MORE than 250 questions were submitted by members of the public in Okehampton ahead of a debate featuring the candidates aiming to be West Devon and Torridge?s next MP. A lively debate held last Wednesday, organised by Christians Together in Okehampton, attracted an audience of almost 100 people into Fairplace Church. Among the topics discussed were abortion, Europe, wind turbines, tackling world poverty, legislating against religious hatred and the prospects for a daily train service between Okehampton and Exeter. Geoffrey Cox (Conservative) and David Walter (Liberal Democrats were joined on the panel by Piers Merchant, representing the UK Independence Party, whose candidate Matthew Jackson was unable to attend. Green Party candidate Peter Christie was unable to attend as he had to be at another meeting in his capacity as mayor of Bideford, and Labour?s Rebecca Richards was also unable to attend after being taken ill. The debate was chaired by the Rev Mike Davies, chairman of Christians Together in Okehampton, which consists of members of the Church of England, Roman Catholic, Salvation Army, Baptist, Assemblies of God, Church of the Nations, Methodist and United Reformed Church. Mr Davies said: ?I think it went really well. I had a lot of positive feedback from people saying it was good to have the candidates face to face and be able to learn their personal views.? Mr Davies said some of the issues which were usually considered key issues did not feature in the questions submitted by the public. ?I was quite surprised there were no questions on education or the health service, nor farming or fox hunting,? he said.
