Dragon Interview: Labour’s Bostock Outlines Party’s Plan to End Austerity Cuts in Mole Valley

Published on: 4 Dec, 2019
Updated on: 8 Dec, 2019

In the first of The Dragon NEWS series covering Mole Valley candidates in the north-east of Guildford borough, Chris Dick interviews the Labour Party’s Brian Bostock.

Brian Bostock, Labour Party candidate for Mole Valley including the north-east area of Guildford Borough.

Q. Since the 2016 referendum some politicians have ignored or gone against the democratic result of that vote. Your party seems to have sidestepped the biggest democratic exercise in our country’s modern history. Why should Mole Valley voters trust your party?

A. The policy of the Labour Party is to unite the country. The 2016 referendum divided the country. The opportunity to have a renewed debate on the terms of leaving the EU , which wasn’t discussed in the 2016 vote, is an opportunity to bring the country back together. The Conservatives want to ignore roughly half the population, the Liberal Democrats the other half.  I voted Leave in 2016. Now, everything I have learned about leaving the EU has demonstrated to me that this would be a terrible mistake and I believe the UK should remain in the EU. I cannot be the only person in the country that has more information now and has changed their mind. I think an open debate about the genuine effects of Leave and Remain would be in the country’s best interests.

Q. The Independent reported this year: “Simply building more houses is not the answer to Britain’s housing crisis.” The Spectator wrote in 2018: “Britain does not have a housing shortage. We have a problem with the cost not the availability of homes. This can’t be solved by building more houses, because it is not caused by an insufficiency of houses.” Do you agree with these views and, if so, what should Labour’s response be to this?

A. I agree that simply building houses is not the option; there is also the issue of wage stagnation. The Conservatives built homes in government but what they failed to do is build any of the affordable homes they promised. The answer is not just building homes, it is building affordable homes and dealing with wages that haven’t kept pace with inflation. Labour is committed to a radical house-building programme of affordable homes to tackle the problem and ensure everyone is entitled to a living wage.

Q. If elected, what measures would you support to tackle climate change?

A. The Labour manifesto has put green policies at its heart. Labour will create jobs to tackle the climate crisis and as part of a Labour government I would work with the party to bring those jobs and technologies into being. There are technologies that can help tackle climate change and Labour would look at those new technologies.

Q. With a climate emergency declared by Surrey County Council, would a Labour government take measures to further protect our green belt and stop development of countryside and farmland outside the green belt?

A. Jeremy Corbyn and Labour, in Parliament on May 1st, brought in and passed the declaration of a climate emergency. Our green belt spaces should be protected. Protection of the environment is a cornerstone of our policies and in Parliament I would take the advice of climate science and consider the impact of any decisions made in Parliament on the climate.

Q. Would Labour stop or overturn decisions to build on places such as the former Wisley Airfield or Effingham Lodge Farm?  Where do you personally stand on the Wisley Airfield development?

A. I disagree with the proposal for homes on the Wisley Airfield site. This is green belt land and as I said, our green belt spaces should be protected. The national Labour Party does not have a specific policy on the decisions made on these sites but if I were in Parliament I would be looking closely at these proposals to see what alternatives there are.

Q. The Planning Inspectorate and the Secretary of State for Housing have the power to overturn borough council planning decisions and effectively sell off green belt for development projects, e.g. for a new school. Is there any democracy left in our planning system?

A. Yes, I believe there is. The Secretary of State for Housing is an elected member of Parliament and the largest political party forms the government. An elected government that wants to protect green belt spaces is going to have the influence and wherewithal to manage such spaces considerately, and protecting the green belt spaces are a part of the Labour manifesto. 

Q. If the Conservatives win and Brexit proceeds how will it affect the residents of Mole Valley?

A. That would be a disaster for Mole Valley. A Conservative win would mean no affordable homes and insufficient council properties for Mole Valley which has a waiting list in excess of 50 years. Ten homes were made available last year for a waiting list of 517 families. Without the affordable homes, and a living wage, social care will be affected. Those who work in care already cannot afford to live in the area and cannot afford to travel. Increased costs of living and fuel due to Brexit would compound this further, and the NHS and social care rely on EU workers to keep them operating effectively. 

Q. What problems face the NHS in Mole Valley and, if elected, what would you and your party do to tackle those issues? 

A. In a hustings on Tuesday, Sir Paul Beresford stated that Mole Valley is an “affluent” area and that he had only just learned of child poverty issues. Child poverty and in-work poverty are real issues for the constituency which the Conservatives clearly have not recognised, addressed or acknowledged. There are pockets of deprivation repeatedly disadvantaged by the Conservative government, such as the closure of the Sure Start centre in Leatherhead, which Sir Paul referred to as “streamlining”. 

In addition, the needs of the constituency for social and health care have been repeatedly cut back after a decade of Liberal Democrat and Conservative austerity policies. In Parliament, the Labour Party,  hopefully with me representing the people of Mole Valley, would reverse the cuts to the services people rely upon, child care, social care and health care. Labour would introduce a living minimum wage, and offer a vote on a credible Leave deal and/or Remain. Our manifesto is a manifesto of hope and is about bringing the whole country forward together.

This is the full list of candidates standing in Mole Valley:

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