With all candidates across Ealing now confirmed as standing for the General Election on 4 July 2024, residents in the borough now have the opportunity to meet and question them at events known as hustings.
In the Ealing Southall constituency, the local community heard from six out of 12 candidates in a hustings last night (23 June 2024).
This hustings was organised jointly by four Southall organisations Sri Guru Singh Sabha Southall, IWAGB, Sikh Welfare Team and Mael Gael. The organisers told EALING.NEWS: “This event is designed to provide a platform for candidates to present their views and engage directly with their constituents, fostering informed voting decisions and reinforcing the democratic process.”
In attendance was: Tariq Mahmood standing for Liberal Democrats, Darshan Singh Azad for Workers Party of Britain, Neil Reynolds for Green Party, Peter Ward for Rejoin EU and two independent candidates; Sangeet Kaur Bhail and Jaginder Singh.
Notably, Labour’s candidate, Deirdre Costigan, was absent, despite the area typically being a Labour stronghold. The Conservative candidate Georgie Callé also did not attend.
The event brought together approximately 100 people from diverse faith communities across the Ealing Southall constituency.
The audience were invited to raise their questions directly to the panel and here are the highlights on the topics raised.
Environment Question: What will you do to clean up the litter from Southall?
Sangeet Kaur Bhail (Independent): “We know that cleanliness is an issue. Now having more dump trucks, having more waste trucks, waste companies coming in is one. I met with somebody yesterday, they said they were waiting for the collection of the rubbish as it was everywhere on the street. The lady suggested finding the councillor and then they’ll fine this. So getting more bins available, getting more waste collected more frequently – that will definitely help.
“But how we’re able to do this as well, we also need to encourage and when we see someone’s littering we also need to nudge if we can, we just don’t walk past and say ‘it’s not my business’. It is our business. It is our home. Just nudge hey just pick it up, put in the bin, please. We can do this. We can do this together.”
Neil Reynolds (Green Party): “Some of the streets have been in disgusting conditions sometimes and I think one of the things you’ve got to reflect on is the council is responsible for this and it’s about making sure that they administer this properly. Some of that is money, if you put more money into it than the normal collections, obviously they’ve gone for a fortnightly waste collection.
“But additional to that is we’ve got to tackle fly tipping. Fly tipping is a major cause of street pollution and it really is something we need to do. One of the things as the Green Party, we would look to make sure that when we look at industrial waste that builders are properly and correctly pursued when they don’t dispose of waste properly. And secondly, it’s about making sure that the local council follows this up and is properly funded. So it’s about making sure we get the boots on the ground to deal with this problem.”
Darshan Singh Azad (Workers Party of Britain): “I am a lifelong resident of Southall, so I suffer the same problems and see the same litter that you lot see day in, day out. Littering can be as small as a cigarette butt or a gum on the floor, to as large as a mattress, or fly tipping, or someone’s fridge sitting outside their house weeks on end, expecting the council to clean it up. What we need to do on a practical level is offer more bins. We need to put more signage up. But most importantly, I think what we need to do is we need to love Southall, we need to create an appreciation amongst our children, amongst the community and get everyone on board that this is a community, this is where we all live.
“We can do all the practical steps, we can fine people, but unless we get the community on board to see the end goal, which is to love Ealing, Southall, we’re not going to achieve anything. I propose that we teach our young children from early on. My daughter goes to scouts. They go to litter picking at the age of nine years old. She understands how she needs to look after her community. Teach people from a young age, teach our friends and family around us that we need to love the community, appreciate the community and we need to be proud of the area that we live in.”
Peter Ward (Rejoin EU): “The block of flats which I’ve been deeply involved with is on Lady Margaret road and I live there. Our bin store has just been burned down by drug dealers regularly using it. It’s a massive, massive problem. And one that I do think politicians are reluctant to address. One of the reasons for the problem is that Ealing Council, like the government, is in the hands of the major housing developers. They’re only interested in profits that build the new developments.
“Now, I’ll stick with Lady Margaret Road that was built in the 1930s, it’s still got the original six inch drain in there. Six inches. Now let’s not beat about the bush that doesn’t take much human poo. Sorry, but that’s the problem. It’s an old creaking infrastructure we’ve got and it is not being properly addressed. Now I agree with what’s just been said. We have to learn to live and love our community. We have to teach the children not to drop litter. I’m a little surprised my friend from the Green Party didn’t talk about the throw away society that we’ve got now. Maybe we have to go back to local shops again, where instead of getting a throwaway plastic bag, you take your bag with you and do your shopping on a daily basis. The food’s much nicer by the way as well. So, it will be a priority for me.”
Tariq Mahmood (Liberal Democrats): “I’ve already mentioned about the rat infestation on Broadway. And yes, it is a serious concern. You’re absolutely right. There have been instances where the bins were not completely empty. And I took it up with the council, only to learn that there is regulation as to how much the people that actually lift and clean the bins can bend. So there is this health issue, whether how much can they bend and pick up the actual bags? So there needs to be an insight into how you fill in those bags and how big they are so that they don’t have to bend too much to get them out.
“And of course the other thing is the education of people. Where is that nature coming from? You go into the Southall car park and people are weeing on the stairs when there are toilets there. So all you need to do is to educate people to say, Well look, toilets are meant for weeing, not the stairs. It’s all about education.”
Education Question: What are your views on tuition fees?
Tariq Mahmood (Liberal Democrats): “We were in coalition and we have acknowledged that this [tuition fees] was not the best move. Had we not had a coalition with the Conservatives, then they would have gone even more unbridled, so we were kind of a restrictive force there. We were stopping them from doing a lot but because we were not in power, we were just in coalition, we were not always heard.
“Now what are we doing for education from here onwards? Well we are the ones who are suggesting lots of changes in education, for example we are proposing to have mental health facilities in all schools, colleges and universities, which are easily accessible to the staff and students. We are starting right from the beginning. The schools should be given more money to improve their architecture, their buildings, their curriculum. We are suggesting free school meals, which have been taken away.”
Sangeet Kaur Bhail (Independent): “The aim here is to lower the tuition fees by making funding available. Mental health is an issue, not only for the students but even for the teachers.
“Now if we have funding available and it’s made transparent…I’ve been around for four years, I’ve not seen any grants made available to me. Now if this is transparent to you and me, we will know where this funding is going. There is a lot of money being churned out to charities and organisations. Now if a community is given a funding amount and if they can self-fund other students…this can be assisted.”
Peter Ward (Rejoin EU): “Tuition fees have been a disaster not just for students but also the universities. A lot of them are on their knees, so we know it hasn’t worked. I’m not going to mislead anybody here, we are a new party we are looking at these things now. But I can tell you my own view – I would abolish them tomorrow in the confidence that rejoining the EU would give us the economic growth that would pay the taxes, put into that pot and that what you have had to pay in fees should come from general taxation.
“It was Blair who said ‘we want to send half of the people to universities’. That’s fine but what happened to the old technical colleges? What happened to the old poly-technics where people learn practical skills? Everybody is important – the bricklayer, the electrician, everybody has something that they can bring to society. I think what has happened is this almost bizarre situation where everybody goes to universities, runs up these huge debts and the universities are starting to go under. It just is not working. You may remember…the Erasmus programme – a great European initiative and of course that will come back with membership of the EU.”
Darshan Singh Azad (Workers Party of Britain): “I am from the Workers Party. Tuition fees disproportionately affect working class individuals. Workers Party have put in their manifesto and will commit to abolishing tuition fees eventually.
“We are going to do that by stopping spending money on wars that shouldn’t happen in the first place. Sovereign wealth needs to be kept in this country, because all of you deserve better from the government.”
Neil Reynolds (Green Party): “To answer your question – I would abolish them tomorrow. The reality for tax-payers is that these debts aren’t being paid off. They sit in balance books for years, because people are put under an unnecessary burden and with inflation increased, the vast majority of people who had their tuition fees saw the interest rate far outstrip their repayments. They were in the absurd situation of seeing their debts rise and that is a national scandal.
The other thing that I think is understated and the Green Party is committed to this, as students went through their post-16 education, so once they had done their GCSES and they went to technical college or they went to A-levels, it used to be the case that they would receive something called the Education Maintenance allowance. For those students from lower income backgrounds that was a fantastic help. It allowed them to stay in education and education is nothing else than the opportunity to make a student’s dreams come true, for people to realise their own potential. The fact that the education maintenance allowance [is gone] and tuition fees have been imposed is a tax on people’s dreams.”
Jaginder Singh (Independent): “As an Independent, I am always thinking about this. Education is very important. I know the value of education and at this moment everyone is suffering with this crisis. That’s why I choose Independent, to work with you and get the right things to do.”
Foreign Policy Question: Can we trust career politicians on the issue of Gaza? Will you dare to say ‘Free Palestine’ and call it a genocide?
Peter Ward (Rejoin EU): “The last figure I heard was that a million people were about to suffer extreme starvation in Gaza. If that’s not a war crime, I don’t know what is. I cry literally when I watch the news and see the people in Gaza. There needs to be a long term solution, involving the Palestinian people. There needs to be a two-state solution. There needs to be an immediate ceasefire there and I really do hope that one day that will come, whatever the election will do, so I do say – Free Palestine, I am with you.”
Jaginder Singh (Independent): “Yes I know the pain of Palestine, because I’ve been through those countries already. I am really into it honestly. 15 people have been killed in Afghanistan in the Gurdwara and that pain I know. Yeah definitely it [Palestine] will be free and I will approach the United Nations to work for this and we have to do that. Free Palestine.”
Darshan Singh Azad (Workers Party of Britain): “Thank you for the question. I am just going to read something which I read on the United Nations website 3 days ago on the 20th of June. It says on the website of the United Nations ‘the ongoing Israeli military assault is categorised by indiscriminate and disproportionate attacks on the civilian population and infrastructure, as well as in the destruction and damage of life sustaining essential civilian infrastructure including housing, shelter, health, education, water, sanitisation facilities. Today children in Gaza are the largest group of amputee children in the world due to grave injuries sustained in the war. The answer to your question is – I think that is nothing short of a genocide. Don’t let history teach us it’s a genocide. Don’t let our children be educated that it was a genocide. Let’s realise today that the signs of a genocide exists and we all need to raise our voices. Don’t stay silent – staying silent is complicit with the Conservative and Labour government and what they’ve done.”
Neil Reynolds (Green Party): “Much of the political establishment’s attitude towards Gaza has been depressing and shameful in my opinion in the last few months. What’s going on in the Gaza strip at the moment is appalling. It is disproportionate. It’s targeted at civilians and I believe that no one should be above a law and therefore anyone who has broken international law, and I think international law personally has been broken, should be brought to justice and face the full face of international law. There is historical precedence for that. Palestine is a state. I will recognise it. I have signed the Palestinian solidarity campaign’s pledges and I do believe in them, so yes Free Palestine.”
Tariq Mahmood (Liberal Democrats): “I don’t know if you are aware that the Liberal Democrats are the only party that spoke in parliament in support of Gaza and so we have actually not only spoken outside but in the British parliament spoken in favour of Gaza. Our stance is that there should be unequivocal bilateral ceasefire and that one person being killed is too many. Forget about genocide – one person being killed is far too many and it has to be bilateral. We also feel that the support that the present government is giving to some of the parties, some of these elements are perhaps overwhelming. We strongly oppose any anti-semitic emotion, we are all equal and as humans each one of us has a right to live independently and we do support a two-state solution.
Sangeet Kaur Bhail (Independent): “Yes Free Gaza and Yes I have pledged a petition as well in regards to Free Gaza itself. People are suffering, the children, there’s no food, there’s no medicine. We see it everyday. We’ve been up to London, we’ve walked to ensure that this does not happen. We’ve called for a ceasefire and nothing is happening. We have to make this difference and we have to voice out. We do not encourage anything as such, being one person murdered, but this is everyone involved, so please let’s work together to ensure that a ceasefire happens.”
