Bristol Stop The War Coalition : Questions to Candidates – General Election 2005
General Election Candidates - Questions and Answers
After three years of lies & evasion the election gives us an opportunity to hold the government to account. Tony Blair famously said that his actions would be judged by history; we don't have to wait that long. The government wants voters to see Iraq as irrelevant to the election, but a recent survey indicates that over 30% of people intend to change how they vote in the general election based on their views on Iraq.
Bristol Stop The War Coalition believes that voters in Bristol deserve the fullest possible information on all candidates' views on this issue. We drew up 10 questions covering the main areas of the debate & circulated these to all candidates in Bristol East , Bristol North-West , Bristol South , Bristol West , Kingswood & Northavon constituencies.
The questionnaire was sent to all candidates by email, with the exceptions noted below. None of the emails bounced back, so the assumption must be that they arrived in the In Box of the candidates. If candidates haven’t replied then they can legitimately be asked why not? Are they trying to avoid the issue of the invasion and occupation of Iraq?
We asked candidates to reply by Friday 15th April so that we could publish the information in week commencing 18th April. We will add further replies if they become available so please keep looking at these pages. If candidates in your constituency haven’t replied then get in touch with them. Ask them if they intend to and if not why not. Stress how important the issue of Iraq is in determining how you will vote. Where a candidate hasn’t replied we have included their email address against their name. If you want to email them to encourage them to reply please do so. When emailing a candidate it is worth including your postcode in the email so they know you live in their constituency.
Nominations for the election close on April 19th. If other candidates are found to be standing we will get the questionnaire to them and publish their replies as soon as possible.
We present this information to voters without comment, criticism or recommendation. Unless specifically indicated to the contrary, the replies are the unedited words of the candidate.
If you have any comments or queries regarding the information on these web pages please email
bristolstopwar@hotmail.com
Please make this information as widely available as you can, either by emailing details of this website to people, or printing off the pages relating to your constituency.
No email addresses were available for:
Patricia Gardener – Labour candidate in North Avon. We were unable to find an email or postal address for her. We emailed the questionnaire to the South West Regional Office of the Labour Party with a request to forward it to her
All UKIP candidates except Chris Lees - We emailed the UKIP regional office asking for email addresses for them but have had no reply. If anybody knows how we can get in touch with any of them please email
bristolstopwar@hotmail.com
The questions
(1.) Did you believe Tony Blair's 45 minute claim?
(2.) Do you believe the invasion of Iraq was legal?
(3.) Do you think the world is a safer place since the invasion & occupation of Iraq?
(4.) Do you support Military Families Against The War's call to bring the British troops home?
(5.) Do you think the Iraqi people have the right to resist the occupation?
(6.) Would you believe Tony Blair if he said he had secret information that Syria or Iran was a threat to Britain?
(7.) Would you support military action against Syria or Iran?
(8.) Do you approve of evidence obtained under torture being used in British courts?
(9.) Do you think the USA & Britain have the right to decide who can & can't have weapons of mass destruction?
(10.) Do you think George Bush is a threat to world peace?
(2.) Do you believe the invasion of Iraq was legal?
(3.) Do you think the world is a safer place since the invasion & occupation of Iraq?
(4.) Do you support Military Families Against The War's call to bring the British troops home?
(5.) Do you think the Iraqi people have the right to resist the occupation?
(6.) Would you believe Tony Blair if he said he had secret information that Syria or Iran was a threat to Britain?
(7.) Would you support military action against Syria or Iran?
(8.) Do you approve of evidence obtained under torture being used in British courts?
(9.) Do you think the USA & Britain have the right to decide who can & can't have weapons of mass destruction?
(10.) Do you think George Bush is a threat to world peace?
Replies received after 18th April
1st May: Bernard Kennedy , Socialist Labour, Bristol West
27th April: Chris Lees , UKIP, Bristol North West
25th April: Philip James , Liberal Democrat, Bristol South. He has not answered the ten questions, but we have published the reply he sent to a potential constituent who was querying why he had not answered them.
21st April: Kay Barnard , Liberal Democrat, Bristol South.
Navigation
Every page in this web site has a navigation bar in the top-left corner of the page, listing the consituencies covered by this questionnaire. Click on the name of a constituency to see a list of candidates standing for election in that constituency. You can then click on the name of a candidate to see their replies to the questions.
You can get back to this page at any time by clicking on the [Home] hyperlink at the top of the navigation bar.
Visit the Bristol Stop the War Coalition Yahoo group at
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/bristol-stop-the-war... to read Bristol and regional newsletters, and to sign up for news by e-mail.
This General Election 2005 web site is proudly hosted by Swindon Stop the War Coalition:
http://www.swindonstopwar.org.uk/