GE2019: Q&A with candidates for the Stockton South constituency

John Prescott (Brexit Party)

What are three key local issues facing your constituency, and how would you address them?

Help the high street. Stockton High Street has been decimated by businesses closing down. Marks and Spencer has gone and we are about to lose Debenhams after Christmas. We need to help the High Street by abolishing business rates offsetting any costs with a small online sales tax.

We need investment in the regions road and rail infrastructure. The old rolling stock of Pacer trains which were supposed to be replaced by 2020 regularly cause misery for commuters in the North-East as the train operator often doesn’t have enough functioning trains. Contrast this to the South-East where they have new train fleets. The Brexit Party would invest billions in local transport across the regions outside the M25. We would redirect funds by halving the foreign aid budget, by not paying into the EU and scrapping the vanity HS2 project which will have no benefit to the North-East.

Homelessness, drugs misuse and anti social behaviour. Walk in our town centres and you will see many homeless people, some high on substances that leave them unconscious or zombie like and can be aggressive to our community officers when they try to move them on. We must deal with this head-on by tackling poverty and investing more in social care. Many areas of my constituency suffer from anti-social behaviour. There needs to be more policing on the streets, back on foot where they can engage with the community and prevent crime.

Leave, remain or second referendum – what is your stance on Brexit, and why?

My position is clear – I want to leave with a simple free trade deal without the political ties to the EU. The Boris Withdrawal Agreement has political alignment with the EU and the potential liability with the EIB if the Eurozone goes into meltdown could reportedly cost us hundreds of billions in a bailout. I do not want a European Army where our troops could be sent to fight battles not decided by our own sovereign state. I do not want a level playing field that says our taxation and trade can’t be more competitive than the EU's and overturned by the ECJ. That’s not Brexit, we must be free to trade worldwide without restrictions. I do not want a second referendum we’ve already had one and the result has not been implemented yet.

Should people be prepared to pay additional tax to fund improvements in public services, like the NHS?

Not necessarily. Sometimes savings can be made in the management of these services. It’s long overdue but we need a cross party national debate on the NHS on how it is funded and managed to make it sustainable for the long term. The Labour and Conservative spending plans have to be raised via taxation or huge borrowing. Labour's spending plans will bankrupt the country and the Conservatives seem to have found a magic money tree after telling us for years there wasn’t one.

High streets are struggling – what would you do to rescue them?

We have to abolish the business rates system offsetting the cost with a small online sales tax to level the playing field. This will boost the high street again.

What does the Northern Powerhouse need to make it work?

The Northern Powerhouse needs political will and collective responsibility by all elected representatives in the north no matter what party they are from. Together we can make our region great. Separately we are just another region. The Brexit Party is now the natural choice for the north and we are going to move forwards demanding a better level of funding. We would also invite all other elected representatives from all parties to form a collective responsibility to do what is best for the North.

Matthew Vickers (Conservative)

What are the local issues facing your constituency, and how would you address them?

A major issue I have heard on the doorsteps, is crime. I want to ensure that Stockton gets its fair share of the 20,000 new police officers being recruited and ensure they have the powers they need to keep our streets safe.

The hospital I was born in – North Tees – deserves a champion to ensure it gets the investment and resources it needs.. I’m determined to ensure we have a hospital to be proud of.

I want our high streets thrive, that's why I will fight for funding from the government's high street pot to come to places like Stockton, Thornaby and Yarm.

Leave, remain or second referendum – what is your stance on Brexit, and why?

I voted Leave, the majority of the people in Stockton South voted Leave, and Britain voted Leave.

It's time to respect the result, respect democracy and deliver Brexit. The Prime Minister's great new deal ensures Brexit, and ends the dilly dally, dither and delay we have seen over the past three and a half years.

Should I be lucky enough to be elected, I will be proud to play my part in delivering Brexit and letting this country move forward on to important issues policing, health and schools.

Should people be prepared to pay additional tax to fund improvements in public services, like the NHS?

I am a proud to be a member of a party that believes in low taxes. I want to see all earners, especially the lowest earners pay less tax, and feel the benefits of their hard work.

It is only through sound management of the economy, promoting enterprise and supporting business, that we able to invest in our fantastic public services.

High streets are struggling – what would you do to rescue them?

As someone who has worked on the High Street, I understand its importance to jobs and the community. Long before out of town shopping centres, the high street was the place you could get everything you needed. There's so much potential in the high street today, and we need to listen to locals about what they want.

One main thing stopping businesses from growing are business rates. Rates are too high and are stifling the entrepreneurial spirit shown by our traders. We will reduce business rates for half a million small businesses, including shops and pubs.

What does the Northern Powerhouse need to make it work?

The north goes well beyond Manchester and Leeds. We here in the true north need to see better transport networks and more investment.

Ben Houchen has done a fantastic job as the Conservative Mayor for the Tees Valley. Since his election, we have seen a fantastic amount of investment into our area, and seen our airport given a new lease of life.

But if you want the Northern Powerhouse to continue to succeed, you need Conservatives in our northern seats.

Dr Paul Williams (Labour)

What are three key local issues facing your constituency, and how would you address them?

Under the Tories, crime in Stockton South has gone up by 83 per cent, but they’ve cut 500 police officers. I’ll get those 500 bobbies back, rebuild youth services and fight for the rights of people in our area to feel safe.

Our NHS is in crisis with 4.4 million people on waiting lists and we are short of 40,000 nurses. As a GP I know first-hand what it will take to save it. As an MP I’ve got a track record of reducing autism diagnosis waiting times and making it easier for people to get a GP appointment. Labour has a rescue plan for the NHS.

Stockton’s schools are facing a £6m shortfall next year. Our children deserve the very best. I will fight to end these cuts, rebuild our schools and cut class sizes.

Leave, remain or second referendum – what is your stance on Brexit, and why?

This Conservative Brexit deal is bad for Teesside and bad for the NHS. Businesses tell me it will cost thousands of jobs, and I don’t trust the Tories as they want to cut us loose from Europe so they can do a deal on the NHS with Donald Trump.

I think people have the right to look in detail at this deal and decide for themselves if they want to leave the EU on these terms. That means a referendum on the final deal, where the options are to leave straight away with a deal, or to stay in the EU. Given what we now know about the harms of Brexit, I would want us to stay rather than leave and lose jobs.

Should people be prepared to pay additional tax to fund improvements in public services, like the NHS?

Our NHS is in crisis under the Tories with 4.4 million on waiting lists and record waits at A&E. I’m honestly really worried about what five more year of the Tories will do to our NHS. I’ve worked in it for over 20 years. I’ve seen first hand the damage that this government’s done to it.

It was the Labour Party that created the NHS, and we’ve got a plan to rescue it with an extra £40bn in funding, paid for by asking the very richest in our country to pay a bit more in tax. If you earn below £80,000 your taxes will not rise.

High streets are struggling – what would you do to rescue them?

I’ve been the MP for Thornaby and Yarm town centres. In Thornaby I’ve worked with businesses to bring in extra security, and I’m making huge progress in sorting the Golden Eagle hotel, which is an eyesore.

In Yarm I started Yarm Business Forum which has brought in a small business advisor from Stockton Borough Council, has organised fantastic events and is promoting the town.

We also need a level playing field between online and high street retailers, which means changes to business tax.

What does the Northern Powerhouse need to make it work?

The Tories have been holding Teesside and the rest of the North-East back for the last nine years and they can’t be trusted to protect jobs in the North and give us the powers we need.

Westminster needs to finally start listening to Teessiders and that means shifting the powers and resources up to the North-East. We need to more good North-East jobs, moving decision making out of London; we need a Crossrail for the North to link up our great northern towns and cities; and we need to ensure that there are jobs and opportunities for our young people so that they don’t have to move away from Teesside to make the most of their talents.

No response has yet been received from Brendon Michael Devlin, Liberal Democrat candidate