Tackling issues at the core of Post readers'

BUSINESS: Q. What specifically are you looking to do to help entrepreneurs grow and develop their businesses?

A No small or medium-sized business can survive without help from the banks. It is like blood circulating round the body. I have met so many small businesses who tell me that they are having to scale back, or even worse go out of business, because their banks are now saying their overdraft facility is going to be five per cent over base rates.

Unless we sort out the banks we are not going to help SMEs (Small and Medium-sized Enterprises). They lent 47bn less last year than the year before.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

We need to find new ways by which you can access capital. At the moment everything is centralised in the City of London. We used to have regional stock exchanges in this country, we could have regional funds. If you are wealthy and want to put money back into your local economy you can go to these. Small business rate relief needs to be made automatic.

ENVIRONMENT

Molly Powderly, student, Harrogate Ladies' College

Q If elected, how would you help Britain reduce its carbon footprint and protect the environment?

A Climate change is a threat on the scale of which we've never seen before. And we're not going to be able to persuade other countries to do the things they need to do unless we are seen to be taking action ourselves.

There are a number of things we shouldn't do – we shouldn't build third runways at Heathrow, we shouldn't be boosting coal-fired power stations.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

And there are things we've got to do. We need to insulate our buildings much more effectively.

We need to invest aggressively in new ways of producing clean energy. Wind turbines are being manufactured in Denmark and Germany – why are they not being manufactured here?

And we need to get people and freight as much as possible off the roads and on to trains. And that means investing in High Speed Rail.

Cal Bailey, NG Bailey building services

Q You've talked about the need for funds to enable renewable energy. One way to raise funds is to price carbon so the polluter pays, which we currently don't do. Do you support this?

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

A I basically think a carbon tax is a great, great idea. My basic philosophy on tax is that it should reward initiative and be fair, and allow people to get ahead. And it should bear down on things that are bad – things that are bad for the environment, vested unearned wealth, should be taxed.

Do I think it's likely to happen any time soon? No. We need to do a huge amount of thinking about how we make sure it's applied fairly so as to reduce sensibly over time.

So are we going to be talking about a carbon tax in this election campaign? No.But is it something we think is a long term part of a mix of a fairer tax system, where taxes are lower for people being over-taxed at the moment, and higher for things which are bad for the environment? Yes, clearly.

HUNG PARLIAMENT

Joe Rhodes, Colton, Leeds.

Q If there is a hung parliament who would you like to hold the balance of power with – the Conservatives or Labour?

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

A There are 45 million people in this country who are entitled to vote at the next general election. It is really is as simple as that – it is their choice to tell us politicians what they want once they hear what they have to say on the general election campaign.

I have been very upfront, even if no party has an absolute majority if there is a party that clearly has a strong mandate from you I think that party has a moral right to govern, either on its own or by reaching out to other parties.

The future is going to be shaped by your choices.

IMMIGRATION

Stephen Mann, retired

Q The present Government has allowed an open door policy on immigration, what are your views on the capacity of this island to cope with the increasing numbers?

A It sounds trite, but there is good immigration and bad immigration.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

If we pulled up the drawbridge tomorrow our NHS and public services would collapse overnight.

I was in a paediatric ward hospital which is under huge pressures to treat babies and there was a whole ward fitted out with all of the latest equipment that was standing empty.

I asked why and she said that new immigration rules have prevented us from employing and taking on doctors from outside Europe who could help us.

That is an example of when it is in our interest to welcome people here.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

But clearly there are other forms of immigration, particularly illegal immigration, and I accept that there are certain parts of the country where pressures on public services on resources are much more acute than others.

We need to encourage and foster good immigration and stop bad immigration.

One of the ways forward is to do what they do in Australia which is that if someone wants to come and work here, pay their taxes and contribute to Britain, give them a permit that only allows them to work in particular areas.

This means you have a legal requirement on employers to only take on people who are legally allowed to work there.