The Politics Society

The Politics Society’s Environmental Question Time got off to a controversial start on Friday when Phil Woolas, Minister for Immigration, had a cream pie thrown at him. The pie was thrown by a member of the No Borders group which is vehemently opposed to his recent comments on immigration caps in the UK.

Protestors from the No Borders group staged a demonstration at Woolas’ comments on immigration outside the event, holding signs reading “only if you’re British”. A spokesperson said the group objected to the “essentially racist immigration policies” of the government and accused Woolas of “playing right into the hands of right-wing extremists”. The start of the event was delayed by around ten minutes as a result of the protest.

Around 100 students attended the event, which featured six panellists. The Liberal Democrats were represented by Chris Davies MEP, the Greens by Peter Cranie and the Conservatives by Farraz Bhatti. UMSU Communications Officer Robbie Gillett and Gayle O’Donovan, a member of Camp for Climate Action also attended. Politics Society Chair James Maskell chaired the debate.

The panellists offered a brief description of their positions on environmental issues. Cranie emphasised the Green party’s promotion of environmental issues, saying “we have different priorities from other parties,” whist the Liberal Democrat representative claimed there was a “historic responsibility to take a lead” on the environment. O’Donovan was critical of some of the statements by the political parties. She suggested that rhetoric was not enough in order to successfully challenge climate change, saying “if we are going to talk about lowering carbon footprints then you have to start with yourself.”

Members of the audience were then invited to ask questions. Bhatti faced two questions on the Conservative’s opposition to the planned congestion charge in Manchester. He insisted his party had a good record on the environment but would not specify Tory alternatives to funding increased public transport in the Manchester area, saying that he “wouldn’t like to go into details.”

There was some criticism of government environmental policy from some questioners. Woolas defended Labour’s record on developing public transport as a sustainable policy, claiming that the party had “brought about an increase in public transport” since it has been in power. O’Donovan insisted that the only effective solution to environment problems was to “challenge the capitalist system that got us into this mess.”

The debate revealed significant differences of opinion between the panellists. O’Donovan argued that the main political parties had been largely ineffective in tackling environmental issues, whilst the Liberal Democrat and Green party panellists heavily criticised Bhatti for over Conservative opposition to the congestion charge.

The Politics Society was unaware of the planned protest by No Borders and was not involved in any way.