This page contains the views of the MP candidates for Bournemouth East on a wide range of issues

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To see how their views compare with yours, pick any quote below and select your view.

Let's start by looking at the local statements

(skip to national statements)

• Extra public money should be spent to improve the town's roads to deal with the problem of gridlocking.

  Select what YOU think to reveal their answers:	strongly agree	agree	neutral	disagree	strongly disagree
  Steven J Humphrey (Independent)	strongly agrees
  	“The Town's transport infrastructure has been neglected for many, many years and the whole transport issues is one that needs to be governed by B'mth residents not Dorset County officers!”
  Tobias Ellwood (Conservative Party)		agrees
  	“This is of course dependent on funds being available and being part of a complete plan which should include other inititives such as cycle lanes, light railways and even staggering of school times.”
  Lisa Northover (Liberal Democrats)			is neutral
  	“The most important thing is to stop the rise in care use”
  David Stokes (Labour Party)	strongly agrees
  	“We are living on the investment of our grandparents and leaving nothing to our grandchildren. Think how many roads have been resurfaced in last 4 years, no enough to pass onto our grand children.”
  David Hughes (UK Independence Party - UKIP)		agrees

• Funding should be prioritised to increase the provision of safer cycling routes in Bournemouth.

  Select what YOU think to reveal their answers:	strongly agree	agree	neutral	disagree	strongly disagree
  Steven J Humphrey (Independent)	strongly agrees
  	“putting cyclist first requires a good hard look at how we look after cyclists on our roads and changes made where possible”
  Tobias Ellwood (Conservative Party)		agrees
  	“Again - subject to funding. But Bournemouth could, as a tourist attraction, do much better in offering visitors arriving my train the option to get to our great attractions by rental bikes equipped with baskets and child seats etc.”
  Lisa Northover (Liberal Democrats)	strongly agrees
  David Stokes (Labour Party)		agrees
  	“This is investing in the future.”
  David Hughes (UK Independence Party - UKIP)		agrees

• Extra public funding should be spent on the creation of affordable housing suitable for families.

  Select what YOU think to reveal their answers:	strongly agree	agree	neutral	disagree	strongly disagree
  Steven J Humphrey (Independent)	strongly agrees
  	“provision should be made intially for 10,000 new homes for the homeless and those registered with the housing teams to significantly reduced homelessness and our housing waiting - it should be Our Council's highest Priority!”
  Tobias Ellwood (Conservative Party)		agrees
  	“Again - subject to funding - the money cannot come out of thin air!! Tories will give powers to councils to have more control over the type of housing that developers put forward. At present it has limited ability to encourage social housing build.”
  Lisa Northover (Liberal Democrats)		agrees
  	“I agree on 3 bedrooms and more!”
  David Stokes (Labour Party)	strongly agrees
  	“Houses with gardens for families with children.”
  David Hughes (UK Independence Party - UKIP)	strongly agrees

National statements

(back to local statements)

• Many people think taxes will have to rise in the next parliament to cut Britain's budget deficit. If they do, any increases should disproportionately be paid by higher earners.

  Select what YOU think to reveal their answers:	strongly agree	agree	neutral	disagree	strongly disagree
  Steven J Humphrey (Independent)	strongly agrees
  	“anyone who earns less than £25,000 pa should not have any tax increase, those earning more than £25 K should have their taxes increased and anyone earning less than £16 k pa should have their taxes considerably reduced.”
  Tobias Ellwood (Conservative Party)			is neutral
  	“Not a well thought through question! If you over tax rich, these businesses (and the employment that goes with it) will move abroad.”
  Lisa Northover (Liberal Democrats)		agrees
  	“It is unfair for the lowest paid to pay a larger percentage of their income in tax than higher paid.”
  David Stokes (Labour Party)		agrees
  David Hughes (UK Independence Party - UKIP)				disagrees
  	“I support a system of flat tax (on income)as propounded by the Adam Smith Institute. Under this system NIC would be abolished and tax set at c.31%. Earnings less than £11,500 would be free pay that would particularly help low earners.”

• The British government interferes too much with business.

  Select what YOU think to reveal their answers:	strongly agree	agree	neutral	disagree	strongly disagree
  Steven J Humphrey (Independent)	strongly agrees
  	“cut red tape, improve lending arrangements, massively ncrease tax allowances for green investmest by SME companies, punish big polluters in significant ways, end coal subsidy immediately!”
  Tobias Ellwood (Conservative Party)	strongly agrees
  	“Far too much red tape. Ask any hotelier or B&B in Bournemouth.”
  Lisa Northover (Liberal Democrats)			is neutral
  	“Small business should be able to operate free from red tape as much as possible but big business - big corporations like Nestle need to be regulated.”
  David Stokes (Labour Party)				disagrees
  David Hughes (UK Independence Party - UKIP)		agrees
  	“The real source of the problem here is the European Union and Britain's commitment to it. Its obsession with regulation and micro management is imposing heavy admin costs to British business.”

• Government should tackle climate change aggressively even if it means energy bills go up.

  Select what YOU think to reveal their answers:	strongly agree	agree	neutral	disagree	strongly disagree
  Steven J Humphrey (Independent)					strongly disagrees
  	“it is not the domestic consumer who produces much of our pollution, it is the big regional power companies who do, therefore corporate taxes for big polluters should be significantly increased, fuel duty for SME's should be reduced...”
  Tobias Ellwood (Conservative Party)			is neutral
  	“Rather a simple question. There are a whole host of initiatives we can do to REDUCE our energy needs, such as better insulation. We should also tackle this global issue by placing pressure on China and US, as well as other polluters.”
  Lisa Northover (Liberal Democrats)		agrees
  	“This should be alongside investment in energy efficiency so that householders need to use less energy.”
  David Stokes (Labour Party)			is neutral
  David Hughes (UK Independence Party - UKIP)					strongly disagrees
  	“The jury is still out concerning anthropogenic global warning.”

• It would be a big problem if Britain became more economically unequal over the next 5 years.

  Select what YOU think to reveal their answers:	strongly agree	agree	neutral	disagree	strongly disagree
  Steven J Humphrey (Independent)	strongly agrees
  	“MAKE POVERTY HISTORY, Help the Aged and protect and serve the poor, deprived and vulnerable by reforming benefit provision in significant ways (eg stop_stopping_benefits)”
  Tobias Ellwood (Conservative Party)			is neutral
  	“Not sure what the question means....North / south? Rich / Poor ? Urban / rural?”
  Lisa Northover (Liberal Democrats)		agrees
  	“Britain has already become less equal and this should not be allowed to get worse”
  David Stokes (Labour Party)		agrees
  David Hughes (UK Independence Party - UKIP)			is neutral

• Despite the recession, Britain should increase spending on public sector services.

  Select what YOU think to reveal their answers:	strongly agree	agree	neutral	disagree	strongly disagree
  Steven J Humphrey (Independent)					strongly disagrees
  	“cut costs, protect and serve frontline services, reduced spending on white elephant N RDA programs, remove spending on Nuclear (trident scrapped), reduce middle management”
  Tobias Ellwood (Conservative Party)			is neutral
  	“When funds become available then yes we should split the proceeds of growth with this and reducing taxes. But we can also REDUCE the size of the state sector too - which would save money.”
  Lisa Northover (Liberal Democrats)				disagrees
  David Stokes (Labour Party)		agrees
  David Hughes (UK Independence Party - UKIP)					strongly disagrees

• People should provide for their own retirement, and not demand the state to help them do so.

  Select what YOU think to reveal their answers:	strongly agree	agree	neutral	disagree	strongly disagree
  Steven J Humphrey (Independent)					strongly disagrees
  	“state pension and benefits should be index linked to the GDP of a nation, and all claimants/pensioners should all have £1,000 pa Social Care Grants made available once per year”
  Tobias Ellwood (Conservative Party)			is neutral
  	“People should be encouraged to save - but there are some who, through no fault of their own are not able to look after themselves, so they need state assistance.”
  Lisa Northover (Liberal Democrats)			is neutral
  	“Where they are able to. with an ageing population we will need to be less dependent on the state in our old age”
  David Stokes (Labour Party)				disagrees
  David Hughes (UK Independence Party - UKIP)				disagrees

• Immigration levels are too high.

  Select what YOU think to reveal their answers:	strongly agree	agree	neutral	disagree	strongly disagree
  Steven J Humphrey (Independent)		agrees
  	“Immigration is a double edged sword and I'm not sure how to fix the problems we have; one major prob is the wage levels and the national minimum wage and maybe that could be reviewed - I dont know how to fix it!!!”
  Tobias Ellwood (Conservative Party)	strongly agrees
  	“Labour's open door policy needs to change. We need a cap ob immigration and a reduction by 80%.”
  Lisa Northover (Liberal Democrats)			is neutral
  David Stokes (Labour Party)			is neutral
  David Hughes (UK Independence Party - UKIP)	strongly agrees

• There are too many CCTV cameras in Britain.

  Select what YOU think to reveal their answers:	strongly agree	agree	neutral	disagree	strongly disagree
  Steven J Humphrey (Independent)		agrees
  	“evidence suggests CCTV is not always good and should be reviewed and scrapped where possible, 'boots on the ground' and better education for kids should be the priority!”
  Tobias Ellwood (Conservative Party)		agrees
  	“Though it should be for local communities to have more say - not Westminster, on how cameras are deployed.”
  Lisa Northover (Liberal Democrats)		agrees
  	“Money is better spent responding to public information and emergency calls”
  David Stokes (Labour Party)				disagrees
  David Hughes (UK Independence Party - UKIP)		agrees

• A married, heterosexual couple provide the best environment in which to raise a family.

  Select what YOU think to reveal their answers:	strongly agree	agree	neutral	disagree	strongly disagree
  Steven J Humphrey (Independent)					strongly disagrees
  	“fairness in marriage is the best environment and no one should discriminate except on Anti-social (eg noise) grounds against non-conventional marriages”
  Tobias Ellwood (Conservative Party)		agrees
  	“Yes - but recognise there are many examples where other forms of relations can work too.”
  Lisa Northover (Liberal Democrats)			is neutral
  	“they may provide the 'optimum' environment, but many do not. Families of all sorts of make up will thrive”
  David Stokes (Labour Party)		agrees
  David Hughes (UK Independence Party - UKIP)	strongly agrees

• In general, politicians in Britain are honest.

  Select what YOU think to reveal their answers:	strongly agree	agree	neutral	disagree	strongly disagree
  Steven J Humphrey (Independent)					strongly disagrees
  	“The system does not encourage fairness or honesty in politics therefore the Parliamentary System needs to be looked at and reformed and modernised where possible”
  Tobias Ellwood (Conservative Party)		agrees
  	“But as in every other part of life; schools, hospitals, police, there are some bad apples that tarnish the reputation of the others.”
  Lisa Northover (Liberal Democrats)			is neutral
  	“I think it is very difficult to us to know for sure as the media is fickle and that is often ur”
  David Stokes (Labour Party)		agrees
  David Hughes (UK Independence Party - UKIP)				disagrees

• The arts in Britain should pay for themselves, and not rely on Government subsidy.

  Select what YOU think to reveal their answers:	strongly agree	agree	neutral	disagree	strongly disagree
  Steven J Humphrey (Independent)					strongly disagrees
  	“The creative arts is proven to be a major hi-tech skills (IT n media based) motivator for those in poverty and helps raise awareness of concerns and issues of interest but educational investment must be the priority”
  Tobias Ellwood (Conservative Party)				disagrees
  	“Britain is the sixth most visited place in the world - part of that attraction is our arts and culture. It does, in the end pay for itself many times over in other forms of taxes through visitor spend. But not directly.”
  Lisa Northover (Liberal Democrats)					strongly disagrees
  	“Arts are an important part of society.There is a great difference between commercial art and art for arts sake.”
  David Stokes (Labour Party)				disagrees
  David Hughes (UK Independence Party - UKIP)				disagrees

• The new British government should begin negotiations to leave the European Union.

  Select what YOU think to reveal their answers:	strongly agree	agree	neutral	disagree	strongly disagree
  Steven J Humphrey (Independent)	strongly agrees
  	“Our relationship with Europe should be re-evaluated, reviewed, and reformed where possible and necessary to improve Value-for-money for the British Taxpayer”
  Tobias Ellwood (Conservative Party)				disagrees
  	“The Union needs to change back to a trading platform but the EU has a collective strength for trade that allows us to compete with the other global power bases such as the US and China.”
  Lisa Northover (Liberal Democrats)					strongly disagrees
  David Stokes (Labour Party)				disagrees
  David Hughes (UK Independence Party - UKIP)	strongly agrees

• Even if Iran develops a nuclear weapon, Britain should not support any military action against Iran.

  Select what YOU think to reveal their answers:	strongly agree	agree	neutral	disagree	strongly disagree
  Steven J Humphrey (Independent)	strongly agrees
  	“If the US and Russia can have 1500 Nuclear warheads EACH and Iran not have any is a ridiculous situation, Iran is a sovereign state and NATO should review its stance with Iran”
  Tobias Ellwood (Conservative Party)			is neutral
  	“How can you predict what will happen? It would be irresponsible to make commitments like this now when we have no idea what action an empowered nuclear Iran might take?”
  Lisa Northover (Liberal Democrats)			is neutral
  David Stokes (Labour Party)		agrees
  David Hughes (UK Independence Party - UKIP)				disagrees

• British troops should stay in Afghanistan as long as they are needed.

  Select what YOU think to reveal their answers:	strongly agree	agree	neutral	disagree	strongly disagree
  Steven J Humphrey (Independent)					strongly disagrees
  	“bring the troops home immediately and send in the Community Support Advisors and Neighbourhood management teams to help build a better future for Afghan people.”
  Tobias Ellwood (Conservative Party)			is neutral
  	“With respect - a naive question. The situation is too complicated to answer by a tick in the box... Our strategy was, for five years wrong, our army was not equipped properly to do the job, and we had no clue how to do reconstruction and development.”
  Lisa Northover (Liberal Democrats)			is neutral
  David Stokes (Labour Party)		agrees
  David Hughes (UK Independence Party - UKIP)				disagrees

• Britain spends too much money on foreign aid.

  Select what YOU think to reveal their answers:	strongly agree	agree	neutral	disagree	strongly disagree
  Steven J Humphrey (Independent)					strongly disagrees
  	“If anything, we should spend far more on state-level education, political reform and community engagement with the UK Commonwealth Nations - to help build a better future for all nations!”
  Tobias Ellwood (Conservative Party)			is neutral
  	“Foreign aid helps poorer countries help themselves. If we did not help them - the whole immigration issue would be a lot worse.”
  Lisa Northover (Liberal Democrats)			is neutral
  	“needs to be spent wisely!”
  David Stokes (Labour Party)				disagrees
  David Hughes (UK Independence Party - UKIP)			is neutral

Answers by party

In many places, key candidates have refused to go on the record (and sometimes we've been unable to get in touch with them). As a poor substitute, you can see a rough version of how each party answers on average over at our partner site, Democracy Club.

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