VOTE 2015: South Dorset Ukip parliamentary candidate Malcolm Shakesby: 'Over the years South Dorset has lost a lot of industries and we need to get more businesses and industries into the county'

We will be asking all the candidates in South and West Dorset about the issues that matter to voters in the county and trying to give the electorate an insight into their priorities before they go to the ballot box on Thursday, May 7.

Today we hear from South Dorset Ukip parliamentary candidate Malcolm Shakesby.

You can also watch a video interview with Mr Shakesby at dorsetecho.co.uk

How do you propose to make the voice of Dorset people heard in Parliament?

We’ve got to be realistic; we are not going to form a Government. In reality, we will possibly get some Members of Parliament, so Ukip should be able to form some sort of coalition.

Ukip would work well in a coalition, which would give me a big stick to wield to get money into south Dorset. That’s the main reason I’m doing this – Dorset is still bottom of the pile. There are so many opportunities here, Dorset and Weymouth and Portland is a beautiful place, it’s one of the best coastlines in the world and I would wield a big stick to make sure we got funding.

Is enough being done at a national government level to support rural economies like Dorset?

In a nutshell; no. Dorset is a mix, you have urbanised areas like Weymouth and Portland and Swanage, and then a lot of villages in between. In Winfrith there is a big problem of young people not being able to afford houses, because of holiday homes and second homes have escalated the prices.

We need more affordable housing, and affordable one and two-bedroom houses, not three and four-bedroom ones. We also need to have affordable homes to rent, because it’s so expensive. It’s madness and someone needs to get a grip of it.

My old mum used to tell me charity begins at home, and I firmly believe in that and until we can get some sense on this matter in south Dorset we will never fix those problems.

How will you protect frontline services such as the NHS and policing in the county?

Having been a governor at Dorset County Hospital, I know there are a lot of issues in the NHS. The whole idea was there were going to be some cuts and attempts to save the money to cover the deficit. I asked that frontline services were not cut, because there is far too much middle management in the NHS, and that’s what I would campaign for.

Another issue is the political parties have got to stop playing political football with the NHS. It’s an important part of the UK, where we all expect to get free medical care which is a lot more than in other countries.

There needs to be some control on it and We need to stop health tourism, because that’s costing the NHS a lot of money.

With the police, it again comes to central Government funding. They have closed a number of police stations in rural areas, such as Wareham and Wool.

I’m not saying crime rate is high in rural areas, but again it comes back to money. They are now talking about amalgamating Dorset Police with Devon and Cornwall Police and it remains to be seen if that will work, to see if that money can be reinvested into the police.

Recent years have seen cuts to many services in Dorset; would you expect to see more cuts or less during the next Parliaments if your party is successful in the elections?

Less cuts. We can’t continue to have any more cuts. We are already cut to the bone and when you are bottom of the pile you get to the point where there’s going to be nothing left to cut, which is the case in Dorset.

Dorset, like much of the country, has an ageing population. What problems does this pose for Government and what do you propose to do to reflect the changing demographic?

This comes back to the problems of having both urban and rural areas within the county.

In areas like Weymouth, elderly care has got a financial problem but rural areas in Dorset have also got big problems. The whole of system of social care is at breaking point.

We have got one main hospital in Dorchester, but we have had issues of bed blocking. How do we sort it this problem? Who do you look after first?

In my view, charity begins at home. We have a duty to look after our elderly. Everybody, including our Government, has a duty to look after elderly people. We have all put into the NHS with our National Insurance, and we expect to be looked after.

The other thing is elderly people are now being means tested, and that’s totally unacceptable. It doesn’t matter where you come from, what walk of life you are from, you are entitled to healthcare and that’s not happening at the moment.

The whole social care structure needs to be looked at.

What would you do to improve the life chances of career opportunities of young people in Dorset?

It needs investment. Over the years, south Dorset has lost a lot of industries and we need to get more businesses and industries into the county, but we also need to help the ones we have got.

The biggest one we have in South Dorset is obviously tourism, it employs a lot of people and what we need to be doing is investing in the area and in the attractions, opening them up to people and making it more attractive for people to come to the area.

When you have been out on the doorstep talking to voters, what has been the main issue raised by the electorate?

The main issue is immigration.

In Ukip, we think we need to take a serious look at people wanting to come into this country, and they should be sponsored by whoever is going to employ them and then issued a work permit for a year or two. When that runs out, whoever is sponsoring them should then decide if they are going to employ them permanently.

We can’t keep allowing people in willy-nilly and that’s what the average person on the street is saying to me.

If you felt strongly about a local issue, would you be prepared to vote against your party line?

Yes, I would be. I am a conviction politician so if I believe it would be right for the people that I represent then I would.

READER’S QUESTIONS

What will your party do to make sure young people are engaged in politics? (Sarah Trott, aged 13)

I think some young people are engaged in politics – there are a number of youth branches – but I do think more needs to be done.

There are lots of things being done in schools already, with youth councils, youth parliaments, but I think we need to broaden it out more. A lot of young people you talk to you have to explain it to them but when you do, you can see them understand it and that it’s right to think about parliament and decision making and democracy.

If you had to make a choice between what’s right for our country’s economy, defence, the NHS, education or the unemployment rate, what would you prioritise first and why? (Nick Mason)

The two I would prioritise first are education and the NHS, and both of them are linked as well.

I don’t think enough is being done to encourage young people to study sciences but without science nothing would happen. If more students did study science then eventually there would be more research into medicines which would help the NHS, and there would also be more doctors and nurses.