In order to try and help people in Makerfield find out what the fourteen candidates stand for, so that they could make a decision who to vote for based on policies rather than social media posts, we asked each candidate ten questions.
Most candidates or their parties received the questions via email, for two of the candidates an email address could not be found so we sent them the questions, printed on actual paper, by post to the address of their electoral offices.
Sadly we only received answers from Dan Clarke, Count Binface and Laud Hope, with the Liberal Democrats replying to the email but not sending any answers, and Labour replied by inviting North West Bylines to be present at two press conferences Mr Burnham gave.
We did not hear anything from the other parties or candidates.
The candidates are, in alphabetical order:
- Jake Austin, Liberal Democrats
- Count Binface, Count Binface party
- Andy Burnham, Labour and Co-operaticve Party
- Dan Clarke, Libertarian Partty
- John Dyer, Independent
- Ed Gemmell, Climate Party
- Paul Gould, Independent
- Howling Laud Hope, The Official Monster Raving Loony Party
- Rob Kenyon, Reform UK
- Rob Pownall, Independent
- Rebecca Shepherd, Restore Britain
- Sarah Wakefield, Green Party
- Peter Ward, Rejoin EU
- Michael Winstanley, Conservative and Unionist Party
Here are the questions and the answers we received:
- What are your plans for the NHS, are you planning to promote private healthcare? Will you invest time and money and get the number of doctors and nurses back up to the level where it needs to be for the size of the UK’s population?
Count Binface: The NHS is the jewel in the crown of the British state. I will safeguard its status by tying ministers’ pay to that of nurses for the next one hundred years. I will also buck austerity by pledging to invest £1tn a week in the health service, both to outflank the Green Party and to annoy the bond markets.
Dan Clarke: At the Libertarian party, we believe in a Patient focused and politics free healthcare service. We want to see a devolution of healthcare and a health care system free from being treated as a political football. We want to set up regional health boards that will be committed to localism, decisions made locally will be more reflective of local wishes.
- Human rights – would you want us to leave the ECHR that was instituted by Britain, and thus pave the way for lowering employees’ rights to maternity and paternity leave, holiday leave, sick pay, employment tribunals, protection from long working hours OR zero hour contracts? Lowering rights for LGBTQ+ people, disabled people (physiocal and SEN), equal pay for women…
Count Binface: No.
Dan Clarke: We will seek to leave the ECHR, the reason for this is to have a written Constitution to which individual rights and freedoms will be put into. The written Constitution will be the foundation and rights of the individual enshrined within it.
- Immigration – since Brexit immigration of Europeans has dropped but from other parts of the world has increased dramatically, are you happy with that or will you change the requirements for immigration and allow skilled workers in on wages that are actually being offered by British employers?
Count Binface: Speaking as the candidate from another galaxy, for me to be anti-immigration would be a bit rich.
Dan Clarke: In the short term, we would seek to solve the illegal immigration coming into the UK via the English Channel. Once this is sorted, we would have a free movement agreement between the UK, Canada, Australia and New Zealand. For the rest of the world, we would implement an Australian-style points-based system, which would have an element of flexibility to it to meet the needs of the economy.
- Trade to and from Europe is fraught with expensive bureaucracy. What are you hoping to do about that?
Count Binface: I’ll make bureaucracy less fraught, by increasing the quality of hold music on telephone lines.
Dan Clarke: We want free trade across Europe and the rest of the world. Bureaucracy slows down trade and makes trade more expensive for the consumer. We will work with the EU to reduce bureaucracy as both sides will benefit.
- Are you in favour of a law to change the voting system to proportional representation?
Count Binface: Yes.
Dan Clarke: Yes!
- Courts and policing – will you guarantee a fair system and safety for all those in the UK, regardless of age, sex, gender, skin colour and ethnic or religious background?
Count Binface: Yes. (If any candidate says no to this I’d be surprised.)
Dan Clarke: Yes. Regards to policing we at the libertarian Party want to see the enforcement of the 9 Peelian principles to policing.
- Education – will your party guarantee to maximise opportunities for all those needing or wanting education, regardless of sex or gender, physical or educational disablility or other circumstances that require state help?
Count Binface: Yep. Education education education.
Dan Clarke: A person’s Sex, Gender, skin colour or anything else should not prevent a person from getting and achieving the education they want.
- Do you want to unlock British gas and oil reserves, knowing that is not sustainable and will run out., or invest in the future, make it a greener future, and invest in more environmentally friendly and sustainable energy?
Count Binface: We sorted the energy crisis and climate emergency on our planet, so let me give you a bit of advice. I’d bet on the renewables sharpish if I were you.
Dan Clarke: North Sea Oil and gas is a strategic asset that the UK can benefit from, not just from accessing our own oil and gas reserves but also from the revenue it brings. I would seek to reverse the windfall tax on energy companies. China is one of the biggest polluters in the world yet 48% of its energy comes from renewable energy, making China the biggest producer of renewable energy. China has energy security and cheaper energy as a result.
- Privatisation of water, energy, Royal Mail, rail services.. How does our party feel about this issue?
Count Binface: Privatisation in any sector which has no market competition has been an unmitigated disaster. I would redress the balance by making water bosses take a dip in British rivers to see how they like it, and by diverting the route of HS2 (which I will rename FFS1) so it ploughs through rail executives’ homes.
Dan Clarke: The Libertarian Party is in favour of private industry, private markets. Industries owned by the state tend to be inefficient and cost us taxpayers twice as much than what it does if we bought directly from private enterprise. Such industries have a moral obligation to meet the needs of the consumer at fair value while investing in valuable infrastructure.
- What is the main point in your manifesto or ideology that makes you different from all other candidates and parties?
Count Binface: Pretty much all of it, I reckon. No other candidate is offering to simultaneously cut your taxes, raise everyone else’s, price-cap Wigan Kebabs, make elected mayors ineligible for parliament until they’ve served their full term, force cyclists who disobey the highway code to ride unicycles instead, punish people who use speakerphones on public transport by having them conscripted, increase free parking at the Gerard Centre to three hours AND rephase the traffic lights on Liverpool Road to ease congestion. It’s my unique mix of the local, the national, and the interplanetary which makes me the most qualified candidate to serve the galactic hotspot of Makerfield.
Dan Clarke: Our ideology is based upon freedom and cooperation between individuals. The government should be as limited as possible. The government’s main focus is for the defense of its citizens from aggressive forces. We believe people should be able to achieve every success your talent can take you, to be able to buy your own home, to be able to stand on your own two feet without state interference in your life.
Howling Laud Hope
Lord Hope did not answer our specific questions, but he did email us a few possible points for his manifesto, such as a referendum on whether we should pull out of Eurovision, and replacing all red tape with sellotape to have more transparency in government. He also explained that he will not make promises he can’t keep, but he does want to implement ideas other parties have promised but don’t go through with once they are elected.
Andy Burnham
Information about the Labour candidate Andy Burnham can be found in the articles about Andy Burnham’s press conferences on Water and flooding and on Policing.
To learn more about each candidate and their manifestos, you can check this BBC article.
Friends of Bylines Network
There has never been a greater need for grassroots journalism that investigates the stories that really matter, holds power to account and champions the voices of everyday citizens. We are proudly powered by volunteers but what we do isn’t free.
STAND WITH US for independent, citizen-led journalism that makes democracy stronger, and you will even get some exclusive benefits.
