CENTRAL Devon candidates appealed to the people of Okehampton for their vote at a well-attended hustings at Fairplace Church on Sunday afternoon (December 8).

Conservative Mel Stride, constituency MP for the past nine years, was joined by prospective parliamentary candidates Lisa Robillard Webb (Labour), Alison Eden (Lib Dem) and Andy Williamson (Green) to answer questions submitted by the public in advance.

Topics ranged from Brexit and climate change to the effect of nine years of austerity on public services. Okehampton’s long-awaited rail service to Exeter was also mentioned, with Mr Stride saying he would keep up the pressure to see it delivered.

The hall was more than three quarters full for the event organised by Christians Together Okehampton and chaired by Pioneer Church minister Alison Duckers.

Mr Stride said the election was ‘the most important general election we have had in recent times’ and he called for an end to the Brexit stalemate, saying it was time to put domestic party politics first.

‘I voted Remain but I’m a democrat and we owe it to the people to deliver on Brexit,’ he said. ‘If we get a majority Conservative Government we will be out the EU by the end of January.’

However Alison Eden took the opposite view, saying ’what we actually need to do is Get Brexit Gone’. The Liberal Democrats have pledged to abandon Brexit if elected.

Ms Eden said that in her professional life in the international pharmaceutical industry, she had ‘watched in horror as the UK is crossed off the list for clinical trials’over Brexit.

There was some agreement among the candidates in response to questions submitted by the public in advance — with even Conservative Mel Stride saying that Brexit would harm the region’s farmers if the UK left without a deal on Brexit and everyone agreeing that action was needed on climate change (albeit Labour pointed out that they had the greenest manifesto according to Friends of the Earth, while the Conservatives had the least green).

However, the biggest difference on public spending, with Mr Stride questioning whether Labour could afford its manifesto promises and Labour’s Ms Robillard Webb countering that nine years of Conservative austerity had ‘damaged people’. She pledged to protect workers’ rights as did the Greens.

The question of ‘fake news’ ruffled a few feathers, with Ms Eden accusing the Conservatives of ‘masquerading as other people in order to mislead people’. ’If you did an analysis of who has been doing this, the Conservative Party has been doing the majority of the deception,’ she said.

Asked specifically about Okehampton, Ms Robillard Webb said she would fight to get Okehampton’s maternity beds reopened at Okehampton Hospital. These were closed by the NHS ‘temporarily’ back in the summer of 2017 and remain closed.

Ms Robillard Webb said one of her friends who lived in Okehampton had been affected by this, having to travel to the Royal Devon and Exeter (RD&E) Hospital in Exeter because the option was not there to give birth at Okehampton Hospital.

‘The heartbreak for my friend was tremendous so I would work extremely hard to get that back for you,’ she said.

Mr Stride said he would continue to fight for the return of the Okehampton’s rail service to Exeter, saying he had been told that a feasibility study from franchise holders Great Western Railway was expected ‘shortly’. The first question the candidates were asked was whether they would vote against the party whip on a matter of conscience. They all said they would.

‘I’m not sure it would be a very pleasant experience but I definitely have the courage to do that,’ said Ms Robillard Webb.

Asked what they thought the impact of Brexit would have on the constituency, particularly farming, the tourist industry and social care, they all agreed it would have a negative impact, including Mr Stride, who said farmers would face high export tariffs if the UK left without a deal. He said he had voted Remain but that ‘as a democrat’ respected the referendum result so wanted to honour Brexit, but with a deal protecting farmers.

Andy Williamson called for another referendum, referring to the Vote Leave’s campaign on Facebook which put out advertisements purporting to be facts. ‘They were lies,’ he said. ‘We need to have a new vote to get rid of this.’

Asked about their commitment to tackling climate change, Ms Robillard Webb claimed Labour had the best plan, having topped Friends of the Earth’s ‘how green is your manifesto?’ assessment.

‘We have to get going and it is absolutely parlous if we can’t start on December 13,’ she said. ‘I feel it is an absolute priority and we have thought about it long and hard.’

She said economic growth was in conflict with saving the planet.

Mr Stride said ‘we have as a country made huge strides, we have reduced [carbon] emissions from 2010 by 25 per cent. I disagree with growth being incompatible with tacklimg climate change’ adding ‘there are jobs in the green revolution’. He said only 1.2 per cent of global carbon monoxide emissions came from the UK, whereas 40 per cent of emissions came from China and India combined. However, Mr Williamson pointed out that China manufactured many ‘things for us’ in the UK.

The Lib Dems’ Ms Eden said unity was needed on the parties to tackle climate change. Responding to Labour pointing out that Friends of the Earth had listed them as having the greenest manifesto, she said the Lib Dems had only been just behind. ‘I wish we would just get together and not try to outshine each other with figures,’ she said. ‘It is pointless saying we’re the greenest person. Let’s work together for goodness sake.’