During the #VotePride political debate chaired by Evan Davies the greens out shone the other parties. Amelia Womack the deputy leader of the greens received the largest cheer from the audience and this was reflected in our poll.
National Student Pride balloted the 1052 students who attended the weekend event. If the election was held now the Greens would get 42% of the LGBT vote, followed closely by Labour with 39%, Lib Dems 10%, Conservatives 8% and UKIP 1%.
In the public show of hands at the end of the panel, no-one publicly supported the party which received a round of applause and cheer from the panelists and audience. The party has been caught up in a series of homophobic controversies and was the only one of the 5 main parties to not support the equal marriage bill.
On the panel was:
Simon Hughes – Lib Dem MP
Michael Cashman – Labour Peer
Amelia Womack – Greens Deputy Leader
Mike Freer – Conservatives
Owen Jones – Independent Columnist
UKIP were invited to speak at the LGBT event but did not send a representative.
The Lib Dems used the event to launch the policy announcement that before the general election they intend to pardon all 49,000 people criminalised for homosexuality after the Alan Turing campaign successfully got him pardoned for the same offence. This will be in their manifesto if they do not pass it before the general election.
The #VotePride debate was introduced as figures show the forthcoming general election will have record numbers of apathetic voters. Student Pride registered hundreds of students online and on the day as part of the campaign.
At a time when people are struggling to trust politicians and LGBT people are just as sceptical despite the legalisation of same-sex marriage last year.
A member of the audience asked the panel what they will do push LGBT rights further. Michael Cashman (LAB) said they would help trans people who don’t want to dissolve their marriage during transition.
Owen Jones, a columnist is for the Independent, argued that support for LGBT communities were being ruined under government cuts. He also critisced the negative campaign used in the run up to the elections, quoting Harvey Milk:
Student’s also grilled the panelists on their NHS stance and how they would protect it from privatisation.
Freer said LGBT healthcare often saw people travelling to cities and that’s why pan-city style care was important.
Hughes argued that the NHS wasn’t being privatised adding: “The NHS budget has been protected under this government.
Each of the parties were asked to justify why they were different from the other.
Listen : audioboom.com/playlists/1271202-what-makes-your-party-different-votepride-debate-at-studentpride
Womack (GREEN) said: “Education should be a right not just for the richest few.”
Cashman (LAB) argued: “We’re the only party whose promised to cut tuition fees from nine thousand to six thousand pounds. It’s about making Britain work for everybody.”
Mike Freer said (CON): “Having an economy that matters because without a strong economy nothing works.”
This year’s event was the tenth anniversary of Student Pride and was hosted at the University of Westminster, a Stonewall Diversity Champion, for the second time.
