Bryan Burrow

Live, one hour webchat with Bryan Burrow, the Green Party's parliamentary candidate for Penrith and The Border

3rd & 7 37yd

Hi, this webchat with Bryan Burrow, Green Party candidate for Penrith and The Border, is due to start at 12noon.

by Ian, News & Star 4/21/2015 10:43:26 AM
We've opened early to test the links but if you've got any questions for Mr Burrow, feel free to fire them across now!

by Ian, News & Star 4/21/2015 10:44:41 AM
Hi All, this is Bryan Burrow PPC for the Green Party in Penrith and the Border.

by Bryan Burrow 4/21/2015 11:00:26 AM
Aren't you on a bit of a hiding to nothing standing against Rory Stewart?

by Julian 4/21/2015 11:00:34 AM
I appreciate that Rory has been a good constituency MP in some respects but his Party has presided over devastating period for the majority of people. Austerity has failed and many people are looking for a real alternative.

by Bryan Burrow 4/21/2015 11:02:23 AM
How do you think Natalie Bennett performed during the leader debates? Screaming at Ed Miliband in the last one was hardly leader like.

by Julian 4/21/2015 11:02:35 AM
I think that Natalie's contributions to the debates have improved greatly and that she has been the only person to bring climate change to the agenda. Not surprisingly given the record of the other parties.

by Bryan Burrow 4/21/2015 11:04:06 AM
Do you think his party's performance is enough to see him out of job though? The Greens provide that alternative? Really!

by John 4/21/2015 11:04:21 AM
I envisage the Green Party becoming a real force in British politics and necessarily so. Although the party has a wide range of policies at the heart is the need to tackle climate change and social injustice. Rory just hasn't contributed in any way.

by Bryan Burrow 4/21/2015 11:06:43 AM
Is climate change the be all and end all though? What about the NHS? Transport? Taxes? Do you have creidble policies?

by John 4/21/2015 11:07:00 AM
Sorry technological glitch. I am happy to talk about other policies.

by Bryan Burrow 4/21/2015 11:15:25 AM
NHS we would support Caroline Lucas NHS reinstatement cross-party private members bill which would end privatisation within the NHS

by Bryan Burrow 4/21/2015 11:16:39 AM
What are the most important issues in Penrith that need to be dealt with?

by John 4/21/2015 11:16:51 AM
People's health should never ever be up for sale.

by Bryan Burrow 4/21/2015 11:17:17 AM
Housing is a priority I think. Buy to let landlords are driving up rents and making it unaffordable for many people.

by Bryan Burrow 4/21/2015 11:18:29 AM
Hi Bryan, can you expand on what your party would do about buy to let landlords and unaffordable housing?

by Ian, News & Star 4/21/2015 11:19:26 AM
Transport is an issue too. Generally the privatisation of public services has led to lossof services in many areas with companies providing services only where there is profit.

by Bryan Burrow 4/21/2015 11:19:58 AM
We would abolish tax relief for buy to let landlords thereby raising over£5 billion. we would introduce rent regulation.We would build 500,000 houses over the term of the parliament.

by Bryan Burrow 4/21/2015 11:22:01 AM
The Greens have been around a long time now and you're still not a force. How's that going to change? When? Seriously, how many seats are you going to win?

by James 4/21/2015 11:23:07 AM
We would set up a living rents commission to explore whether controls could bring rents in line with local average incomes.

by Bryan Burrow 4/21/2015 11:23:40 AM
The Green surge has seen membership top that of the LIB dems and UKIP with over 60,000 members

by Bryan Burrow 4/21/2015 11:24:33 AM
Why are you standing as an MP?

by Kate 4/21/2015 11:24:51 AM
What's your background? What makes you think you'd be a good MP ahead of say Rory?

by Joe 4/21/2015 11:24:53 AM
Proportional representation will be a reality if we continue to have coalition govts.

by Bryan Burrow 4/21/2015 11:25:22 AM
I recall MPs in the past coming from ordinary people, Miners, postmen teachers etcI have had enough of being represented, or not by establishment figures, public school boys and girls and representatives of the priveledged.

by Bryan Burrow 4/21/2015 11:27:51 AM
You say the Green Party would build 500,000 new homes. Are these all to be on Brown field sites or will there be green field also and more importantly would we see this in the Penrith area? Given a lack of brown field sites. Given the low wages in the area what do you and your party see as 'affordable' homes?

by Steven 4/21/2015 11:28:58 AM
I have worked with young people for most of my working life. As a youth worker, football coach, Dramatherapist, working with Young people in care and on the edge of care and as a teacher.

by Bryan Burrow 4/21/2015 11:29:15 AM
Affordable homes will only become affordable if we stop relying on the market to provide them. Action on rents and refusing to allow the sale of houses in housing association control will help. To gift maybe £100,000 to tenants to enable them to buy is an outrage and would make less houses available.

by Bryan Burrow 4/21/2015 11:32:21 AM
So how does what you've done make you a good MP?

by Joe 4/21/2015 11:32:35 AM
The son of Margaret Thatcher's housing minister has a portfolio of over 40 properties

by Bryan Burrow 4/21/2015 11:33:02 AM
I was asked for details about my background. I would hope to represent the interests of the many and not the few.

by Bryan Burrow 4/21/2015 11:33:54 AM
Do you like Rory Stewart?

by Tory boy 4/21/2015 11:34:20 AM
If he's not contributed, what's he been doing? What about his work for businesses with superfast internet?

by Kate 4/21/2015 11:34:22 AM
I don't really know him. I know he is an interesting character and quite unusual in some respects. Maybe not a typical Tory MOP.

by Bryan Burrow 4/21/2015 11:35:26 AM
Sorry typo MP.

by Bryan Burrow 4/21/2015 11:35:49 AM
I don't think his work for superfast broadband amounts to much.

by Bryan Burrow 4/21/2015 11:36:28 AM
I agree, health should never be put up for sale. But the NHS is broken I think. What do we do to fix it?

by Kevin 4/21/2015 11:36:45 AM
The green party would put an obligation on BT and other providers to ensure that this service was available to all and not just where it is profitable.

by Bryan Burrow 4/21/2015 11:37:35 AM
We need to invest heavily and ensure that private companies are not involved. Recently donations to Tory party funds by Private health companies led to the award of £1.9 billion contracts in the NHS!

by Bryan Burrow 4/21/2015 11:39:35 AM
How can a green candidate expect to win over the people of Cumbria when the area is so reliant on the Sellafield nuclear plant?

by Radiation man 4/21/2015 11:39:56 AM
Nuclear is heavily reliant on fossil fuels at its source. More jobs could be created in the area with renewables than is the case now with sellafield.

by Bryan Burrow 4/21/2015 11:41:16 AM
Bryan I agree with you to an extent about private companies in the NHS. But my dad needed a new knee and the NHS couldn't do it so sent him to a private hospital. It was done in weeks rather than him waiting for months and months. How can that be bad?

by Daisy 4/21/2015 11:42:14 AM
The UK is 25th out of 27 in the renewable energy league table despite having some of the best resources for renewable energy in Europe.

by Bryan Burrow 4/21/2015 11:42:52 AM
How many people do you see working at windfarms?

by Radiation man 4/21/2015 11:43:49 AM
My mother also had surgery which was lifesaving. she went to Glasgow a luxury hospital during Blair's govt. The cost of that for the NHS was huge. Investment in the NHS would make such wastefulness and huge cost unnecessary whilst providing the same treatments more locally.

by Bryan Burrow 4/21/2015 11:45:24 AM
With a growing campaign in the UK for a democratically elected head of state, would you back these calls, or do you think the hereditary principle should remain?

by JJ 4/21/2015 11:46:50 AM
The renewable energy sector employs millions of people and is growing. We are lagging behind other countries though. There is scope for massive investment in Renewables which could slow climate change, end fuel poverty, provide employment and that provision should be democratic and under the control of ordinary people not foreign energy companies.

by Bryan Burrow 4/21/2015 11:48:59 AM
The Green party has a vision of a new constitutional settlement and would move towards a written constitution.

by Bryan Burrow 4/21/2015 11:50:50 AM
Sellafield employs thousands of people. What would happen to their jobs? Are you talking about sacrificing them because of lofty ideals about green energy?

by Aghast 4/21/2015 11:52:06 AM
The Green party would reform the house of lords to become a fully elected body chosen by PR.

by Bryan Burrow 4/21/2015 11:52:31 AM
We're down to the last five minutes of the session. If there are any more questions, get them in now!

by Ian, News & Star 4/21/2015 11:53:39 AM
These jobs are important and a gradual move into renewables would support the workforce. The problems associated with Nuclear waste and decommissioning would still provide jobs too, and for a VERY LONG TIME. tHE COST OF THIS IS HUGE AND A factor in moving away from Nuclear altogether as Germany are doing.

by Bryan Burrow 4/21/2015 11:55:01 AM
Ideals about green energy are not just for the sake of it being green energy. The world is on course for disaster and someone needs to do something.

by Bryan Burrow 4/21/2015 11:56:28 AM
Despite renewable energy, would the Green Party continue to invest in a nuclear industry which would be needed to manage radioactive waste and decommissioning for the forseeable future?

by JJ 4/21/2015 11:57:14 AM
Of course we have a responsibility to do that. I am not sure who bears the cost of that. But it obviously needs to happen. It would have been good had there been built into the system of procurement, the principle that investors also pay for the clean-up and decommissioning.

by Bryan Burrow 4/21/2015 12:00:03 PM
Privatisation has many problems associated with it and energy should be always within the public domain, it can be local but always should be democratic and accountable

by Bryan Burrow 4/21/2015 12:02:38 PM
Outsourcing is what governments do when they've given up governing. Look at the scandals created by companies such as G4S, SERCO, ATOS etc over which we have no control.

by Bryan Burrow 4/21/2015 12:04:17 PM
Many thanks for participating in this discussion. If there are no more questions I'll say goodbye.

by Bryan Burrow 4/21/2015 12:05:22 PM
That's the end of the session. Many thanks to Bryan Burrow for agreeing to take part and to all those who asked questions. Bye!

by Ian, News & Star 4/21/2015 12:05:43 PM