I am standing against UK Prime Minister David Cameron in next Thursday's General Election - part 3. AMA!

Do you not feel like your job is redundant as you will never be able to knock Cameron out of his seat especially in such a conservative seat?

Nope. My job is vital - first, in a democracy you must challenge; second I am raising lots of local issues David Cameron has ignored such as the jammed A40 and spiralling waiting times for NHS services. Third, I have challenged him about the damage his government has done, across the country but also in his own constituency.

Here's an example of what I mean: http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/inside-david-camerons-constituency-volunteers-5508519

Thanks for the reply, could you do a pitch as to why people should vote for you on May 7th?

Here's a quick video about this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z98mNsYhYK8

Hi Duncan, thanks for the AMA. Milliband disagrees, but do you think labour overspent when last in power?

Thanks for the question. I'm with Ed on this. If you look at the record, Labour reduced the national debt to historically low levels by 2007, and at that time the Tories didn't just agree to the spending levels, they offered to spend more: https://youtu.be/bR_hfQU-4r0.

It was the banking crisis of 2007-8 that really caused much of the deficit, and even then by 2010 the economy was growing again.

Between 1997 and 2010, Labour spent on UK priorities such as the NHS, schools and universities. The way we will reduce the deficit from now is by growing the economy.

What (if any) are your policies on protecting transsexual/transgender people and their rights?

Good question. I have supported a Trans manifesto which addresses this very point from the LGBT Consortium. Labour's Equalities Act should provide backbone for this, and was one of the best results from the last Labour Government.

why should i vote for you and not David Cameron?

For two reasons. First, his government have damaged our economy with austerity followed by a false house-price boom. It is already slowing, and will be dealt a big blow by slashing public services and proposing an EU referendum. For stable growth and a fairer share, vote for me. Second, because I will be a different sort of MP, living locally and acting on the major local issues, such as affordable homes, a move away from becoming a dormitory district, action to cut waiting times for A&E, GPs and ambulances, and shorter travel times on the A40 by 2020.

I love how you judge 'damaging the economy' by austerity measures.

Are you aware that unemployment went down by 2 million, growth is up, and the deficit is halved?

Too many people are working in insecure and low-level jobs, including on zero-hours contracts. I know a local graduate who has been made redundant and can only find occassional bar work - employed, yes, but secure and in a career, no. By now Osborne said he would have eliminated the current deficit, so the Tories' "long-term economic plan" is proving to be a short-term political fix and no more. We need real growth, tackling low productivity and the widest ever Balance of Trade deficit. That requires stability and investment, not playing politics with the EU and savaging services.

No matter how much the Labour party bangs on about zero hour contracts, it doesn't invalidate the fact that 2 million more people are now employed than under Labour. Zero hour contracts make up a tiny minority of those now in work.

A whole lot of students also find them useful for part-time work.

Tories' "long-term economic plan" is proving to be a short-term political fix and no more

Why have the Financial times and the Economist both backed the Tories plan? Why do you call it short-term when they've only had 5 years and growth is forecast to continue to rise and the deficit continue to come down?

We're still suffering as a country from a number of major problems. I have a small publishing company and know first hand that the banks are tough to get support from. Lending to business has fallen £50bn since May 2010. Business rates have shot up, A French worker produces in 4 days what a British worker does in 5; Germans even more, because they have invested in skills and equipment. One in five workers is low paid. There are 1.8m zero hours contracts in the economy. For over half a million at least these aren't "flexible", they are exploitative. We need a new plan.

Okay, thanks for all your answers. You can probably tell I'm not a labour supporter though!

One last question though. I start Uni in September. If Labour get in and fulfill their pledge to cut tuition fees to £6000/year, when will that come into effect? Starting this September or will it be in the pipeline for some time?

Thank you too for asking questions. Always good to have your ideas challenged.

The cut will happen as of September 2016. Note this won't mean a cut to University budgets as the money will come from a reduction in pension tax relief from higher to basic rate for those earning over £150,000 - still generous but not a giveaway for the richest.

What about students, such as myself, who are already paying £9000 a year? Will we have our debt removed?

It seems unfair that students unfortunate enough to enter higher education between 2010-2015 will have to pay more than everyone else.

Yes it does seem unfair. If we had won the last election we wouldn't have done it. Unfortunately we have to deal with the situation we find when we come to government. I will however mention this to my education colleagues (why not email them too?)

One more question from me! sorry

Some people such as students find that zero hours contracts are actually a very good way to earn money, without being taken away form their studies.

Why are Labour so Anti zero hours contracts?

Flexible hours are OK, and some people can manage zero hours contracts. I have three on the go right now, because I provide expertise to a number of organisations through my own small business and that might happen at any time. Mind you, I would rather they paid me a monthly retainer! I bet you wish you could guarantee work when you wanted it too.

Labour has been explicit that we wouldn't ban zero-hours contracts per se, but the exploitative use of them. For example, where an employer guarantees no hours, yet obliges an employee not to work for anyone else, that's unfair. When someone has been working regular hours, week in week out, they should be given a regular contract. It isn't fair that people, usually on low wages, have to rely on a text on Sunday to know if they have any work the next week. It is the kind of casualisation more at home in Ragged Trousered Philanthropists (great book written 100 years ago) than 21st Century Britain.

Growth has been driven by house price inflation and not much else. It is already petering out. In the first quarter of 2015 our economy has grown at half the rate it was growing when Labour left office, in the first quarter of 2010.

You left the conservative government with spiralling debt, rapidly increasing immigration, 2 unwinnable wars, one of which I had to fight in, an NHS semi privatised through the absolutely abhorrent use of PFI, no money, a note saying there was no money, and an extremely arrogant view that you had done nothing wrong. IMHO Tony Blair & Gordon Brown should be charged with treason for what they did.

I won't be voting Conservative, but I promise you I'll never vote for a Labour government as long as I live.

This time round I'll be voting for the only party that puts the working classes first, that listens to the people and their wants, and actually has a leader who gives a shit.

So can you please explain to me how you and Ed Miliband are going to put this country right if given the chance?

edit: p.s. I spoke to your colleague Oliver Coppard last week and although an excellent speaker and communicator, he simply brushed aside the fact that wage compression in the north of the UK is only going to increase given that immigration is coming up to 300k a year. So for my second question, when are you going to live up to your promise and actually regain some control of our borders?

Just to point out, the 'spiralling debt' was related to bailing out the banks heavily as a result of a global economic crash. I'm not a labour voter either, but it can't be ignored or dismissed as frivolous spending. No one who caused that issue had to open their wallet to bail out the economy, it was left to the government, and replicated around the world, so it's not entirely a bad decision either, is it?

Interestingly not only the Bank of England Governor, but also now senior civil servants involved, have shared openly that it was not Labour overspending (there was none) but the banking crisis that led to the deficit: http://www.theguardian.com/business/2015/may/03/senior-tory-financial-crash-was-purely-a-banking-crisis-not-labour-overspend

I absolutely agree that bailing out the banks was a contributing factor, but at the same time, Labour borrowed, spent and spent and spent insteading of saving money through the good years of the 90s and early noughties.

This myth of labour's overspending really needs to end. We were doing very well before the crash, the spending was justified. In fact, the Tories actually said they'd match it pound for pound:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1562023/Tories-vow-to-match-Labour-spending.html

It's very annoying that Murdoch's press has made this myth a 'given'. That man's world wide power needs to be blunted.

Also, Labour's spending did not cause the crash, two reputable sources below:

http://www.theguardian.com/business/2015/may/03/senior-tory-financial-crash-was-purely-a-banking-crisis-not-labour-overspend

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-32549892

That's not to say they were perfect - I am not a big fan of Blairs. However, the tories wanted even less regulation on the finance industry, so who knows where we'd have ended up?

Plus, the tores have managed to do far worse than Labour in their spending since they took over:

http://blogs.spectator.co.uk/coffeehouse/2013/11/the-tories-have-piled-on-more-debt-than-labour/

It's not a case of: "Oh look at the bad Tories, they would have made things worse!".

That's what children do, blame the other sibling.

It's a case of they were both wrong, you should be running a surplus in good times and a deficit in a recession, but Labour was busy hiding it's debts and spending heaps of money on the NHS.

Not right. Labour kept to a prudent plan to borrow only for investment over the economic cycle, until the banking crisis in the last two years of office hit harder than any international crisis since the 1930s. Even then action such as the cut in VAT kept the economy afloat and it was growing faster in 2010 than it is now.

I honestly don't believe we'd be having this discussion without the economic crash though, given that their spending was comparable to previous governments as I recall.

Correct. And Labour spent to invest, not on wasteful things like mass unemployment like previous Tory governments. Labour will invest again if elected on Thursday.

The facts just don't support that. We need strong public services such as the NHS and schools, and that is where public money went. Good sound investments in Britain's future.

Oh, and during that time we cut the national debt to historically low levels too - well below the levels under Thatcher.

Big list of things here, some of which I have answered elsewhere. The civil war across the Middle East is driving immigration and is a real and present danger for Britain. Thanks for your part in fighting for our interests. This is not a conflict that will end easily or soon, but what you did has made us safer, so thanks.

I don't think the last Labour govermnet did nothing wrong. Of course it didn't - no government is infallible. Ed Miliband has taken the unusual step of apologising (politicians should do it more, and probably would if the media didn't leap on every instance and hammer them). He said sorry for Iraq, and apologised for getting things wrong on immigration. I also think we should have spotted earlier that the deregulation of banks, which happened under Thatcher and Reagan and spread worldwide, was getting totally out of hand. The banking crash wasn't Labour's fault (and started in USA of course), but Labour should have done more to push for international bank regulation.

PFI was a way to mend lots of hospitals quickly to avoid NHS shutdown across the country. It also sank cost in a different way, and got buildings built to time and budget, but there have been problems with transparency, refinancing deals that have left taxpayers out of pocket, and unequal burdens across public bodies. I wouldn't support a lot of the ways these were used, and would rather use regular public investment in future. But there is nothing inherently abhorrent about PFI as such, just need care in its use as a financing tool (and to my mind use it sparingly in future).

You're wrong about Brown and Blair as well. They are both men of integrity who did all they could for the country in the circumstances they found, and achieved huge amounts in 13 years, from minimum wage to right to roam, from equalities act to civil partnership, from human rights to workers rights.

Labour's platform is a strong one in this election, balancing the books but building a fairer society and economy. Take a look at www.labour.org.uk.

One thing we are going to do is invest in our border force to get proper control over who is coming in and out, with 1000 more staff. Labour will arrest foreign criminals on entry (and catch our own as they leave). Labour will also want to crack down on trafficking and exploitation.

Apprenticeships may make it seem like unemployment is down, but they're a poor replacement for actual jobs, a way of undercutting minimum wage (the minimum required to live on) and a way of subsidising costs for large multi-billion pound corporations.

Focusing on the deficit and debt at a time when our GDP is down is just bad economics. We need to borrow money to restart the economy. Not cut the GDP even further. Debt should only become an issue when the economy is good. Trickle-down economics and austerity experiments have failed time and again.

The growth is deceptive as the UK isn't really doing that well in comparison to other countries like the US and France. It's easy to use GDP growth to create a misleading view of economic development. For example, a poor country with a GDP of $2k can easily "beat" the US and Germany in GDP growth if it's GDP rises to $4k.

The deficit is just the amount by which the government's revenue is below it's spending. Most people don't understand that. Deficits can be and have been easily manipulated. The deficit was increasing since the coalition government took power, but fell the very quarter before the election, which is what the media obligingly reports.

Poor countries can have a low deficit, it just doesn't mean much.

The tories only focus on deficits/debt because they want to use it as an excuse to cut public services. They've manipulated the deficit because it's easy to cheat on and makes them look good to people too clueless on economics to know better. It's the usual conservative tactic, cut until the service can't run properly and then claim it's a failure of the public sector and announce privatisation.

Interesting analysis. Just a quick note on apprenticeships - they need to pay, and they need to include really decent quality training so the apprentice has skills to embark on a long career. Some are not providing this but the good ones are. We want more good apprenticeships.

Whilst it would be wonderful to see more affordable homes in Oxfordshire, particularly within Oxford and the ring road, how do you propose getting them built when there's such opposition to new builds in the area? I'm tired of developers proposing new accommodation and then my council tax being wasted on endless rounds of appeals (see Temple Cowley Pools, Port Meadow student accomodation, and Botley development as examples).

I have yet to meet a village or town that wants no development at all. More often they are faced with inappropriate developments - the wrong houses in the wrong place. I think we would get all the houses we need - people understand the housing crisis across our district - if we encouraged grass-roots development plans to come forward from parishes and towns. In our area for example there is great appetite for social housing, and we need to fund that from the council. There is also possible growth in town centres through redevelopment of old sites. Labour in West Oxfordshire is arguing for parish sustainability plans to carry weight, coming from villages and describing where and what sort of houses are needed. Some might be bungalows so older residents can downsize without leaving their home village and friends. Others might include social housing or part-rent-part-buy schemes for key workers like nurses and carers.

What is your view about the EU influence towards the UK, such as the immigration and one currency policies?

Oh, and the single currency is a good idea in principle for Europe, but our economies need to converge far more before it works well. I don't think Britain will be in a position to even discuss using the Euro for some years.

Do you feel the £8 minimum wage target is a bit unambitious? I would have thought it'd get very near to that anyway by 2020. Surely it needs to get closer to the living wage more quickly.

Yes I do. But Labour have said they will get there before 2020, not by 2020. I'm glad you mentioned the Living Wage. Along with Labour colleagues I got our West Oxfordshire District Council to agree to pay the Living Wage, though the Conservatives voted against requiring contractors to do the same. Labour will offer tax incentives to firms who become Living Wage employers.

Fair enough, I hadn't heard about the tax incentives, that sounds like a good idea. Also, is it true that David Cameron has barely been seen in your constituency?

He hasn't been around much, but to be fair he has been busy! The thing that is frustrating is that when he has been around, he has been on the defensive. We had one hustings event with him, but he didn't really rise to the debate. Fringe candidates were excluded in case they upset him or something, and the event was ticket-only. The one time we saw him on the street in Chipping Norton he scuttled off as soon as we brought out our banner!

He has a home in the constituency, in a tiny hamlet, so we do see him. I am arguing that if I am elected I will be much more of a local presence, campaigning and getting my hands dirty on behalf of my neighbours to fix things like the local A40 road (jammed morn and night) and the NHS locally.

What would you to owners of business that would go out of business because Labour had increased the minimum wage and the tax incentives are not enough for them to continue to make a profit?

We're cutting business rates which is one of the biggest problems for small businesses. We will also tackle the energy companies and freeze or lower energy bills, a second major cost.

What are your thoughts on the fact that Labour are currently facing a bit of a hammering in Scotland?

Many polls are predicting that the SNP will pick up at least 50 Scottish seats.

Good question thanks. The polls certainly look that way, but I don't think we can tell yet. Lots of good Labour MPs who have worked hard up there will defy the general swing.

When it comes down to it, the people will decide, not the polls of course.

Polls reflect how people are going to vote though don't they...

Most show the SNP wiping out every Labour MP in Scotland. That's pretty damning.

I don't think it will happen, but I do think the rise in nationalism is a challenge for us all. Labour is at its best when arguing for equality and better lives for working people. I think we should challenge the SNP on that - have they made things better for people in Scotland since they took over the Scottish Parliament? How does big cuts in Corporation Tax, and buddying up with Donald Trump and Rupert Murdoch help the average person?

How do you feel about the Milifandom?

Amazing! It is always good to get a reaction from the real world outside, rather than something concocted by the campaigns themselves. Better for example than the small business letter supporting the Tories, put together (inexpertly) by...the Tories (fail)

First I heard of it was a friend who tweeted me to set up a Duncanfandom. That failed too!

Haha! Thanks for replying! As someone who is unable to vote, like the girl who set up the Milifandom, I think it's great that young people are showing the world that they have a voice.

Yes and it was so funny too! Incidentally I am a big fan of Labour's plan to offer votes at 16. If you are old enough to marry, die for your country in the armed forces, leave education for work and so on, why not vote? It will make citizenship lessons more relevant and interesting. It will also mean young people will have leverage on politicians, and their interests and concerns can't be ignored as now.

You're old enough at 16 to get married, with parental consent.

You're old enough to join the armed forces at 17, with parental consent.

You're not considered old enough to do any of the above on your own until you're 18.

I don't think people under 18 should vote, I remember how unbelievably stupid I was at 18 and what a narrow minded view of the world I had, I'm only starting to consider myself an adult with a good understanding of how the world works at 25.

As for leveraging politicians, the proof is in the pudding, there's no politician championing issues for young voters, they're only catering to core voting demographics.

I think your arguments are right pretty much, but all point to votes at 16 to me, particularly that last paragraph.

What do you think about this: http://www.theguardian.com/culture/2015/may/01/will-self-oscar-wilde-champagne-socialist-voting-labour?CMP=fb_gu

Everyone is welcome to vote Labour! Never thought I'd say this: well done Will Self!

https://youtu.be/bogJuSm-LB4 Very excited about endorsement from Jason Isaacs for Labour! Hello to Jason!

What to you say to those who believe excessive immigration will destroy the nhs?

Immigration is keeping it afloat right now, with excellent doctors and nurses from around the world coming in to care for us in the NHS. The cost of NHS care for immigrants is low, because by and large they are young, fit and working. But I do agree we need to control immigration, not least to stop exploitation.

Hello Duncan!

Firstly, good luck. It took me a long time to decide to vote for Labour (down here in Exeter, where we have the excellent Ben Bradshaw) but the more I read and the more I got involved, the more I decided it was a good idea. In fact, I've found myself getting so interested that I've actually joined the Labour party. I feel like I certainly have something to give.

My question is, post-election, what advice would you have for me who is now seriously considering exploring the career path of a politician? Would it even be possible for me who does not have a politics degree but instead a masters in physics (and hopefully soon a PhD :D ) to make any decent ground in the area, and aspire to become an MP one day?

Thanks :)

Thanks! My advice is not to regard it as a career, but a vocation. I've got a masters in Physics and no qualification in politics - that doesn't matter at all (in fact we are better placed I think!) Get involved in your local party, come to Conference, and see how to get more involved. Consider serving as a councillor if you want to make a contribution.

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No plans at the moment but I will raise this as the decrim efforts are worthy of consideration here in UK.

Are you one of the 209 MPs/#GE2015 candidates who have backed Exaronews's campaign for a reversal of DPP’s Janner decision? If not, would you agree that the decision needs to be reversed?

I'm not. I don't feel well informed enough by the media coverage to make a judgement. I'd go with the DPP who has looked at this in detail and knows the law far better than me.

Housing is a huge issue, especially for young people. I attended a conference a few weeks ago where Hilary Benn outlined Labour's plans, but refused to say if the party would commit to them (in fairness, neither did any other party speaker). What is your opinion of the housing crisis, and why won't Labour commit to tackling it?

Well Labour are commited to building 1 million homes by 2020. This is a supply problem not a demand one! I also like the idea of giving first-time buyers a head start against buy-to-investors, hence a cut in stamp duty is proposed by Labour for the former group. I wonder if Hilary Benn just didn't want to announce too early some of the promises we have made during the campaign?

I support the Homes for Britain campaign, sign up and join us!

Looking at the polls it would appear the left as a whole are predicted to have the majority of seats when combined. Labour, SNP, Plaid, Greens and perhaps the Lib Dems all have a common goal and dislike to Conservative austerity plans. With their list of coalition partners looking thin. In the event of a hung parliament. Would Labour run as a minority if the Tories fail to form a stable government? As many voters of these left wing parties have common ground. Surely the parties can work together to end this attack on the poor and disabled and lock David Cameron out of downing street. I myself would admire the left wing parties working together to claim a majority (323+ seats) in the house of commons. For the record. I will be voting Labour this election, I hope if given the chance, you will not hand victory to the conservatives out of being to proud to make a deal.

Honestly? I don't know what will happen. But I do know we should fight tooth and nail to keep the Tories out. I hear today Clegg has plans with Cameron to camp out in Downing Street and refuse to budge. I think that is wrong. Let's hope Labour's Oliver Coppard in Sheffield Hallam makes that impossible by beating Clegg, while I beat Cameron!

I don't know if you'll come back to answer this but why wont Labour admit that you will turning to the SNP to make up the next Government? I will be voting Labour but I I'm happy it looks like you wont have a majority as a coalition will force you to go back to original leftist views.

At this point we are scrapping for every vote, including in Scotland where Labour need to beat back the nationalists. Let's see what happens. If the SNP really are progressives, which I doubt (they are nationalists), they will not stand in the way of a progressive Labour Government.

What do you think can be done to get back labours seats in Scotland?

Haven't lost them yet! But we always need to be talking to people on their doorsteps and understanding problems. Also Labour must have a radical manifesto to make sure everyone benefits as we rescue the NHS and secure economic growth, rather than just a few rich people - Oh look, we've got one.

Do you have plans to allow marijuana legalization?

No. But I will raise this if elected.

Last time you did one of these, you said the NHS won't survive another 5 years if a Tory government was reelected. Any sources to back that claim up yet?

Yes, here are some reports from the independent King's Fund which indicate the levels of concern about the future of the NHS: http://www.kingsfund.org.uk/publications/articles/how-nhs-performing-april-2015 and this: "Most of the NHS is working close to its limits, and staff morale is a growing concern – making prospects for NHS performance in the next parliament extremely challenging." http://www.kingsfund.org.uk/publications/nhs-performance-under-coalition-government

If we carry on as now, we will see services in the NHS fragmented and privatised to the point where a coherent "NHS" will not exist in 5 years, but instead a disparate suite of variable services will take its place. Under pressure during the campaign, the Conservatives have pledged extra funding but refused, repeatedly, to say where it will come from. I fear they have no idea how to run the NHS.

Hmm, those sources don't even indicate slightly that the NHS will be gone in 5 years. 2 tiny articles from the same source. And from your own source:

Patient experience of the NHS generally remains positive, and public confidence is close to an all-time high

Follow up question, why did Labour continue with PFI contracts if privatisation is such a disaster?

Also, why did Labour cut funding in Wales, leaving the quality of healthcare so poor there that patients are seeking care in England?

My MP is a Tory and an NHS doctor and he doesn't have any concerns.

PFI was a way to get hospitals built quickly, and to avoid overspend by costing in the whole project including maintenance and handing construction risk to the contractor. Labour has invested in community care in Wales, and achieved remarkable things in terms of service integration. In West Oxfordshire we have problems with delayed transfer of care so need to learn lessons from other parts of the UK including Wales.

I am not saying that the NHS doesn't have within it the seeds of recovery - it clearly does. But it needs a Labour Government to invest, as in 1997, and to help integrate health and social care.

I am very surprised about your MP - most NHS doctors UK-wide are worried about the lack of resources, too short consultation times, slow ambulance response and so on. Who is it?

As someone living in a reasonably marginal constituency, we hear countless things about listening to the people and wanting to make a difference and basically the same stuff from every PPC, so what makes you (not the Labour Party) different from all of them? Why should we vote for you?

In my case, I am arguing both on national issues but also to be a different type of MP - living locally and listening to people in the area. Here's a quick film I made to make that argument: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z98mNsYhYK8

It is about values. Labour candidates come from a different place and want the country to go in a different direction. Britain is too unequal, and that leads to problems for all of us. Our public services are too weak, and that provides an unstable platform for economic growth. Labour will invest in the talents of everyone, and in infrastructure and services, so we can build a strong and more equal economy. Labour candidates will fight for that in their own constituencies. I'll do that in Witney.

Who would you say was/is your favourite leader in history?

Blimey, tough one. UK - Billy Bremner. Finest leader Leeds United and Scotland ever had. Decisive, inspiring, combative, fair, honest; once stopped in a motorway service station to sign an autograph for a little lad who was close to tears having missed the rest of the team. Yeah. Memories.

In the world? Mandela. We have been privileged to share the world with such a man.

Do you agree that losing Izzy's has hurt Witney's night-time economy, and that another 'proper' nightclub would be a real boost for the town?

iZi's - now Como Lounge - is a loss. To be honest I preferred Fat Lil's of an evening. There is still Norton's of course. But yes, I do think we could do with an alternative to the Oxford clubs. We could do with more for younger people to do.

If Labour were to get in and reduce the tuition fee to £6000 per year what would it mean for students such as myself who are already paying £9000? Would our debt be reduced? It would seem unfair if not in an already unfair circumstance.

This will happen from September 2016.

What is your stand on David Cameron's position on encryption? Do you agree with me that it is too tough, or do you support it? What about piracy?

Big questions. I've written more about this in my first two AMAs so that might be worth a look. Cameron's statement on encryption is an attack on civil liberties and a step too far, but it is also technologically illiterate. He seems to think it is possible to do this without exposing all transactions to anyone. We all know that's wrong. Perhaps he is just playing to a tech-ignorant gallery of control freaks. Not sure what you mean about piracy. I'm against piracy if it means making money out of someone else'e efforts. If it involves rum I am only for it in fictional adaptations. If booze and cigs smuggling from the continent, don't do it unless for personal use.

What are you going to do for us Canadians?

My aunt and uncle live in Thunder Bay and my cousins are also in Ontario! They are gift enough for you. I will allow you to share the country with their loveliness (but still want them to visit here in UK when they can).

Why on earth should we keep trident?

For influence in convening and driving to a succesful conclusion a worldwide decommissioning effort. I am a multilateral activist, There has been too little effort on this, probably because of North Korea and the unlikelihood of engaging them in the talks. But we should try.

When you were taking a huge salary out of the NHS, did you give any of it to charity or back to nurses or anything?

Just thought, you might be referring to the fact that I was a board member of the Oxfordshire Learning Disabilities NHS Trust for ten years. I got paid £7000 a year or thereabouts for that. I learnt a huge amount about learning disabilities, and the great people in the service, both staff and clients. I have experience as a carer to bring to the table, so I think I offered insights which improved services.

Eh? I have never taken a huge salary out of the NHS. My wife has just popped in to ask me about this and where all the money went! I think you have the wrong person perhaps?

have a feeling you might not get a reply!

Answered.