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Originally published on March 16th 2010 POLITICIANS WERE given a chance to compete for the student vote during a rousing political debate on Thursday in McEwan Hall.
Panelists included Labour Finance Spokesman David Whitton, MSP for Strathkelvin and Bearsden, Conservative Finance Spokesman Derek Brownlee, MSP for the South of Scotland, Liberal Democrat Finance Spokesman Jeremy Purvis, MSP for Tweeddale, Ettrick and Lauderdale and SNP Treasury Spokesman Stewart Hosie, MP for Dundee East. The debate focused upon economic policy and was conducted in a similar format to the BBC's Question Time, with opportunity for audience participation. All of the party representatives agreed that the economic crisis cannot be fully blamed on the British government, or on Britain’s regulation of the finance industry. "It’s a bit of an illusion that government is the master of its own destiny…everything depends on the world market," said Brownlee. Yet the panelists disagreed on how best to extract the country from financial trouble. Hosie advocated what he called ‘prudent debt, prudent deficit’ and recommended cutting ‘big-ticket items’ like Trident, instead of public services. Purvis said that the country should reduce debt by cutting superfluous policy, like ID cards and warned that "the economy is still very fragile." Brownlee compared the national debt to that of credit card debt, saying: "The sooner you stop building it up, the sooner you get out of debt". Whitton asserted that Britain will have to 'work its way out' of the recession. First year Economics student Maria Vildavskaya asked the panelists what the role of banks would be in the future, after the recent Government bail-outs. Hosie said that the actions taken by the Labour government to stem bank failures 'were the right thing', but added that that there must be an international regulation framework to “protect the system.” Whitton and Brownlee both agreed that greater regulation was the key to averting a future crisis. Purvis said: “There is a public understanding that it is not the job of the taxpayer to subsidize risk. RBS and HBOS were too big to fail, but they were also too big to save.” He advocated radical reform to the regulatory system. When asked after the debate if she was satisfied with answers to her questions, Vildavskaya said “No, they’re politicians – they don’t answer questions.” It seemed all the panelists when caught off guard when asked by an audience member what their personal qualifications were for serving in finance and treasury positions. None of the panelists claimed to have formal qualifications, and most cited colleagues or their vested interest in the subject. Whitton said: “Elected politicians are surrounded by officials who can give us advice, but in the end it comes down to democratic accountability.” Caroline Bellamy, a candidate standing for the Communist League in the next election, challenged the morality of the panelists belief in capitalism by asking if “there is any solution to this crisis that doesn’t involve transferring debt to working people and transferring capital to super-rich bondholders.” Brownlee stated: “Capitalism has its problems, but there is no credible alternative – it allows people to realize their potential – greater opportunities don’t correlate to greater welfare spending.” “I think it’s great that you’re running –though I don’t think you’ll win,” said Whitton. Hosie said that finance must be rebalanced, “we have nationalized risk…no banker with public money should have been getting bonuses, and its ordinary people who are paying.” Purvis, who seemed to have hit his stride said: “After a decade of Labour government, the gap between rich and poor is wider than ever. This is the ugly face of capitalism; the people have paid for the grotesque greed of lobbyists and companies who were rewarded for increasing risk. It is a test of the parties on this platform…we must change the trend in regards to equality.” The debate was chaired by Executive Editor of the Scotsman, Bill Jamieson. When asked by The Student why he believes it is valuable for students to attend events addressing the economy, chair Jamieson said: “We’re at a very important interval between the collapse and the other shoe – the consequences. We’re in a new world, with a new order in finance – it’s truly revolutionary.” Newer news items:
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