From sex work to cycling – mayoral candidates take part in Bristol24/7 hustings

Bristol’s current mayor said there needs to be a distinction between protest and “smashing up the city” during a discussion on the rights to demonstrate.

In the wake of a year that has seen thousands turn out to make their voices heard on key issues from racial inequality to climate change, it was perhaps unsurprisingly one of the most hotly contested topics during a hustings hosted on Thursday evening by Bristol24/7 and Watershed.

Demonstrations against the government’s proposed Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill continue, but it was the events of March 21 that saw the city made headlines around the world.

This and the ongoing repercussions divided opinions of those vying for the mayoral position.

“How can we ensure that our city remains a place where people can protest in the right way?” asked Bristol24/7 Editor Martin Booth, adding: “Our current mayor has called some protests ‘privileged activism’ – what do you think of this?”

Marvin Rees said protest is at the heart of the democratic process, something his administration has recognised and facilitated.

The Labour incumbent, who is standing for re-election, said: “We need to make a distinction between protest and smashing the city up. Anyone who wants to be mayor who can’t make that distinction I think is going to face some challenges.”

On the question of privilege, he said it’s something that Michelle Obama writes about in her book.

“She talks about people whose activism is underwritten by invisible privilege – it’s wealth,” said Rees. “There’s a class and race dynamic that does make a life of protest more available because the consequences of coming into contact with criminal justice are lighter and they can forego income.

“That’s just good sociological understanding. If you don’t have that then I’m afraid there will be a lack of understanding of hierarchy in our wider society.”

Marvin Rees called an Extinction Rebellion stunt last summer “privileged activism” – photo by Simon Holliday

Tom Baldwin, the Trade Unionist & Social Coalition (TUSC) candidate, said that he was disappointed by comments made by Rees in the wake of the ‘kill the bill’ violence.

“We don’t want to see violence on protests, but we have to recognise when there is a violent situation, there is an oppressor and an oppressed,” said Baldwin.

He argued that by condemning the protesters involved, the Labour mayor only served to give the Tories the moral high ground.

The Green and Lib Dem candidates walked a careful line on the subject.

Green contender Sandy Hore-Ruthven said: “We should have an absolute right to protest but there isn’t a right to violence and those who perpetrate violence should feel the full force of the law.” He is backing calls for an inquiry into the policing of the protest on March 21 and subsequent demonstrations.

Lib Dem Caroline Gooch said: “We support peaceful protest but condemn violent protest.” She added that the proposed bill is too vague and open to interpretation and should be rejected, saying: “You can get ten years for damaging a statue but only five years for damaging a real person.”

Tory candidate Alastair Watson was clear on his position, saying there is an absolute right to protest but with the earlier demonstrations falling during lockdown – at a time when many were shielding – argued they should never have taken place.

“Let’s not try and dress this up,” said Watson. “That was a well organised, anarchist protest. They came along with placards and equipment, and they knew they were going to riot.

He added: “There should never ever be violence like that and there wouldn’t have been if protesters hadn’t started it.”

Reform candidate Robert Clarke, who has protested against the lockdowns, argued protest is essential, saying it’s “de-facto fascism to outlaw protest”.

He added: “We will not tolerate anyone trying to stop us from voicing our concerns and there are a lot of concerns to be voiced right not.”

Pub landlord and independent candidate Sean Donnelly agreed the right to protest that should never be taken away but argued the people in charge of the city should be neutral in this.

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Read more: Bristol burns after peaceful protest turns into riot

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The two-hour-long hustings also saw seven of the nine mayoral candidates debate the contentious subject of the arena, sexual entertainment venues (SEVs), second jobs while in office, transport, the clean air zone and housing.

Here’s a roundup of some of the highlights:

Bristol Arena

Six candidates said they’d have wanted to see the arena built in the city centre location – image: Bristol City Council

Of those present at the hustings, six candidates said they would have wanted to see the arena built in the city centre location once earmarked for the project by Temple Meads, with Rees arguing this would have been a “financial catastrophe”.

Watson argued it’s a “travesty” that the arena will be in Filton, while Hore-Ruthven said it should be a “strategic asset” that could have provided jobs for people in south Bristol on the city centre site.

Sex venues

Amelie, a stripper and member of Bristol Sex Workers Collective, asked how candidates would work with SEV workers towards creating a policy that honours the rights of workers and the public.

Gooch said: “I would want to continue dialogue and make sure ladies working in the clubs are valued and feel safe and that they are looked after. I don’t support nil cap unless that was something workers were saying that was something they wanted.”

Rees said: “We have two clashing rights; the right for women to choose how they make a living but the concern is there is a consequence for women and how they are viewed by wider society.”

Donnelly would encourage more SEVs not less, saying: “I love lap dancing and strip clubs from a personal point of view. As long as there’s a choice – we’ve got a choice whether we go to them and the girls can choose whether to work there.”

Baldwin disagreed, saying: “It’s part of a commodification and exploitation of women’s bodies and it does have an impact on wider society. Even if the clubs themselves are safe, they do have an effect.”

Hore-Ruthven said: “It’s a complex issue. I would look to work with you as to how we make sure women are safe and how women are supported. The important thing is to listen and put in place the things you need.”

Watson said: “It’s a big moral debate but my own opinion would be to keep them open as long as they were well regulated.”

Clarke argued that Bristol is a bohemian place and “not the kind of town where we should say we should have no strip clubs”.

A group of strippers took part in a recent demonstration on College Green about Bristol City Council’s proposals to ban strip clubs – photo by Martin Booth

Investment in community venues

Emma Harvey, CEO of Trinity Centre, mentioned the millions spent on big venues and “vanity projects”, asking: “Will you commit to invest in community spaces and how will you make that capital investment fair?

Hore-Ruthven is proposing to have an “anchor organisation” such as Barton Hill Settlement or Southmead Development Trust in every community that needs it to help with access to funding and support.

He added: “It’s also a question of financial management. I’m all for Bristol Beacon but to find ourselves spending an extra £60m on it is a huge waste of money.”

Donnelly said communities are the most important part of the city and pledged to support them.

Gooch said: “We want to democratise Bristol and devolve power and money down to a community level, that way we’d be empowering communities to manage their own investments.”

Rees likened taking leadership of the city to “taking on a car and finding out it hasn’t been serviced for 20 years”. Despite financial pressures, he says his administration has done what it can in terms of supporting community asset transfers, rent concessions and identifying new sources of money.

Baldwin said: “You can’t have arena gigs if you don’t have halls at a grassroots level. We need to fight for the funding to meet the city’s needs and priorities.”

Transport

Segregated cycle are a rarity in Bristol – photo: Sustrans

Watson said he is an enthusiastic cyclist and would want to improve safety for cyclists across the city. On the clean air zone, the Tory candidate said he would take a “pragmatic approach”.

“We’re not anti-cars, were against cars that are dirty,” said Watson. “We are hoping that if we can get better public transport, people will use it more. We don’t want to ruin the beating heart of Bristol – that’s the centre and harbourside – they’re the jewel in the crown.”

Baldwin argued reduced car travel requires giving people viable alternatives, saying: “I would like to see publically owned public transport network in the city so it can be run as a service and we can ensure that it is reliable and affordable and good quality.”

Hore-Ruthven would take road building money and use it to build separated cycleways across the city – he is also proposing the roll out more residents’ parking zones, something he says the Labour administration has held back on, and a workplace levy.

Clarke said: “People have put cycle lanes all across the city and they are absolutely useless because everybody parks on them. For people to feel safe on a bike lane, it cannot just be a painted white line, it has to be separate for traffic.”

He argued working people should not be “persecuted” on the issue of clean air and said “corporates” should be taxed.

Gooch said: “We need room for cycling, we need to divert road money into cycling super routes. These need to be continuous and separated and really blindingly obvious.” She is calling for liveable neighbourhoods and repurposing a parking space in every street for bike hangars.

Rees said his administration is looking at a city centre redesign to shift from the reliance on retail to make communities with homes, businesses and retail in the centre. He added that work has already been done to improve walking and cycling, such as pedestrianisation of the Old City.

Donnelly blasted the lack of continuous cyclewaysk, and also the clean air zone and road closures, saying: “There are ways and means but to shut off the city centre I think is plain ridiculous.”

CLS bollards on Mina Road in St Werburgh’s are meant to separate bicycles from motor vehicles – photo: Leafield Environmental

Housing

Rees reeled off a number of house-building projects, including Hengrove Park, “the biggest council housing building project in decades” and the new Boklok development on Airport Road.

The Labour incumbent said: “We have opened the taps on house building for the city.”

Donnelly said: “We must be the only city where affordable housing no one in the city can afford. The homes on Airport Road, they start at £300,000 – no one in the city can afford that.”

Clarke said he would want to see more green self-build projects on a “massive scale”, saying: “There are some incredible self-build in St Werburgh’s – a lot of people want to have a corporate approach and I don’t think we should be building on any more green space.”

Gooch said: “We would use compulsory purchase power to deal with empty properties and we would like universities to take responsibility for housing their own students.” The Lib Dem candidate promises to retrofit old buildings and get rid of right to buy scheme.

Promising to build 2,000 new council homes, the Green candidate said there is space to build more densely on brownfield sites, adding “that doesn’t mean higher”.

Watson said: “We need to look at all available sites. We’ve still got quite a lot of brownfields sites – like the Soapworks in Old Market.” He argued there has been a lack of consultation with residents over some schemes on the city, adding: Western Harbour (or Cumberland Basin) – there’s potential there but we have to be careful we don’t ruin the best view in the city.”

Main photo: Zoom / YouTube

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