Hustings: part three
Covers the Middle East and Palestinian hustings, April 27th; the Cambridge Assessment Staff hustings, April 29th; and the Churches Jubliee hustings, April 29th.
As described by the depositor:
Mona, The Chair and a PHD student, said: “I think it went quite well, everyone has their passions and the situation in the Middle East is difficult and that was reflected on the panel. It was a good turnout, the foreign policy issues are important. People wanted to know how will the PPCs words translate into actions in the coming parliament. UKIP did not attend but they were invited.”
Simon Lebus, CEO of Cambridge Assessment said: “ We wanted to give our staff an opportunity to see what the candidates thought about education but also about Cambridge. As a big employer it is good for our staff to engage politically and find out what the candidates have to say for themselves. They were concerned about the practical issues of living and working here, the cost of housing and cycling too.
“As the Chair of the event, I personally have found it very helpful, the PPCs are a thoughtful bunch. It is nicely unpredictable to be at a live hustings event, but too often questions are used as a platform for making more general political statements rather than being concise and listening to the answers of others. This was their 26th husting and it must be completely exhausting for them.”
Jonathan Tame the organiser said: “We are using Twitter and a Hashtag and we have two audiences, those who are here and those not coming but who are keeping an eye on us on Twitter. We have 800 followers and it is growing fast. There are different churches here and we are trying to educate Christians about how to engage in politics, public life and the economy. Freedom of religion, freedom of expressions, poverty, food banks, we are expecting that there will be a number of hot potatoes that will come up and also immigration too probably. House prices, congestion, generation rent, these are all issues in Cambridge.”
As described by the depositor:
Mona, The Chair and a PHD student, said: “I think it went quite well, everyone has their passions and the situation in the Middle East is difficult and that was reflected on the panel. It was a good turnout, the foreign policy issues are important. People wanted to know how will the PPCs words translate into actions in the coming parliament. UKIP did not attend but they were invited.”
Simon Lebus, CEO of Cambridge Assessment said: “ We wanted to give our staff an opportunity to see what the candidates thought about education but also about Cambridge. As a big employer it is good for our staff to engage politically and find out what the candidates have to say for themselves. They were concerned about the practical issues of living and working here, the cost of housing and cycling too.
“As the Chair of the event, I personally have found it very helpful, the PPCs are a thoughtful bunch. It is nicely unpredictable to be at a live hustings event, but too often questions are used as a platform for making more general political statements rather than being concise and listening to the answers of others. This was their 26th husting and it must be completely exhausting for them.”
Jonathan Tame the organiser said: “We are using Twitter and a Hashtag and we have two audiences, those who are here and those not coming but who are keeping an eye on us on Twitter. We have 800 followers and it is growing fast. There are different churches here and we are trying to educate Christians about how to engage in politics, public life and the economy. Freedom of religion, freedom of expressions, poverty, food banks, we are expecting that there will be a number of hot potatoes that will come up and also immigration too probably. House prices, congestion, generation rent, these are all issues in Cambridge.”