By Joe Locker, Local Democracy Reporter
An audience member who quizzed Sir Keir Starmer and Rishi Sunak during a televised debate in Nottingham says she “doesn’t have faith in either of our leaders”.
Labour leader Sir Keir clashed with the Conservative Party’s Rishi Sunak at Nottingham Trent University in their final showdown before the General Election on July 4.
The event was broadcast live on BBC One on Wednesday, June 26.
Tasneem Zahraa, 25, said: “I’m in my 20s and it feels like universities are churning out students year-on-year.
“Young people like myself have lost hope for if they will ever get a good job or buy a home. Many of my peers are leaving the UK and going to places like Australia or Dubai.
“What would you do to make me stay in the UK?”
Responding, Sir Keir said he believes young people have been let down in recent years.
He said Labour will win the race for good quality jobs, introduce a low mortgage deposit scheme, and build 1.5 million more homes over five years “to make sure the dream of home ownership lives again”.
“At the moment it has been killed under this government,” he said.
Mr Sunak outlined what he says are two “very practical” pledges.
The first being the reintroduction of a new form of help-to-buy, with a requirement for people to save five per cent for a deposit before the Government loans them a further 20 per cent.
The second pledge is effectively abolishing stamp duty for first-time buyers.
“I know it is too hard,” he added, “of course it has become too hard to buy your own home.”
Speaking to the Local Democracy Reporting Service after the debate, Ms Zahraa said: “A lot of young people are now going back home to live with parents because they can’t afford rent, can’t afford to save for a deposit and we’re looking at buying a home in our 30s.
“If we can see other countries are more attractive, as we’ll be able to get more bang for our buck, our time is worth more over there, then why not? A lot of people are jumping ship.
“I don’t feel satisfied with the answers they gave me, and also when it comes to promises, and especially promises by the Conservative Party, [over] the last 14 years we’ve seen empty promises, flimsy promises. So how am I able to have hope in Rishi Sunak or his Conservative Party?
“I don’t really have faith in either of our leaders. I am having to make a strategic vote rather than choosing a party that I actually believe in.”
Another audience member, Robert Blackstock, from Arnold, asked the two party leaders: “Are you two really the best we’ve got?”
Speaking after the debate Dr Tom Caygill, a senior lecturer in politics at Nottingham Trent University who specialises in British and parliamentary politics, said the question “gives us an insight into how fed up the public are with politics after the past few years”.
“There is an anti-politics mood and a lack of trust, the lack of enthusiasm for this election reflects this too,” he said.
“That is going to be hard to turn around and a challenge for whoever wins.”
