In 20 days, polling centres will open their doors welcoming the country to cast its votes in what is looking to be the closest election in a generation.
The five candidates vying to be Romford’s next MP lined up to answer questions from the constituency’s residents during Recorder Question Time at Havering College on Tuesday.
Andrew Rosindell (Con), Ian Sanderson (LibDem), Sam Gould (Lab), Lorna Tooley (Green) and Gerard Batten (Ukip) were challenged on immigration, housing, child abuse and policing by those whose votes they hope to attract.
The evening started with a lively debate on immigration.
Mr Gould kicked things off, telling those gathered it was “a very important issue” and it was not “racist or xenophobic” to be worried about it.
Mr Batten said Ukip want a controlled and managed system while Mr Rosindell said “we cannot control immigration when we are part of a political union with Europe”.
Both Ms Tooley and Mr Sanderson commented on the benefits immigrants bring to Britain, including those to universities and the NHS, which garnered cheers from some in the audience.
As the discussion drew to a close, all except Mr Sanderson said that, at the least, they would welcome a referendum on Britain’s membership of the European Union.
The next question from the floor concerned protecting children from abuse and gaining justice for those affected by historic cases.
Ms Tooley said there needed to be a better relationship between health care providers and the police to ensure abusers are locked away.
The other candidates made it clear they believed anyone guilty of abusing a child should be “persecuted”.
Next up was a question submitted to the Recorder regarding the funding of the Metropolitan Police.
Mr Rosindell said: “We never get the cover we are entitled to or the cover we have been paying for. We subsidise the crime in inner London.”
The final question of the night concerned housing.
All except Mr Rosindell were against the announcement made by Prime Minister David Cameron on Tuesday morning that the party would reintroduce Right to Buy in regard to housing association properties.
Mr Sanderson said it would deplete the social housing stock and seemed to him like a “back of a cigarette packet” policy.
Meanwhile Mr Gould said it was important renters’ rights were improved and Ms Tooley said more homes needed to be built.
The candidates were all given the opportunity to make a one-minute speech at the end of the evening.
Mr Rosindell told the audience the country would either have a Conservative government with a majority that could restore prosperity, or a Labour-SNP coalition, which he said would be a “disaster for Britain”.
Ms Tooley said the Greens would fight the privatisation of the NHS, bring railways back into public ownership, introduce a £10 minimum wage, create 1,000,000 jobs and revoke the bedroom tax.
Lib Deb candidate Mr Sanderson read an extract of his party’s constitution telling those gathered: “The Liberal Democrats exist to build and safeguard a fair, free and open society, in which we seek to balance the fundamental values of liberty, equality and community.”
Mr Batten told the audience they were ruled not by Westminster but Brussels, something only his party could change.
Mr Gould, the final speaker of the evening, was also keen to differentiate himself from traditional politics as he pledged funding for Queen’s Hospital provided by tackling tax evasion and revoking non-dom status.
If you have a question for the candidates from Romford, Hornchurch and Upminster or Rainham and Dagenham you can ask it at the Recorder’s social media evening on Monday, April 27
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