PM: Brexit failure is ‘main driver of a lack of trust in politicians’
Party wants to stop locals being priced out of market in answer to our challenge
PRIME MINISTER Boris Johnson said the Government’s failure to deliver Brexit is the public’s “main driver of a lack of trust” in politicians as he came under intense scrutiny from voters in the BBC Question Time Leaders’ Special held in Sheffield last night.
His response was met by howls of laughter as he said the issue of trust is “central to this election”. The Prime Minister was also quizzed on a number of issues including the publication of the so-called Russian interference report; rising food bank use and school funding shortages; and promises not fully realised by the Conservatives to recruit more GPs.
Mr Johnson also refused to apologise for comments he made in articles as a journalist including comments made last year about Muslim’s “going around looking like letterboxes” and “tribal warriors with watermelon smiles”.
The Prime Minister said: “I have written many millions of words in my life as a journalist and I have genuinely never intended to cause hurt or pain to anybody and that is my intention.
Referring to claims he was deliberately holding back the report into possible Russian interference, Mr Johnson said: “This is complete Bermuda Triangle stuff.
“As is the suggestion that the referendum... was somehow false, not fair, wrong and should now be cancelled.”
Mr Johnson, Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn, Liberal Democrat leader Jo Swinson and SNP Leader Nicola Sturgeon had 30 minutes to answer questions from an audience selected to represent the UK’s political make-up.
Mr Corbyn made headlines by claiming he would “remain neutral” in the Brexit referendum under Labour.
Ms Swinson was accused of treating voters as “stupid” over her plans to revoke Article 50 and cancel Brexit.
Ms Sturgeon was asked about the possibility of another hung Parliament, saying she would not work with the Tories.
A LIBERAL Democrat government would allow rural areas to increase the council tax on second homes by up to 500 per cent, responses to The Yorkshire Post challenges on policies to help the county have revealed.
In setting out 10 burning questions yesterday, the newspaper invited party leaders to set out the ways their manifestos would benefit Yorkshire.
The Lib Dems’ policy emerged as it outlined its determination to prevent “the prevalence of second homes which price out important members of the community like nurses and teachers”.
It says it would build 300,000 homes a year across England and see that new rural developments contained “an appropriate percentage of affordable housing”.
The issue of taxing second homes has been hugely controversial. Last year, a move in the Dales was abandoned after a narrow vote by councillors.
Labour, which has in the past proposed a tax on holiday homes, said in its response that it was committed to build at least 150,000 council and social homes a year, with councils mandated to build 100,000 for social rent.
The Conservatives promise one million more houses over the next five years, with an emphasis on helping more people to own their own homes.
The other issues we raised exposed widely different approaches, with the Conservatives promising that no one would ever have to sell their home to pay for their care in old age.
It called for a cross-party consensus on the issue, a view echoed by the Lib Dems. Labour says it will introduce free personal care to help older people to live independently in their own homes. It will also cap care costs to avoid the prospect of “catastrophic costs” for care.
On the economy, Labour said it would incentivise global companies to base themselves in Yorkshire and revitalise the region’s struggling high streets by taking on the “vested interests” which it says are starving communities outside London of investment.
The Conservatives said supporting “our wealth creators” was the only way to fund public services, while the Lib Dems propose preventing developers from turning shops into houses without planning permission and replacing business rates with a levy.
On the question of transport, the Tories reiterated their commitment to the east-west Northern Powerhouse Rail line but have delayed the publication of a review on the HS2 high-speed route until after the election.
Labour is committed to renationalising the rail industry and promises “a proper Crossrail for the North”, as well as “all stages” of HS2. The Lib Dems say both HS2 and Northern Powerhouse Rail are needed, as well as significant upgrades to existing lines.
The Conservatives, who will publish their manifesto tomorrow, want to see devolution across Yorkshire, while Labour says it will make directly elected mayors “more accountable”. The Lib Dems say authorities with mayors should have no more powers than those without.
On education, Labour will cap class sizes at 30 and give free hot lunches for primary schoolchildren. The Lib Dems propose 20,000 more teachers over five years. Across the rest of the agenda, all three parties would ban fracking immediately and Labour would re-establish an Agricultural Wages Board in England and “expand access to farm holdings”.
The Conservatives promise to match the current annual budget available to farmers, while the Lib Dems, who are committed to preventing Brexit and maintaining EU subsidies, would introduce a “national food strategy”.