Hello, it went rather well last night.
Here is a report of what happened:
CAMERON HOMECOMING ROCKED BY GREEN ATTACK
David Cameron may have done well in the third and final debate between the party leaders at Birmingham University last week. However, at the hustings of his West Oxfordshire constituency in Witney’s Methodist Hall on Friday evening, the triumph was not repeated. Cameron was rocked back on his heels by the performance of the Green candidate – Stuart Macdonald.
Macdonald focused on the widening gap between rich and poor, the Dickensian gulf that is the consequence of rampant self interest. ‘For 30 years we have believed that self interest will serve the interests of everyone. Well, it does not work. The gulf between the rich and the rest of us is huge.’ His final attack on the local Conservatives (‘Witney is the only anti-Fair Trade town in the country’) drew the public admission from David Cameron that, ‘as an unpolished politician, you are very good.’
Questions posed to the five Parliamentary candidates from national political parties focused overwhelmingly on ethical issues. How should refugees be treated on arrival in this country? Is choice in education necessarily beneficial? What priority should be given to advanced cancer patients in the light of the NHS’ limited resources?
While the mainstream candidates carefully toed the party line on this last one, Macdonald encouraged the audience to think outside the box. Why were drugs so expensive? Could we not see a link to the debate over retroviral drugs to treat AIDS in Africa? Multinational pharmaceutical companies had refused to lower their prices until public opinion had forced them to change tack.
‘Big Pharma’s patents are legally protected for 26 years’ he pointed out. ‘No other industry enjoys such advantages: shorten it.’ And if the pharmaceutical companies threatened to move business elsewhere, does this not remind us of similar threats from the banks?
Cameron invoked his love of West Oxfordshire, telling his audience that when he spoke of the Big Society it was his constituency he had in mind. Macdonald, in contrast, stressed how unemployment among 16-24 year olds in the constituency stands today at 30%. School-leavers are encouraged to enter university and take out loans in the expectation of the well-paid jobs that do not exist. Our treatment of the younger generation is extremely poor
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- We have teams in Woodstock and Witney today – spreading the word.
On Thursday – Vote GREEN!
