Candidates vying to be the next MP for Edinburgh North and Leith have clashed over Gaza, net zero and their stance on the two-child benefit cap.
An election hustings hosted by the Brougton Spurtle community newspaper on Monday, June 24 saw a lively audience field questions to hopefuls standing in the constituency, which has been held by the SNP since 2015 but which polls indicate could be re-gained by Labour next week.
The most heated point of the evening came when a member of the audience in the packed-out Brougton St Marys Parish Church asked what each party would do about the “ongoing genocide in Gaza”.
Labour’s candidate Tracy Gilbert – who introduced herself as a lifelong resident of the area who would would work “tirelessly” if elected – said as a trade unionist she had campaigned for a two state solution for decades.
She said: “We have called for an immediate ceasefire…clearly the atrocities we see unfold on our screens are just awful. What we must do is provide a lasting peace for both the Israeli people and the Palestinian people and I hope that happens.”
Deidre Brock, the contituency’s MP for nearly a decade, said the only reason Labour had called for a ceasefire in Gaza was “simply because the SNP forced them to that position”
She said: “I am really disappointed to think that if the whole of the parliament had united behind that first motion the strong message the UK parliament could have sent to Israel was lost.”
Reform UK’s candidate Alan Melville – who admitted he hadn’t read his own party’s manifesto despite it being released over a week ago – was met with heckles as he was handed the microphone and asked “what genocide?”.
Responding to a heckler, he said: “I do not care, sir,” adding: “Israel is attempting to wipe out an organisation that will never, ever compromise” which received some applause from the audience.
Jo Mowat from the Scottish Conservatives, who is an Edinburgh City Centre councillor, said: “A ceasefire requires both sides to lay down their weapons and agree not to kill the other side. So until Hamas can make that commitment, we can’t expect there to be a ceasefire.”
An audience member interjected asking if she thought Israel should make the same commitment, to which she replied: “Yes, both sides should make that commitment so we can deliver a two-state lasting peace.”
While Liberal Democrat candidate Mike Andersen said: “We want those who have committed atrocities to be investigated and held responsible for their actions.
“Furthermore we want the UK to stand on the right side of history on this and that’s why we also support an immediate ban on the sale of weapons to countries that do not uphold human rights.”
Another hot topic during the two-hour hustings was net zero and how the country should make the transition to cleaner energy.
“How will your party prioritise and fund practical measures to address this?” candidates were asked.
Touting one of her party’s flagship manifesto promises, Ms Gilbert highlighted Labour’s commitment to delivering GB Energy “which will be a publicly-owned energy company that will invest £8.3 billion of public investment in that to partner with the private sector to deliver better green jobs”.
She added under a new Labour government there would be no new oil and gas licenses, the use of onshore wind doubled and solar power tripled.
Ms Brock said nuclear power was not a viable option currently. “There are about 80 examples of nuclear modular reactors in production at the moment but nothing actually working at this time. It will be 10 years before that comes on stream,” she said.
“In the meantime, we could be investing in wind, solar, in tidal and also retrofitting insulation into our leaky houses. Actually reducing our reliance on energy is a really important way forward as well.”
Earlier in the debate Mr Melville said he was “unique” among all candidates “because we don’t agree with things like net zero”. Responding to the question, he called it “nonsense”.
He added: “I do not believe there is an issue with carbon dioxide levels, I think they are overstated as a factor of the changing climate.
“Are we accelerating it? yes. Should we deal with environmental degradation? yes. But I am not certain I want to go down the net zero path which will lead to the job losses of all the tens of thousands of people in the North Sea, all the people working in power stations and all the industries we have simply offshored.”
Mr Andersen – a self-described “accidental politician” who moved to Scotland from South Africa a few years ago – said: “A lot of people are doing their best and are trying what they can and we need to be there to support that move.
“We need to move towards net zero which we have set a target of 2045, we also want to move towards zero emission by 2030 and put a lot more charging points around to make electric cars more affordable to people.
“We want to help people in their homes with heat pumps and solar so we want to be there to help people to make the decisions and choices they can to help to the environment.”
Ms Mowat said the Tories “have committed to net zero” and “how we get there without ruining the economy”.
She added: “There’s no point in having no economy and net zero.”
They were then questioned if they had led by example by changing their own gas boilers to a more energy efficient system such as a heat pump, however while some said they were exploring options none had yet taken that step.
Hopefuls were then asked if their party would scrap the controversial policy introduced by the UK Government in 2017 that limits the amount of benefits families can receive if they have more than two children. The Institute for Fiscal Studies says this has helped drive up the number of children in large families who are in poverty from 35 per cent in 2014 to 46 per cent in 2022.
Ms Gilbert said: “We oppose it, we are right to oppose it and will continue to oppose it.”
However she added: “It’s not written into the manifesto… that alone will not be enough to lift hundreds of thousands of children out of poverty.
“We have a commitment in this manifesto to look at Universal Credit and as part of that that will also lift children out of poverty along with the new deal for working people which will lift 200,000 families out of poverty.”
Taking aim at Labour’s position Ms Brock said the party retaining the two-child benefits cap, but removing the cap from bankers’ bonuses “sends quite a strong message to people about where Labour’s priorities are”.
She said: “I think the Scottish Child Payment the Scottish Government has been brought in – and which has been lauded by organisations like Joseph Rowntree – is making a huge difference to child poverty statistics.
“The two child benefit cap is likely to see many hundred thousand more children slide into poverty as a result of it, it has to be stopped.”
Mr Andersen said: “A lot of people are one pay check away from poverty, we need to be there with a safety net for that, so the simple answer to the question is we would scrap the two child limit, we’d scrap the benefit cap and we would remove the bedroom tax.”
Keeping things concise, Ms Mowat said: “No we don’t plan any changes to these policies” which was met with some cries of “shame” from the audience.
And Mr Melville said Reform “have not made any commitment either way”.
He added: “Is it wrong? It’s probably wrong but at the same time can the country afford to make the change? That has to be looked at because that’s what grown up politicians have to do.”
All candidates standing in Edinburgh North and Leith are:
- Scottish Liberal Democrats – ANDERSEN, Mike
- Scottish National Party (SNP) – BROCK, Deidre
- Scottish Family Party – Defending Traditional Values – DEEPNARAIN, Niel
- Scottish Labour Party – GILBERT, Tracy
- Socialist Labour Party – JACOBSEN, David Don
- Reform UK – MELVILLE, Alan Gordon
- Scottish Conservative and Unionist – MOWAT, Joanna
- Scottish Greens – O’NEILL, Kayleigh Ferguson
- Communist Party of Britain – SHILLCOCK, Richard Charles
- Independent – WATERLOO, Caroline
By Donald Turvill Local Democracy Reporter
The Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS) is a public service news agency. It is funded by the BBC, provided by the local news sector (in Edinburgh that is Reach plc (the publisher behind Edinburgh Live and The Daily Record) and used by many qualifying partners. Local Democracy Reporters cover news about top-tier local authorities and other public service organisations.
