News / Politics
From Gaza to culture funding – Bristol Central candidates take part in Bristol24/7 hustings
Thangam Debbonaire was met with loud applause when she accused the Greens of circulating “categorically untrue” election material in Bristol Central.
The leaflet in question read that Labour has a plan to privatise the NHS which the Labour incumbent blasted as “simply a lie”.
Responding, Green candidate Carla Denyer said it referred to shadow home secretary Wes Streeting saying he would “hold the door wide open” to private sector entrepreneurs who can improve the NHS if the Labour Party enter government.
is needed now More than ever
“I think most people would consider that a step towards privatising,” the Green Party co-leader said.
That was just one clash between Bristol Central MP hopefuls at a lively, sold-out hustings hosted by Bristol24/7 at Bristol Beacon on Monday evening – three days before voters head to the polls on Thursday.
Chaired by Bristol24/7 Editor Martin Booth, all of the candidates standing in the new and hotly contested constituency were invited – as per Electoral Commission guidelines.
They were:
- Robert Clarke (Reform UK)
- Nicholas Coombes (Lib Dem)
- Thangam Debbonaire (Labour)
- Carla Denyer (Green)
- Kellie-Jay Keen (Party of Women)
- Samuel Williams (Conservative).
The Bristol Central seat is a straight two-horse race between the incumbent Labour MP Thangam Debbonaire and Green Party co-leader Carla Denyer
Here’s a roundup of some of the highlights:
Racial inequality
Julz Davis, the “disruptor in chief” at “think and do tank” Curiosity UnLtd, asked candidates what they would do to increase racial equality and reduce systematic inequality in Bristol.
Denyer said she would push to stop the routine use of stop and search, which is “clearly racist” in its current application, and work to reduce knife crime by providing young people with properly funded youth services, mental health support in schools and good quality accommodation.
Debbonaire spoke about a recent visit to parliament with Bristol Bus Boycott elders and Labour’s plans to bring in the Race Equality Act.
She said: “I will work with all our communities as I have done ever since I’ve become MP to celebrate when we get closer to equality, but also never to be afraid to hold anyone and everyone to account for continued racial injustice and inequality.”
Williams said he was “horrified” that Denyer spoke of knife crime and stop and search which are “not the only issues that people of minority groups care about”.
The politician and communications specialist said: “We need bold action to be brave, to see and recognise where there is discrimination in our society, and stand up and celebrate it. Let us celebrate Bristol Central’s diversity. It is one of our strongest assets and I stand up and celebrate that enormously.”
Clarke, who is a qualified nutritionist and naturopath, said: “There is only one race: the human race, so let’s not create too much division,” before winking to the audience.
Keen said: “There is nothing more racist in pretending that women who have certain sensibilities should not have access to single-sex spaces.” She also referenced the protesters who gathered outside the concert hall who “try and stop me speaking wherever I go”.
Coombes highlighted the intersectionality of equality and how his party wants to implement “a race equality strategy that looks at the issues like education, health, crime and the economy”.
Robert Clarke, Kellie-Jay Keen and Nicholas Coombes were three of the six candidates speaking at the hustings
Culture
Estella Tincknell, an associate professor in film and culture at UWE Bristol and a former Labour cabinet member, mentioned Bristol’s vibrant media and cultural economy, asking what candidates will do to ensure it thrives.
Debbonaire, who is shadow secretary for culture, media & sport, said culture is “in her DNA” and that rebuilding the creative industries that have been “so damaged by 40 years of Tory chaos” would be her priority in a Labour-led government.
She cited the TV and film industry as a way to boost the economy and benefit young people.
Coombes said creative industries have struggled due to Brexit as touring musicians can’t get to the European Union for gigs. He said he would push to restore cross-border cooperation.
Keen argued arts have become “really dangerous” for women, for example because of television’s “anti-women sentiments” which have led to the presence of a “quasi-religious cult”.
Clarke said it is often a “bourgeois politically correct crew” that receives arts funding. “A lot of the best culture comes from the ground up, from the gutter, with no subsidy whatsoever.”
As a “small but rapidly growing party”, Denyer said she would focus on supporting smaller venues, including museums and libraries, to create “the next generation of big names. She said she would exempt cultural events from paying VAT, lower VAT for hospitality and give free travel for British musicians travelling in the EU.
Criticising the deliverability of Denyer’s proposals, Williams said a Ted X Bristol event at what was then the Colston Hall showcased Bristol’s “creativity and dynamism”.
He said the Tories would invest £36bn into rail and bus which would “service creative industries”.
A Labour government could see former professional cellist Thangam Debbonaire becoming culture secretary
Social media
Another question raised the role of social media and technology in politics in “stoking anger and pushing polarisation”.
Denyer said: “As a woman in politics, I’m all too aware of the impacts of division on social media and in the real world.” She said social media companies need to be held accountable and support stronger regulation online.
Clarke believes Labour will “accelerate the globalist campaign” and “try to lock people down,” ending his answer by saying: “Freedom of speech is the absolute cornerstone of democracy and it’s getting a kicking right now.”
Keen said she started her activism in 2018 and has been arrested for “giving her opinions in the street” and been banned from X, formerly Twitter, and Mumsnet and from signing some online petitions for saying “women don’t have penises and men don’t have vaginas”.
Williams said: “There clearly does need to be sensible regulation that doesn’t limit business, but does safeguard our state of free speech as well as the most vulnerable.”
Coombes said he supports political reform to make people feel more included in politics and would raise taxes for social media companies to fund mental health workers in schools.
Questions were taken from the audience in Bristol Beacon’s Lantern Hall
Gaza
Candidates were asked to justify the selling of arms which are used against the Palestinians.
Debbonaire, who was met with heckles as she spoke, said that Labour will be looking into the legality of arms sales under the Tory government, condemning the violence since October 7 as “truly horrible”.
“I care more about Palestinian life than I do about being criticised for not voting for one motion, but voting for another,” she said.
“We voted for a ceasefire. I voted for it, and for I’ll vote for it again.”
Denyer said: “It is never okay to sell weapons to any country that is illegally occupying another.
“Suspending arms sales to Israel is something something that the Green Party has been consistently calling for for over two decades.”
Electoral Commission guidelines say that as this was a public hustings, it needed to be open to all registered candidates in the constituency for the forthcoming general election. The Electoral Commission provide clear guidance on this, and it is advised that a non-selective hustings – like this one – must include an invitation to all candidates. Neither Bristol24/7 nor Bristol Beacon wish to platform or promote any one particular view.
All photos: Rob Browne
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