UPDATE: Those debate questions in full...

These are the questions asked at the Petroc hustings on Monday night:

1) Andrew Norden, of Barnstaple:

Whose fault or responsibility is the MPs’ abuse of expenses scandal?

2) Thom Walker, of Burrington:

Do any of the panellists foresee a time when the UK is independent of EU governance?

3) Elizabeth Burton, of South Molton

It’s been widely reported that Lord Ashcroft is putting money into marginal seats that he thinks the Conservatives can win. Philip Milton says he hasn’t had any. Does that mean he can’t win?

4) Roger Warren, of South Molton

The next Government will face many pressing national and international issues. How will you ensure that the voice of your constituents in North Devon will still be heard?

5) Gavin Boudean, of Knowle

Do you believe that illegal immigrants should, in some circumstances, be given citizenship?

6) David Ayre, of West Down

What would the candidates do to help the rural economy and halt the loss of local services etc?

7) Andrew Cooper, of Croyde

Given that this constituency is a high incidence ‘Bovine TB hotspot’ do you regard a flourishing badger population above a flourishing cattle trade?

8) Mel Grant, of Barnstaple

We need MPs to stand out from the crowd – to be radical like William Wilberforce. What are you passionate about changing for the good of the people of the UK?

9) Mr Austin Philip, of Barnstaple

Combatting climate change will need tough and unpopular polices. What unpopular polices are the candidates prepared to support that will reduce our dependence on burning fossil fuels?

10) Gill Ellis, of West Buckland

What is your policy on supermarket opening in small North Devon towns like South Molton?

UPDATE: Campaign news updates...

• Tory party chairman Eric Pickles will be in North Molton tonight with North Devon candidate Philip Milton.
• A number of Conservative campaign signs have been damaged in the grounds of Trimstone Manor, which is owned by Philip Milton. Mr Milton has also reported a number of thefts of Conservative signs in recent days.
• North Devon independent candidate Rodney Cann alleges that Lib Dem candidate Nick Harvey has not "worked to get North Devon a better and fairer share of central government resources" or "helped to defend local fishing, agriculture and tourism" in his time as an MP here. Mr Harvey totally disputes those claims, of course. Mr Cann has also said a Tory vote in North Devon is a "wasted vote".
• Lib Dem candidate Nick Harvey has been out and about today canvassing in Chulmleigh and South Molton with councillor David Worden.

UPDATE: Recent electoral history...

Adam Wilshaw takes a look at recent election results in our two constituencies. Has it always been a two-horse race in North Devon?

FOR more than 50 years the constituency of Devon North (as it is sometimes known at the ballot box) has been a battleground dominated by two parties: the Conservatives and the Liberals.

But before Liberal superstar Jeremy Thorpe took the seat in 1959, North Devon was solidly Tory.

Thorpe’s influence has continued, with his electoral success mirrored by one of his political descendants, Nick Harvey.

And a glance at the election results of the past 51 years reveals an interesting pattern.

In 1959, when the Conservatives won the national vote, the Liberals took North Devon by a whisker — Thorpe had less than 1% more votes than his Tory rival.

Thorpe then easily beat his Conservative rivals in 1964 and 1966, when Labour formed Governments, and the flamboyant Liberal was perhaps at the height of his popularity locally and nationally.

Over the years Labour never had a strong showing in North Devon, even at the height of New Labour’s powers. Their best polling in recent decades in North Devon was in fact in 1950, when they got 23.24% of the vote.

By 1970 Labour was down to 12.29% and since 1983 they have struggled to hit double figures. In 1970 the Liberals won again in North Devon — but the Conservatives, who won that year’s national vote, were snapping close on their heels. Just four years later Thorpe was back on barnstorming form, thrashing the Tories by 17.22 percentage points.

His political career came to a dramatic halt at the 1979 election when he was easily beaten by Tory candidate Tony Speller. That loss was largely blamed on the extraordinary events surrounding Thorpe’s personal life; he had been accused of conspiracy to commit murder and of having illicit gay love affairs. An ex-model and stable lad called Norman Scott claimed he had a sexual relationship with Thorpe in the early 1960s, when such acts were unlawful.

In 1975, a former airline pilot called Andrew Newton ambushed Scott on Exmoor and shot his Great Dane called Rinka. Newton was convicted of firearms offences and during that trial Scott used the protected privilege of court to make public his gay affair allegations against Thorpe. During Thorpe’s trial for conspiracy in 1978, the prosecution alleged Newton had been paid £5,000 from Liberal Party funds to kill Scott. Thorpe was found not guilty.

As a result, the 1979 election was a colourful and controversial affair in North Devon. The journalist Auberon Waugh stood as a candidate for the Dog Lovers’ Party, a joke at the expense of Thorpe. And 1979 was, of course, the year the Tories came to power under Margaret Thatcher.

North Devon elected Mr Speller with healthy majorities again in 1983 and 1987.

But in 1992, when the Conservatives under John Major won a surprise victory, North Devon decided to elect a 31-year-old Liberal Democrat, Nick Harvey, who won by a small margin. In 1997, when Tony Blair scored an historic win for Labour, Mr Harvey shored up his North Devon support by beating the Tory opponent by a clear 11.28 percentage points.

He won by a slightly narrower margin again in 2001 and 2005.

The picture in Torridge is more complicated because of boundary changes in recent decades.

The constituency of Devon West and Torridge (as it is sometimes known at the ballot box) was created in 1983. Before then, seats like Torrington (last contested in 1970) and Devon West (last contested in 1979) were solidly Conservative, in common with other South West rural seats.

In 1983 the seat was won by Conservative Peter Mills.

In 1987 and 1992 Emma Nicholson won again for the Tories but she defected to the Lib Dems in 1995.

The election in 1992 in Torridge was close between the Tories and Lib Dems, with fewer than six percentage points between them.

And in 1997, the year of the New Labour landslide, the Lib Dem candidate John Burnett won the seat and held it again in 2001, albeit narrowly, against Tory candidate Geoffrey Cox.

Mr Cox took Torridge back for the Tories in 2005, beating the Lib Dem candidate David Walter by five percentage points.

DAY 21: There the pencil of democracy awaits...

Did you know that 22,457 people in North Devon and Torridge will be voting in this general election before the election campaign ends?

That's the number of postal voters in the two districts.

I know a number of these people will be elderly or disabled or perhaps away from North Devon on polling day.

I would not readily give up the excitement of walking to the local polling station, collecting my ballot from the slightly-flushed person at the trestle table, and then going to the plywood booth in the cool hush of a parish hall evening...

There the pencil of democracy awaits!

The constituency boundaries have changed (some wards have gone into a new Mid Devon constituency), making it difficult to compare elector numbers of previous years, although the number of postal voters has increased overall.

This year in North Devon there are 74,508 "regular" voters and 10,211 postal voters, a total of 84,719.

In Torridge there are 63,684 "regular" voters and 12,246 postal voters, a total of 75,930.

Some people do not vote at all. As the cliche runs: if you don't vote, the politicians can happily ignore you. I bet a lot of the people who don't vote are the sort of people who think all politicians are charlatans. Not voting for that reason is a cop out, isn't it?

Turnout was historically low in 2001 and 2005.

People in the know in North Devon have been telling me they expect another low turnout this year.

I wonder if they're wrong; I get the feeling this will be the highest turnout since 1992 because the campaign has been energised by the leaders' debates and the fact Labour have been in power for 13 years.

I also get the feeling there is a bit of "love them or hate them" mood about our local candidates, which could bring out a fair few negative votes. As ever, the tactical vote will be major.

Since 1983 the largest turnout in the two constituencies was in 1992, when 84.36% of electors voted in North Devon compared to 81.47% in Torridge.

In 1997, the year of the Labour landslide, turnout dropped to just about 77% in both constituencies, meaning almost a quarter of electors didn’t vote at all.

That dropped again in 2001 when North Devon had a 68.3% turnout and Torridge had 70.5%. And at the last election, in 2005, turnout was 68.19% in North Devon and 70.47% in Torridge.

Before 1983 turnout locally was typically above 80%, which was only slightly higher than the national average.

Whatever the turnout it's going to be a nail-biting finish at the North Devon leisure centre in the early hours of May 7 when the results are declared.

UPDATE: Interview with Green Party candidate...

L’Anne Knight, Green Party candidate for North Devon in the 2010 general election.

IN THIS EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW:“You have to vote where your heart is and I have got past this tactical voting scenario and had enough of it”/ “We are a single issue party but not the issue perceived by the general populace”/ “We are in one of the windiest spots in the world and we could do so much more”/

Question: How and why did you become involved in politics?

I always had a strong sense of injustice. I can remember as a teenager being so upset about what was happening in the world.

My mother belonged to the Peace Pledge Union.

When I met Ricky (a Green Party parliamentary candidate in Bristol this year) when I was 13 that started to kick in because he was from a political background of anti-nuclear campaigning and socialist principles.

He and I got together and went through the 1960s when you were impassioned, spoke out, and demonstrated and you did your thing to try to make change for the better.We became active some 30 years ago with the North Devon peace group which led towards the Green Party.

Question: The perennial question people will ask is: why vote for a candidate who has no chance of winning?

You have to vote where your heart is and I have got past this tactical voting scenario and had enough of it. I’m standing because I need to give people in North Devon the opportunity to vote Green.It’s the only way we’re going to make change in this dinosaur system.

Question: Generally, and more than ever, you could argue, issues which were once the preserve of the Green Party have been adopted by the mainstream, not least in terms of climate change; have they not stolen your thunder?

It’s a dual-edged sword. I like to think we have been a watchdog.On the other hand I’m pleased they are listening and are at least taking it on board. It grates a bit when you hear people using the word green when it really is our platform, but I’m relieved.The problem is: put your money where your mouth is. Are they just giving it lip service?

Question: Your manifesto contains policies on many other things, not just the environment. One of those is about jobs and living wage. Can you explain what that means?

We are a single issue party but not the issue perceived by the general populace; I think we are the single issue of sustainability and that covers every topic you care to mention.We want to raise the minimum wage to £8.10 and search for equality in our community.

That living wage will also be reflected in our taxation policies.We would set income tax at 50% for incomes over £100,000.

You tax people for the value they subtract, not the value they add, to the community, and that’s what we need to look at.

We need to look at the greedy grabbers and tax them.The essence in all this is the green new deal, which is about providing a million jobs which are going to benefit the environment, (and) look towards renewable energy, look towards housing and insulation.

Question: The question of nuclear energy. The likes of James Lovelock are saying the only way we can provide our energy needs and retain any form of civilisation as we know it is through nuclear.

I am very much anti-nuclear energy. I don’t think we know enough about it yet and I think we are taking risks with this venture.

We need renewables and I wish they had put more R&D into renewables decades ago.When I was really young we were told the energy would be “too cheap to meter”.Renewables will give pound for pound better value.

Question: Can I ask for your views on wind power?

I was very much involved in the campaign for local wind power. You have to be circumspect in terms of where they are put and how they are planned and I do think we have been held up by a vested interest perspective.

Wind power has to happen, it is happening, but it is part of a collective of ways forward with renewable energy, be it tide turbines, the wave, or the sun.

The sun is going to be brilliant; we can access sun from North Africa and bring it up through a grid through Europe.

We are in one of the windiest spots in the world and we could do so much more. We have to encourage people to go this way, to use them.

I think it’s very sad that people have been so anti-wind turbines with some very spurious arguments about bats and so on.Now we have the off-shore development happening and I’m very happy to hear it.

Question: A lot of the campaigning so far has been about the cuts in the public sector as a result of the financial problems. What is your take on that?

I think our cuts would come from knocking Trident into touch, from knocking the ID cards into touch, from various aircraft manufacturing that would be knocked into touch.

The NHS computerisation is a load of nonsense; they need to rationalise on that.We could pull out of the Afghan war.

There would also be a Robin Hood tax.There’s loads of other places to make cuts if only people would go there.

Yes, we would want to reduce the deficit but not straight away because that could impact on recovery.We would aim for half of the deficit being cut by 2013.

Question: Affordable housing is a large and often hidden problem in North Devon. What would the Greens do to help people buy or rent homes?

Our policy is we would want affordable housing, we need to make sure that all housing is very well insulated and environmentally-friendly. It helps the planet and it helps people with their bills.

We would like to make better use of existing housing. In the country there are 750,000 empty houses. To have homes standing empty while people are homeless is an absolute disgrace.We would minimise the use of green field sites.

Question: What is your view on the regional spatial strategy and the council joint core strategy, plans for lots of housebuilding?

I think it’s got to be very carefully done. Let’s look at what we already have in existence before we put up new builds. There are still green jobs there for builders doing renovation and insulation and so on and micro-renewables.

Question: Your party is making much of its plans on pensions. Can you outline what that might mean in practice?

We do feel it’s so crucial that people do have a good living wage as pensioners. Our proposal is £170 a week, £300 for a married couple.We would abolish tax relief on private pension contributions and it would be non means-tested.We have budgeted for it and seen how it could be done.

Question: How would electing you improve the lives of people in North Devon?

I would be there to make a sustainable, caring community, where well-being was absolutely crucial.

I would want to work with young people to not be so disillusioned about the future that they can make a difference.

Two things that really, really get me are people’s anger about taxation and about politicians and they are crucial for a fair society.If you have a more equal society you have a happier society, it’s been proven.Then, not to leave North Devon. We have to look locally, we have to work locally, to try to and build up our communities locally, and enjoy that.

Question: Can I ask you about the threat of climate change?

If you’ve got cancer, what do you do? It might be so far gone you just roll over and die but on the whole most people will do something about it. I say to everybody: don’t take it lightly, let’s do what we can and even in the doing we will be improving our environment.

UPDATE: Interview with independent candidate...

Interview with Rodney Cann, independent candidate for North Devon in 2010 general election.

IN THIS EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW:“I’m not big on promises; I prefer action. I feel that I have made a difference in North Devon”/ “I’m probably one of the most high-profile councillors in North Devon. I think I can win”/ “I feel it’s time for someone who is free to vote in the best interests of North Devon”/
Question: How and why did you become involved in politics?

I was invited by a Conservative agent many years ago to stand in a no-hope seat, Fremington, for the council. I’d always fancied my chances at fighting an election and I won it.I found that politics can get into your system, it can get into your blood, or people totally reject and are glad to get out.I’ve really enjoyed being engaged in local politics. I’m not big on promises; I prefer action. I feel that I have made a difference in North Devon.

Question: Why would anyone vote for someone who has no realistic chance of winning?

There has never been a better opportunity for an independent to stand and win an election, particularly one that’s got a reputation for getting things done. I’m probably one of the most high-profile councillors in North Devon. I think I can win.

I think are particularly fed-up with all the sleaze and frankly the cynical promises of the party political candidates.

Every election they appear out of the woodwork, make all kinds of promises, then four or five years later making the same promises, trying to send out the same messages.

I feel it’s time for someone who is free to vote in the best interests of North Devon, not following the party line and that’s such a positive thing at this time.T

here’s a very real threat of a hung parliament and someone like me could well hold significant influence.As for no hope, I think my campaign will be a first class campaign.

Question: You have been a lifelong Conservative. Will your standing simply not make it harder for the Conservative candidate to win because you will draw votes from him?

I would urge people to vote on the experience and record of the candidate.I have always been a Conservative but I’ve never considered myself to be a bigoted Conservative. I will take the decisions that are in the interests of North Devon rather than the political party and that has always been my stance.

Question: Would you feel bad if Nick Harvey (Lib Dem) won on 1,000 votes that Philip Milton (Cons) might have got?

I believe in the democratic process. I believe in the first past the post system and people should make their choice for the candidate that will best serve the interests of North Devon, regardless of political party.

Question: Looking at your policies, you are not tied by any party, but they seem to a few similarities with the Conservative outlook. What are the clear differences between you and the Conservatives in terms of policy?

I’m fighting on my record and on the best interests of North Devon.I’m fighting on the fact North Devon has always been a poor relation.

Usually governments are geared up to look after the interests of the inner city areas and don’t pay enough regard to rural areas and the particular problems we have.

They don’t take into account rural sparsity. In Devon we spend about £23million a year on school transport and the average funding of pupils is £400 per head less than the national average. That’s a deplorable state of affairs.

There’s no specific recognition of the fact we have a high number of elderly people in North Devon.I’m dismayed at the hypocrisy of the Conservatives.

For weeks they have been lambasting the Labour Party on not taking a rigid enough stand to cut our national debt. It seems to me they have changed their public relations and have started to make us all kinds of promises, extra money for married people, not cutting the NI, I find it so cynical.I find it truly remarkable when they produce Mr Gershon out of the woodwork and say we can save Xbillion by finding efficiencies.

This has been a policy of local government for the last two years at least. Already in social services and education are screaming out for more money.

Question: Public perception of MPs is perhaps at an all-time low after the expenses scandal. What will you do to improve that?

If ever there was a time for North Devon to be represented by a strong independent voice, it’s now.Many of our MPs have let us down.We have to reform and strengthen our democracy and restore trust.People are looking for a genuine change and I think I can provide that.

Question: The other side of the coin is the argument that you wouldn’t have the power of the big parties behind you and you could end up being marginalised or ignored?

I would put the opposite argument. I think it gives me the freedom to break through any party political posturing and work in the best interests of North Devon. I feel people like myself could well be at a premium in the parliament and hold the balance of power.

Question: During the campaign there have been various competing claims such as “less waste”, “more fairness”, “more change”. Are not these sort of claims rather vacuous because no could seriously argue for the opposite, “more waste” for example?

Since time immemorial candidates have been coming and saying “we’re going to solve the problems”, “we’re going to cut that”, and what do you find? Five years on you’re in the same situation. We need a radical re-think. We need new blood in there and we need people who are capable of taking on the establishment and making a difference.

Question: There is this endless to-ing and fro-ing about cutting waste in the public sector. Parties always promise to cut waste at election time and it never seems to happen does it?

You can’t spend what you haven’t got. We have been living on borrowed time since North Sea oil was found.

We have got an economy that has been financial and service led and we have allowed our manufacturing industry to be sold off or fall away.We were promised we would have a new technical revolution, and the reverse has occurred.

As the third world countries have taken on conventional manufacturing it has gone hand in hand with the white heat of technical evolution, so we’ve lost in all ways.

Until we start restoring our manufacturing base we are on a no-win situation.We’ve got to look at education and recognise that not everybody has to go to university.

Question: On the economy, there is a fear being voiced that cutting the public sector and taxes could lead to a worsening recession. What are your views?

I don’t think we’re in a position to start cutting taxes. We have to look for more efficient ways of working. There are many that can be achieved. In local government for example there is so much political correctness being forced on us from Europe.

Some health and safety is important but it’s being taken to the extreme. There are hundreds of millions being spent on local authorities examining themselves every year.

I believe there are far too many councils, far too many highly-paid senior officers and that needs to be looked at.

Question: There seems to be quite a bit of overlap between your views and with UKIP?

My philosophy is we are a part of Europe and we should be partners and be allies but Europe must not be our masters. I don’t think it’s realistic to withdraw but I do think we sold out to Europe too cheaply.

Question: We’ve had a lot of talk from Labour about cutting poverty and inequality and they claim their measures such as Sure Start, tax credits, minimum wages, spending on education, has helped. Do you share that view?

Sure Start has certainly been a success but I wonder if this is the way forward, does it provide the value?Does the solve the fundamental problems of poverty in our communities, especially rural communities? I don’t think it does; I think it puts a sticking plaster on it.

The reality is we need to create a vibrant economy with job opportunities. Yes, we’ve got to have compassion, but sometimes we’re too keen to put a sticking plaster on.

Question: What would be another way of tackling poverty?

North Devon is well placed to take advantage of the economic upturn. There is geographic disadvantage for manufacturers and distribution.

I think the one realistic thing we ought to be looking for is to upgrade the Tarka Line to transport goods.We have the opportunity to provide a diverse and prosperous economy. We have opportunities in many areas, but it requires drive and leadership.Agriculture still has a major role to play.

The fishing industry is often overlooked but its contribution to Ilfracombe alone was over £1million in the last report I received.Sustainable tourism.

We have the opportunity to promote three types: the traditional family beach holiday; exploration holidays; and farm-based holidays.

Industry. Local government has a role in providing service land to attract business.

We must play on the fact this is a very desirable area in which to live and work.We have good training resources at Petroc.We must take advantage of the fact we have some of the highest tidal flows in the world to encourage renewable energy research and development.

Question: Affordable housing. How could you help local people to get decent homes to own or rent?

One of the problems we have is much of the land we would use for housing is on brownfield sites in the Barnstaple floodplain. I believe it is a defeatist attitude to ignore these sites because of the long-term threat of flooding.

Question: Many people are saying that climate change is the biggest threat facing humanity. Do you agree with that view and what’s your view of people who say that claims about climate change is a “conspiracy” or a “con”?

I think we would be very foolish to ignore what is happening around us but I’m not entirely convinced that it is not the natural phase of the Earth, I think it might be a bit of both.

I have yet to see evidence that it isn’t partly due to the natural cycles of the Earth. Having said that I play my part as far as recycling. I’m committed to a reduction in carbon output and recycling and wasting the resources on our Earth, which are limited.

Question: What can you point to from your many years as a councillor and say: that’s an achievement?

One thing I’m particularly proud of is the Fremington Quay project. It was an old Victorian quay and half of it had fallen into the river. I came up the idea of a restoration project and everyone said “that’s a great idea” and I’m sure they thought I was quite mad so they gave me a free hand.So we raised £750,000 and that quay and centre has been a major success. We have something like 160,000 visitors a year.

Question: How will electing you improve the lives of people in North Devon?

I think the first thing is I would like to see us receive the same recognition in North Devon as the urban areas.I would like to be able to say we have achieved something for Ilfracombe; they’ve been living on empty promises for so many years now.

The other thing is I would like to be able to look back and say we have achieved a buoyant economy. Yes, we have started to dig into our housing problems.

But no we have not destroyed countryside or the character of North Devon.The joint core strategy (planning document) will change North Devon and it will never be the same again.

We have to look carefully at the amount of development that is being forced on us.

DAY 20: Interview with Communist candidate...

Gerrard Sables, Communist Party candidate for North Devon in 2010 general election.

IN THIS EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW:
"The first person in space was a communist; he certainly wasn’t a Liberal Democrat"/ “We find capitalism to be completely wasteful”/“Everybody has got the right to a decent home. Nobody has the right to three houses”/“I think a participative democracy would terrify the Tories and the Liberals and in an area like this”/“We’ve got a budget”/“I think it was George Bernard Shaw who said a communist is a socialist who means it”//“I don’t think there has been a communist standing in the South West peninsula ever”/“I’m not going to predict a communist landslide”

Question: Can I ask you how and why you became involved in politics?
It was back in the late 1960s and early 1970s. The Vietnam war was going on. All sorts of colonial wars were going on. The anti-Apartheid movement. CND. I was involved with that and I was a trade union representative. It seemed the communists were the only ones who had the answers to the questions I was asking. I joined in 1972.

Question: Can you describe the over-arching aims of your party and its revolutionary aims?
We find capitalism to be completely wasteful. The things that Marx said in the latest credit crunch have been found to be completely true.Communist economists had been predicting this terrible crash for about a decade. We knew it was going to happen and the worst is not yet over.

Our aims are complete transformation of society.

The economy belongs to the people, not the bankers.That means we are going to need a flowering of trade unionism and activity to fight for what we’ve got and to get more. We need tenants movements. We need the pensioners to be active.

There would be no room for a monarchy or a House of Lords for instance.We still want political parties and democracy and elections.

We would work towards pulling out of the EU because MEPs are lest get-atable than MPs; they are so far away and the EU has a very un-democratic structure.Nestle has more influence on what happens in the EU than any MEP.We see no need for NATO.

We see no need for nuclear weapons. We would say no more building of nuclear power stations and would look at green alternatives.We would also open up the coal mines again and use carbon capture.

Question: People will attack communism in a way they won’t attack capitalism. They’ll say capitalism is a system which allows people to be more free. How would you respond to that argument?
I don’t think the OAP freezing of hypothermia in a rich country feels that free.I don’t think people who have been chucked out on the stones because of a decision in a boardroom feel that free.I know the problems of what people think about the Soviet Union but you have got to remember that came out of a very repressive system, Tsarist Russia.

If you look at what the Soviet Union achieved. It went from a medieval, backwards, illiterate place to one that was able to send somebody into outer space.

The first person in space was a communist; he certainly wasn’t a Liberal Democrat.Things did get better for people in the Soviet Union but there was severe repression under Stalin; he was a bit paranoid, but what closed the Soviet Union down was the arms race.

Question: In a practical sense, how would communism work, changing the structure of British society?
We believe in a planned economy which means public ownership and every Journal reader would agree the water prices are too high here since privatisation.Electricity and gas: they’ve really ripped us off.We would say that we are spending £100billion bailing out the bankers for their gambling debts; we should control the banks and own them.

If you do that you can give low interest loans out to kickstart industry and to help our agriculture.Communications. We are opposed to the privatisation of the Post Office; there is no need for it.We also say that any company which is making a profit should not be allowed to lay people off in order to get a bigger profit.

Central to all of this is getting rid of the anti-union laws because capital can be withdrawn immediately, you have to give notice to withdraw labour. That needs to be turned around.

Question: What do you make of what the other parties are offering the people this time around?
I saw the Conservative election manifesto and I thought: you hypocrites. They are giving this image of people participating in things. I’ve never heard a Conservative or a New Labour politician saying: if you’re at work you ought to be in your trade union.I

’ve never heard a landlord like Philip Milton saying to his tenants: you really ought to set up a tenants movement to make sure I’m doing my job as a landlord properly.

I think a participative democracy would terrify the Tories and the Liberals and in an area like this where the Liberals flogged off all the council houses.

Question: What are your views on property ownership, from the point of view of individuals having mortgages from banks, for example?
I heard an estate agent saying 0.1% last year were first-time buyers so there’s a big crisis.We need millions of homes to be built.

That would also help the economy; houses need carpets, ovens, beds.I remember during the Thatcher years when mortgages went up to 15%; banks were being greedy and people were in despair.Everybody has got the right to a decent home.

Nobody has the right to three houses.I’m not against anybody owning a house per se. The whole question of land ownership needs to be looked at.

One third of all land in Britain is still owned by the descendants of the people who came over with William the Conqueror. There is a movement that says you should tax land value.Britain owns two thirds of the world’s tax havens; they could have been closed last week.

All of them. Billions are being lost in tax revenue.We decry this call to close down tax offices and sack civil servants because they are penny-wise and pound-foolish. Every public servant is worth their money, plus.

Question: What are your views on income tax?
I don’t think somebody on a low income should be paying any income tax at all.We’ve got a budget. Close the tax avoidance loopholes; that would bring us £70billion.

A 20% windfall tax on super-profits of British-based banks, oil corporations, energy utilities and retail monopolies and that would get us about £16billion.A Robin Hood tax on major transactions: £30billion a year.

We would also levy a 1% wealth tax on the richest 10% of the population: £39billion a year.We would increase corporation tax on big business profits: another £10billion.

Empty property tax: £3billion.We could save £3billion by stopping using private sector consultants. We had an example of that with the changing of the name North Devon College to Petroc and the other was the proposed incinerator; those two must have cost £700,000 in consultancy fees.

Replace PFI schemes by public funding and management: that would save £3billion a year.Scrap ID cards would save £6billion over the next ten years.

Scrap Trident and its replacement which would save at least £76billion.We would reduce military expenditure to average European levels which would save £13billion and take the British troops out of Afghanistan which would save £4billion a year.

We would halve the local Government bill for bringing in the private sector and that’s another half-a-billion.We are saying it can be done.

We’re saying there is no need for cuts in public spending.We are against private education so we would bring all schools into the public sector and have each school to get the same level of funding that is given to city academies.

Question: What is your take on the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan?

They were about resources, dodgy dossiers. It’s about oil and gas and big finance, utterly corrupt.

Afghanistan is a ludicrous, ludicrous situation for us to be in. The Moghul empire that controlled India for centuries couldn’t do it in Afghanistan. The British empire lost. The Soviet army couldn’t do it.The best thing to do with Afghanistan is to leave it to the Afghans; they’ve got to sort their own problems out. The main problem for Afghanistan is foreign intervention: us.

Question: There has been an argument for international solidarity with workers which could lead to an interventionist view?
The one thing about military intervention in a country is that once you’ve done it, they never invite you back.Imperialism is anti-democratic. It can’t be pro-democratic.

Question: When people think of communism they do think of the Soviet Union, China, North Korea, Cuba, all very different countries but still associated with communism in different forms. What’s your take on how the ideology has manifested itself in those situations?
I like Cuba. I had an email from a Cuban comrade who we had speak in Barnstaple last year and she wished me luck in the election. I’ve also been wished luck from a person in the William Morris society in Canada.I think it’s got to be what the people decide. A people has a right to decide its own form of government and democracy. North Korea is an awful place but it’s been at a state of war for the past half-century. That creates the internal repression.

Question: You wouldn’t say the examples of North Korea or Stalin have destroyed the ideology of communism?
I know that by putting myself as a communist, I know there is this communist bogey there. But there’s a long communist history in Britain that pre-dates Marx: the peasants’ revolt; the Diggers; the Chartists.We do have a long tradition and William Morris said communism is a system of neighbourly common sense. We’ve got to get that over to people and it’s going to be a difficult job, I know that.

Question: When I interviewed the Labour candidate for North Devon he said he was a socialist. But he’s not a socialist in the way you’re a socialist is he?
I think it was George Bernard Shaw who said a communist is a socialist who means it. The reaction to us shows we are understood to be serious. If there as a communist majority in the House of Commons I don’t think the capitalists would be happy; they would be quite happy with New Labour.

Question: Why would anyone vote for a candidate who has no hope of winning?
Standing in an election is part of a process of educating people as to what we believe in.This election gives me a chance to have a leaflet delivered to 47,500 homes and they will either throw that away or read it.

If they agree with what it says, if it touches them, they will have to consider: am I going to vote for somebody to keep somebody else out or am I going to vote for this, which happens to answer the questions I have been asking?Standing in a rural area; we’ve never done it before.

I don’t think there has been a communist standing in the South West peninsula ever. I think the last time anybody who could be described as a communist was in 1847 when a Chartist stood against Palmerston in Tiverton. About 160 years later, here I am.

Question: How would electing you improve the lives of people in North Devon?
I’ve talked about the education and that would make an enormous difference not immediately but a few years down the line.

An educated people would bring their income up.Another thing I would be doing is encouraging people to get involved in their trade unions. I’d really make an issue of that because a trade union member’s income is more than a worker that isn’t in a trade union, as a general rule.And also there are the fringe benefits that trade unionists get, like legal help.

Another thing that concerns me is the isolation of villages. The public transport isn’t really much better than after the Second World War. There are still villages with only one bus a week.There’s no reason why people should be isolated in the way they are. For example you can’t leave Lynton after 5pm unless you are driving a car and what does that say for elderly, disabled or blind people?

Question: How well do you think you’re going to do in terms of votes?
Haven’t got the foggiest. Its never been done before so I don’t really know. I was out the day before yesterday delivering leaflets and a bloke said: “My father was a communist but he died a while ago. How do you get to vote?”. I told him and he said: “I’m going to register and I’m going to vote for you.”

I’m not going to predict a communist landslide.Most people do not know the Communist Party exists; the media are very quiet about it. There’s a kind of conspiracy of silence.