Hustings

Hustings event tonight organised by some pro-refugee groups in the city. The general election candidates for Labour, Conservative, Green and Lib Dems were asked questions about their parties' and their own attitudes to the refugee crisis, treatment of asylum seekers and government policy towards human rights. Plus a few random topic curveballs as you can never anticipate the public, especially in a place as quirky as Cambridge.

The format didn't allow for sparky debate between panel members, which would have been a good chance to reveal more personal information and avoid soundbites addressed to the audience.

All the leftwing candidates are strong here and the Tory is fairly centrist with a background in international development. A hard right person would get roasted in Cambridge. He described himself as a 'compassionate Conservative' and repeated a few times how proud he was to be representing Theresa May as the local candidate. While he may feel that he's more compassionate than others in his party, it's a description at odds with itself. I surmise that while he may feel compassion for the plight of people, other issues he mentioned such as 'freedom', which I take to mean low taxation and a smaller state, strike him more strongly and attractively as political headlines. People who want to support compassion in societal terms above most other political issues cannot support the policies of the Conservatives over Labour, Green or Lib Dem.