Central Ayrshire candidates have their say ahead of June election

SNP candidate Dr Philippa Whitford, Lib Dem Tom Inglis and Labour’s Nairn McDonald’s have their say below.

Unfortunately, Conservative candidate Caroline Hollins did not provide a response in time for our deadline.

Dr Philippa Whitford, SNP.

OVER the past two years, I have worked hard to make a difference; nationally, as SNP Westminster Health Spokesperson and, locally, promoting industry and supporting communities.

I have spoken out against a UK Tory Government obsessed with austerity, introducing policy after policy which has hit the poor, the sick and the disabled, and which seems set on pursuing the hardest of Brexits.

Minimising the impact of Brexit on Scotland is a key priority for me. Crashing out of the EU without a deal, as threatened by Theresa May, puts 80,000 Scottish jobs at risk.

Eye-watering tariffs on meat and strict subsidy limits would seriously damage farming and our Food & Drink industry, while leaving the Single Aviation Market could see Ryanair abandon Prestwick Airport.

Leaving the EU will hit our NHS - workforce, research, new drug access - and take away many of our rights and opportunities.

Continuing to oppose Tory Austerity is also essential with four million children now living in poverty as working families struggle to make ends meet. Not content, Mrs May is now targeting pensioners, changing the ‘Triple Lock’ to a ‘Triple Whammy’ - removing the guaranteed 2.5 per cent pension uplift, means testing Winter Fuel Payments and, in England, making pensioners pay the cost of their social care.

The Scottish Budget has already been cut by over nine per cent and this plan would reduce our funding even further, limiting the Scottish Government’s ability to implement fairer, more progressive policies.

Locally, I will continue to promote our key industries - aerospace, food & drink, life sciences & tourism - push for an Ayrshire Growth Deal to help grow our economy, and look at further ways of facilitating partnerships to empower our communities.

Representing Central Ayrshire at Westminster has been an immense privilege and I hope you will again put your trust in me as your MP.

Nairn McDonald (Labour)

I’M standing for election because I want to see an end to this Tory Government.

Labour is the only alternative government and has a plan to invest in our people not cut our services.

I have been representing the people of this area in various positions for several years giving me over a decade worth of cumulative experience that I can bring to the role of MP

In our manifesto we have brought people back into the heart of politics, we have laid out a plan for investing in communities, our services and fixing the rigged economy.

While the Tories have given tax cuts to the richest and big businesses we will guarantee no tax rises for 95 per cent of the country and we will make the wealthiest pay their fair share.

Under a labour government our public transport network will once again be brought into public ownership to make sure it works not for the profit of shareholders but for the people it serves.

As a young person I know first-hand the feeling of being ignored and left behind that many have felt from this Tory Government and like many I am determined to see a change.

This election has two outcomes, another five years of harsh Tory austerity or a better, fairer way under a Labour Government. Vote Labour on June 8th.

Tom Inglis (Liberal Democrat)

I think voters in Central Ayrshire should choose to vote for the Liberal Democrats, because we offer the only sensible choice at this election.

Under a Conservative government at Westminster we face a disastrous hard brexit, crashing out of the European Union, and in all likelihood paying tariffs to trade with it and for visas to visit it. They have taken austerity to an extreme new level, with their attack on pensions, their “rape clause” on tax credits and their complete failure to provide the funding necessary to sustain the NHS.

Under an SNP government at Holyrood we face an unhealthy obsession with independence, which undermines their ability to get on with the job they were elected to do. They have had ten years in government, and yet our education system is plummeting down the international rankings, children have to wait up to two years for urgent mental health treatment, and the Scottish economy shrank in the last quarter.

The Liberal Democrats want to protect our important trading relationship with the world’s largest economy, to reverse the most savage cuts imposed by the Tories - without jeopardising our economic recovery, and ensure that the Scottish Government has the funds it needs to provide better education and mental healthcare for our kids.

I genuinely care about people and about the planet on which we live. I am very interested in current affairs and policy, and am frustrated by a lot of the choices our governments have made over the past 10 - 20 years, and felt that the only way I could help us make better choices was by getting involved in politics. I’m not a career politician, I’ve been working in the technology industry since I finished my undergraduate and masters degrees, and have a breadth of experience in the technology startup sector in Scotland.

My particular interests lie in making sure we have a sustainable constitutional settlement in the United Kingdom through federalism, tackling financial inequality and environmental sustainability through fairer taxation and legislation, and growing the number of companies and jobs in the technology industry in Scotland.

I am standing for parliament in Central Ayrshire this time, because I particularly want to:

- prevent another independence referendum when the people of Scotland were clear in their choice less than three years ago, and when we have entered a period of huge uncertainty over our relationship with the European Union.

- give the British people a chance to vote on the final deal that the British Government negotiates with the European Union, so that if the deal is as bad as we expect it to be, we have a chance to reject it before its impact is felt on our businesses and jobs.

- raise an extra penny on income tax and dividends, which via the Barnett Forumla, will result in £35 million which the Scottish Government can use to transform our mental health services, which have been neglected for so long by the SNP.

- keep the “triple lock” which ensures that the state pension increases every year by the higher of inflation, average earnings or a minimum of 2.5%, which the Conservatives plan to diminish.

- lift the 1% public pay cap, which artificially depresses the wages of people working in the many hugely valuable and demanding jobs in the public sector.