There were probably more checked shirts and beards present at Kings Cross Church in London yesterday than are usually found at a hustings, but the average age was also considerably lower than normal. Fears about the apathy of Generation Y were dispelled as representatives from the five major UK political parties were quizzed on key issues including climate change, inequality, homelessness and immigration in front of a room filled with 20-30 somethings keen to make their voices heard ahead of this year's general election.
Chaired by Madeline Davies of the Church Times and run in conjunction with Tearfund and Threads UK, the debate saw politicians from the Conservative Party, Labour, the Liberal Democrats, the Green Party and UKIP put through their paces. The evening opened with each candidate outlining how they would aim to reduce inequality in the UK and restore hope, just days after it was revealed that food banks have given out emergency food over one million times in the past 12 months.
Labour candidate Gavin Shuker used Desmond Tutu's famous line: "We shouldn't just be pulling people out of the river. We should be going upstream to find out who's pushing them in." Exploitation must be tackled wherever we see it, he argued, noting that systematic inequality is a real issue in his own community, and has got worse under the coalition government.
Conservative candidate JP Floru responded with his own aquatic imagery: "It's better to teach someone to fish than to give them a fish." Though the audience didn't seem to warm to him particularly well, he gave a straightforward Tory answer on welfare about making sure people have jobs, rather than leaving them on "hand-outs" for the rest of their lives.
Rachel Collinson from the Greens won support by calling for banking reform and increased taxation for the rich, while Liberal Democrat Anuja Prashar insisted that her party understands inequality, and warned that "Dickensian poverty" could become a reality in Europe if lasting changes are not made. UKIP's Jonathan Arnott, looking like he knew this wasn't his crowd, also gave a middle-of-the-road spiel about closing tax-avoidance loopholes and ending zero-hour contracts.
It didn't look like anyone was going to veer too far right or left of centre, until Floru was asked about climate change and claimed that there are infinite fossil fuels available and the Earth will never run out. Even if it did, he continued, we could always get more from the asteroid belt. A not-so-subtle whisper of incredulity ran around the room and Collinson looked like she might fall off her chair. That the poorest people suffer for our greed and mistakes makes her "boil with rage" she responded.
Shuker seemed to gain popularity for being the only candidate capable of following the brief and giving a succinct answer. We need an ambitious government to tackle carbon emissions, he insisted, "and we don't want place-holder language about climate change".
As questions came hard and fast from the audience, it quickly became apparent, perhaps unsurprisingly, that social justice is top of the agenda for millennials. Nigel Farage came under fire for his recent suggestion that only Christian refugees be taken in and the rest "sent back where they came from", a comment that Shuker branded "outrageous". Arnott said the UKIP leader's words had been twisted, and later suggested that his party was largely misunderstood – a comment which drew a second round of muttering from the audience.
All five candidates agreed on the need to increase social housing to address homelessness, while all – Floru excepted – criticised the current implementation of the welfare system. "I put my hands up, the coalition failed on this," Prashar said.
Collinson said the £100 billion cost of renewing Trident was "morally wrong" but was alone in arguing that the UK should completely abandon all nuclear weapons. "It may sadly be necessary," Arnott said, while Shuker and Floru agreed that it is important to maintain Britain's safety.
The event was both informative and engaging, helped perhaps by the observation that the candidates looked like members of Westlife perched on stools. Judging by discussions in the pub afterwards, Shuker and Collinson won the day – and the latter's final remarks will undoubtedly return to the minds of many on May 7: "Vote with hope, not based on fear."
