisation alone will not fix the problem. We need new routes to improve connectivity or we will truly be left behind. Additionally, the cancellation of certain bus routes has worsened the already growing problem of rural isolation. Labour will reopen many of the cancelled bus routes and I will make the case for many local routes to be reinstated here.

It is beyond time that the A64 became a dual carriageway. I will do all I am able if elected to parliament, to ensure this happens and that it happens in conjunction with the electrification of vehicles.

Graham Lockwood: For the sake of 6 miles of removed track between Malton and Pickering, visitors are unable to access Whitby quickly from York, our biggest local international tourist destination. A boat trip down the coast to Scarborough, and a state of the art electric train back to York, must surely be a winner for our area. A personal dream of mine is then to travel non stop from York to Paris, Amsterdam or Brussels on a Eurostar style train, prosperity is but a train journey away.

Lee Derrick: To be honest I think we already have been left behind! I’m not surprised it’s failing. The chronic underinvestment by the three main London parties over decades has meant that our road and rail infrastructure is not fit for purpose in the 21 st century. I’m sure the front line staff at these rail companies are doing the best they can, however they are trying to do today’s job with yesterday’s tools. What we need is our fair share of resources and investment into transport and infrastructure and the decisions on how those resources are spent, taken from within Yorkshire and not in London.

NHS

What will you do to make sure local NHS services receive more funding? Parties have made pledges to increase funding to the NHS overall but how will you make sure local services will benefit directly?

Robert Goodwill: Like you, my family relies on the NHS. It is our most precious national asset. The NHS budget will go up by £33.9 billion by 2023-24. The biggest cash boost in its history. The long awaited £12 million redevelopment of Whitby Hospital has been given the green light – banishing fears of closure.

Health Secretary Matt Hancock, on a recent visit to Scarborough Hospital, has confirmed that Accident and Emergency will be transformed with a £40 million Combined Emergency Assessment Unit. This innovation will bring medical and surgical services to the front door. I lobbied ministers ahead of the introduction of the new funding formula which recognises the challenge of delivering services in remote, rural and coastal hospitals which will give us a fairer share of the budget.

York Trust must deliver on its promise of returning services like breast oncology clinics to Scarborough. This change was down to staffing problems, not money.

Hugo Fearnley: The first and most important thing I would do as the parliamentary representative of the people of Scarborough and Whitby is vote with a Labour Government to prevent any further marketisation of the NHS which is slowly but surely leading to privatisation. The ridiculous spectacle of our public health service competing for health provision contracts against private providers is largely responsible for the continuing cuts to services and funding.

Locally, we have been witness to problematic restructuring in Scarborough and the so-called redevelopment at Whitby. In both cases, the problem of waiting times has not been addressed and only a major reinvestment, including for our ambulance service, will fix the problem of people having to travel longer distances in the case of emergencies.

Graham Lockwood: For over 20 years Liberal Democrat policy has been to ringfence a 1% income tax increase to fund the NHS and social care. This will raise £7 billion a year, that’s £35 billion over 5 years! Why have succes

sive Labour and Conservative governments not adopted this source of funding for our most vital public service?

Lee Derrick: Our NHS is too centralised and is too distant. Decisions on the future of our local services need to be taken from within Yorkshire. I will be appealing directly to either of the London parties who happen to form the next government to give us our fair share of NHS funding to allow us to restore services that have been cut from local hospitals as well as remove the threat of hospital closures in both Scarborough and Whitby.

MENTAL HEALTH

Scarborough has the 8th highest suicide rate in the country. What will you do to improve local mental health services?

Robert Goodwill: Alongside the record funding we are giving mental health services, we are making sure that, by next year, every patient who arrives at A&E in England with a mental health emergency will have instant access to psychiatric help. Scarborough Police Station now has its own “place of safety” for offenders detained under section 136 of the Mental Health Act obviating the need to transport them to York.

The UK’s first Minister for suicide prevention leads a task force aimed at reducing suicide rates. Since September, all schools and colleges are being offered mental health training as part of our commitment to giving mental health the same priority as physical health.

Hugo Fearnley: It is clear that we have a local and national mental health crisis. One in four of us will experience mental ill health as adults and in my earlier years I was one of them. We must destigmatise this issue by talking openly about it, especially men. More importantly we must seriously invest in mental health provision, especially for young people as 75% of mental health problems are established by age 24.

Labour will invest £845m in child mental health services, including placing qualified counsellors in every school.

Graham Lockwood: Prevention is always better than a cure, the warning signs of depression and loneliness are best dealt with early, and we are all susceptible. Well men and women clinics, social events and screening all make a difference to prevention, I would like to see the 1% tax policy adopted immediately, it makes perfect sense to me.

Lee Derrick: Mental health needs to be properly funded and really should be part of an integrated health and social care system, led by the public sector and supported, as appropriate, by properly qualified alternative providers. Health and Wellbeing is a field that I work closely with and I will continue to promote the understanding of the causes of mental health challenges and ways to reduce them.

SOCIAL CARE

Social Care campaigners are asking for better funding, incentives to encourage providers to invest and measures to recognise the work care workers and unpaid carers do. What will you do to support this call?

Robert Goodwill: The Prime Minister’s commitment to fix the crisis in social care once and for all is not in doubt. Boris has put an additional £1.5bn into social care and has made clear that noone should have to sell their home to pay for the cost.

The Care Act 2014 introduced important new rights for carers giving them a legal right to be given support when eligible and £130 million has been made available each year for Carers’ Breaks.

Hugo Fearnley: Labour will introduce free personal care which will ensure people with dementia receive the same care as those with other

conditions, reduce the burden on unpaid carers and benefit the NHS by reducing delayed transfers and so called ‘bed blocking’. We must value the incredible job done by care workers and therefore Labour will ban zero-hours contracts, ensure carers are paid a decent wage, including travel time between visits and improve access to training.

Graham Lockwood: The planet earth is a giant spaceship travelling through time, upon which, we are all passengers, and if we are lucky we will, as a result of time grow old. Longevity is now a reality for most of us, my mum is now 90 years old and going strong. In my lifetime I have seen several family members and friends live beyond 90. This has to be a good thing, and testament to the improved lifestyle that we now enjoy, but this has to be paid for, and the 1% tax is the first step. Recognition of the staff that care for our disabled and elderly is vital, in my opinion they are not regarded highly enough. Pay rates, must therefore, reflect the level of commitment they put in.

Lee Derrick: As with mental health and the NHS, social care has been chronically underfunded. To alleviate the current situation and to return dignity to those in care and those working in social care, there needs to be vital funding for this sector. Unpaid care workers also need to benefit from extra funding both financially and through assistance with their caring.

Observing how other countries approach social care, there are also opportunities here to integrate social care into the community and allow our elderly residents to remain a vital part of our lives.

EDUCATION

Children in coastal schools achieve on average two and a half grades lower at GCSE than their inland peers, according to research by the Department for Education.

What will you do to narrowthisgapandsupportour schools in the Opportunity Area?

Robert Goodwill: We are increasing school funding by £14 billion with those areas historically underfunded like ours receiving the greatest increase through the fairer funding formula. Each secondary school pupil will receive a minimum of £5,000 next year, and each primary school pupil will receive £4,000 by 2021-22, meaning that every child has the resources they need for a good education.

Not all the schools in our area are delivering for our children. That is why Scarborough and Whitby was chosen as one of the 12 Opportunity Areas to be allocated £6 million each to raise standards and aspirations.

Hugo Fearnley: So many of the problems we face are down to lack of investment. One only has to look at the work done by the School Cuts organisation who have provided facts not even challenged by the Government, to see that schools in our constituency have been at the savage end of Tory cuts. Labour has a bold and exciting plan to introduce a National Education Service that would provide lifelong learning for all. We will support early years by reinstating Sure Start centres and providing free school meals for all primary school children. We will also invest in vocational training so that it is no longer seen as the poor relation to academic courses.

Graham Lockwood: The Liberal Democrat Party have pledged to train and employ 20,000 more teachers to help reduce class sizes, and introduce individual skills wallets of £10,000 to every adult to spend on their education throughout their lifetime. One of the best ways out of poverty is education, not just in this country but in the world.

Education in Scarborough and Whitby is at the top of our party priorities, with 35 hours of free childcare available to all between the age of 9 months and 4 years. Nationally we will make available £500 million for youth spending to local authorities.

Lee Derrick: The gap in education funding between Greater London and Yorkshire needs to be narrowed completely. In 2017/28 the ten highest funded schools in the country were in Greater London receiving between £6,000 and £7,000 per pupil per year. The Yorkshire equivalent was just over £4,000. School attainment is also in part linked to the notion that there are decent work opportunities for a pupil after they leave school. They need to have aspirational targets and that starts with communities like ours getting our fair share of funding education and infrastructure.

TRUST

Why should voters trust you as opposed to the other candidates? What is your background?

Robert Goodwill: I live on a farm near Malton where my family have been for over 160 years. Married to the daughter of a policeman, Maureen, we have three grown-up children who all attended the local comprehensive. I have served in Government in several departments and most recently I was the Minister of State for Agriculture, Fisheries and Food. In my spare time I enjoy walking, cycling and steaming up my traction engine!

It is no wonder that levels of trust in our politicians have plummeted. Empty promises were made by the other parties at the last election to deliver on the result of the referendum. In this election it is only the Conservative Party that can be trusted to get Brexit done.

It is only by keeping our economy strong that we can deliver our programme for the NHS, education and the 20,000 extra police we want to put on our streets. Labour are promising the earth but their reckless spending plans just don’t add up.

Hugo Fearnley: Voters will have to pass their own judgement on the trustworthiness of the other candidates. For my part I have spent the best part of my life studying, working and socialising in Scarborough and Whitby. Over that time I have always sought to conduct myself with honesty and integrity, in both my working and personal life. I would never be so arrogant as to suggest I have not made mistakes in the past, I dare say we have all done things we have regretted somewhere along the line. However, I was brought up to admit your mistakes, to tell the truth and to treat people with respect. It would be a huge privilege to serve the people of this constituency and I would do everything within my power to improve the lives of the people here.

Graham Lockwood: There are many sheep in North Yorkshire, and not all of them have four legs. It’s easy to be a sheep, going with the flow and just doing what all the other sheep are doing. The problem starts when the sheep do what Vladimir Putin wants them to do, which is fall out with their European neighbours. The last thing the Kremlin in Moscow wants is a happy, contented, united Europe. No, the Farage Conservative and Labour Parties Kremlin sheep must be encouraged to wander off on their own. The Labour and Farage Conservative Parties Kremlin sheep can then fall out between themselves, with the added bonus of not only splitting away from Europe but also splitting up the UK. These two not very distinct Kremlin sheep breeds can therefore be called collectively as the Kreeps.

Dominic Grieve, Heidi Allen, Chuka Umunna, David Gauke, Sarah Wollaston and many others are not sheep. It takes a great deal of courage to stand up for what you believe in and think for yourself.

Lee Derrick: I live in Whitby and serve on the Town Council. Three years ago my son was born in Scarborough Hospital.

I have worked in the tourism industry for 25 years and during that time thousands of folk have relied on me without problem to organise and execute their holidays and once in a lifetime travel experiences. Over the last 10 years I have also been teaching yoga/movement/mindfulness and health span awareness to folk in Edinburgh and more recently in Whitby. It is extremely important to me that the borough and Yorkshire as a whole begins to receive its fair share of Government funding. If we can achieve parity to the London area then I know that Yorkshire can not only thrive but also become amongst the world’s best at anything we want.