Hustings - the Candidates and the Benefits System

 There were two main topics that came up in the question session, and rather than plod through the questions one by one, I thought I'd do a general round up of the points that came up.

Fay Jones, for the Conservatives, was working hard to make people believe that people who need benefits are going to be safe in the hands of a future Conservative government.  She mentioned a new payment, energy support payments for people who need to use more electricity than normal (or gas, I suppose), and she also said that the Conservatives have no intention of abolishing PIP, the payment to help disabled people.  She claimed that the Tories have compassion in mind when it comes to benefits and they believe in supporting people in difficult times.*

Matthew Dorrance, for Labour, said that the bedroom tax is a problem for families, and talked about reducing energy bills by a Labour government setting up a new renewable energy company.  Later he talked about the need for a proper living wage.

Ammi Kaur-Dhaliwal, for the Greens, talked about her time volunteering at the Citizens' Advice Bureau, and seeing the sort of problems people are facing from that perspective.

The erosion of public services over the last fourteen years was a running theme, as was the increase in the number of food banks.  Matthew Dorrance pointed out that work is no longer a route out of poverty, and there are working people who are forced to use food banks.

The candidates also talked quite a bit about the NHS.  One of Matthew Dorrance's previous jobs was as a care assistant, so he's seen the system from the inside.  He said that health and social care need to be linked.  

Ammi Kaur-Dhaliwal also said that a more holistic approach was needed, with health and with the benefit system.  She was worried about the way contracts were handed out in the NHS, the recent scandals around PPE during the pandemic, and the increase in privatisation in the health care sector.

David Chadwick for the Liberal Democrats wanted to see more generous benefits, and more money for carers.  He had ideas about how to fund that, involving a wealth tax and a windfall tax on big corporations.

Fay Jones said that funding for the NHS in Wales was a matter for the Welsh government, but wanted to see the systems of record-keeping harmonised across the border for patients who need healthcare in both systems.

Tomorrow, I'm going to cover what was said about the climate crisis and nature, which was the other main topic of the evening.

*[I'm sorry - I'm really trying hard to be objective and report on what the candidates said, but I'm amazed that Fay Jones was able to say this with a straight face.  'Compassion' is the last word I'd associate with the Tory benefit system.]