'Spot On' questions from Kineton 6th Formers
March 7, 2010 10:00 PM
Nigel and his audience of dalmatians!
Kineton School has been the first venue to host a panel debate between parliamentary candidates for the new constituency of Kenilworth and Southam. Liberal Democrat Nigel Rock and Conservative Jeremy Wright faced more than hundred sixth formers on Friday 5th March who put challenging questions to the two candidates. This session followed a morning of debate between the sixth formers and councillors about their roles and views.
The candidates outlined their backgrounds, with Nigel Rock explaining that he was born and educated in Warwickshire, had been a student apprentice, and is now chartered engineer working in the renewable energy sector.
The parliamentary candidates were challenged on their respective party's position on the environment, tuition fees and the future of higher education, the fairness of taxation systems, military commitment in Afghanistan and the role of government in influencing marriage and personal relationships. A further question probed the candidate's positions on what might be done for both the young people and the elderly. Nigel Rock commented on the perceptive nature of the question in linking these groups "Young people and older people face similar challenges in rural areas because of the difficulty in accessing local resources and poor availability of public transport, which can contribute to social exclusion."
Although there was a measure of agreement in a few areas, it was apparent there was a different emphasis on priorities and clear fundamental differences in others. The Conservative candidate championed the building of a range of nuclear power stations, whilst Nigel Rock emphasised the need for energy conservation and a different approach to the environment. He wanted to see continuing research on nuclear technologies such as fusion, but was firmly opposed to seeing mass construction of a string of new nuclear power stations as the solution to energy demand.
One question sought the views of the candidates on David Cameron's 'broken society' phrase and asked about Conservatives approach to families and family breakdown. Nigel Rock rejected the Conservative view that it was right to influence personal behaviour towards the establishment and support of marriage and the 'nuclear family'. He said that whilst there were problems in some communities, society was not broken and individuals should not be told how to run their lives.
Kineton sixth form student James Handy said after the debate: "Conservative plans for rewarding married families while essentially penalising other models of family were made clear by the Conservative candidate. This was in comparison to the Liberal Democrat approach that naturally emphasises freedom for people to decide what suits themselves."
Many of the students were in fancy dress as dalmatians, as the school's theme for World Book Day was '101 Dalmatians'. The students were raising funds for the charity 'Book Aid International'. The unusual appearance of the audience added interest to the day and for the democratic representatives.
Nigel Rock said: "I express my thanks to all involved, especially the students. It was a fantastically stimulating event. The questions from the 'dalmations' were 'spot on' and challenging and although only a few had the chance to put a point forward, the whole group were attentive and interested throughout. I gather Councillors had a similar positive impression of their event."
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