Challenger Hustings descends into chaos as Extinction Rebellion activist walks out mid-debate
On April 22, four lesser-known candidates stated their case for London in an eventful hour-long hustings streamed on Facebook.
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Extinction Rebellion (XR) activist Roger Hallam, who stood in for Burning Pink’s Valerie Brown, accused politicians of spouting “bullsh*t” before storming out of the US&Co Monument in the City of London.
Brown, who was arrested hours before at an XR protest that saw campaigners smash HSBC’s windows in Canary Wharf, was replaced by her party’s co-founder whilst she remained in police custody.
The event was held minutes after Sadiq Khan, Shaun Bailey, Luisa Porritt, and Sian Berry locked horns on ITV London. It was open to the 16 lesser known candidates in a bid to “open up politics to ordinary people” and to “break up the two-party monopoly”.
Burning Pink’s Hallam was joined by Kam Balayev from the Renew Party, the Animal Welfare Party’s Vanessa Hudson, and Richard Hewison from Rejoin EU.
Hallam, 55, explosively opened his case by stating that there is no carbon budget left, before explaining that “we are in the biggest crisis in the history of humanity”.
“Nobody is talking about it; everything is f*cked”, the environmentalist added.
On housing, he said: “In the next 40 years this City is going to be underwater.”
When Balayev was then asked to reveal Renew’s housing and homelessness policies, Hallam interrupted his opponent to ask: “Why don’t you respond to the climate crisis?”
“It’s just words”, Hallam proclaimed.
Minutes later, the environmentalist argued “the only way to remove extreme inequality is a revolution” and suggested “confrontation” was needed to tackle racism in Britain.
Hallam then lambasted the event’s organisers for imposing a 90-second time limit per answer, complaining that “the whole f*cking thing is bullsh*t”.
Soon after, he stormed out of the hustings claiming “soundbites lead to mass death”.
But Hallam returned to declare “democracy is over, there is no carbon budget left” before leaving the hustings for the final time.
The remaining candidates continued to present their vision for London.
Hewison, a self-proclaimed single-issue candidate from Rejoin EU, unsurprisingly spent much of the hustings talking about Brexit, and vowed to take the UK back into the European Union by 2025.
“Brexit is a disaster for London”, he declared, before calling Boris Johnson a “liar” and berating Sir Keir Starmer for treating the issue as “yesterday’s war”.
Hewison blamed Brexit for most issues facing London, including the decline of the high street, the now rejected European Super League, and the climate crisis.
However, Hewison also argued for a radical reform in the relationship between City Hall and Westminster in an attempt to introduce a wealth tax.
Whilst not as fixated on the European issue, the other candidates pledged to forge a closer relationship with Brussels and promised to protect London’s 600,000 EU-born residents by extending the settlement scheme deadline.
Balayev said his proposal for a “new economy” would help the capital adapt to the technological revolution that has seen machines rapidly replace workers.
He also hopes to tackle the burden that business rates and online shopping have imposed upon London’s high streets.
To increase footfall in the capital, Balayev hopes to ensure everyone in London is vaccinated against Covid-19.
In a further bid to modernise London, he pledged to upgrade TfL’s 9,000-strong bus fleet by replacing old models with electricity powered vehicles.
Hudson, who received 439 votes in Bethnal Green and Bow in the 2019 general election, focused on “speciesism” and the joint plight of London’s humans and animals.
“As we emerge from this dreadful zoonotic pandemic”, she professed, “our global society is also battling crises of climate and biodiversity”.
Hudson hopes to build sustainable homes, incentivise public transport by increasing the financial cost of private travel, and mimic Amsterdam City Council’s measures to only offer vegetarian food at official events unless meat-eaters express their dietary preferences beforehand.
Following the conviction of George Floyd’s killer in Minnesota, and with concerns about the use of stop and search in London, candidates were also asked about racism and policing.
Hudson assured viewers she would diversify the Metropolitan Police to make it more representative, reduce the use of stop and search, and instigate a discussion about decriminalising cannabis.
Her counterpart from Rejoin EU rejected the findings from the recent government-appointed race commission and vowed to “tackle institutional racism” head-on. This included investigating “extremist recruitment” in the police.
Balayev promised to “start a conversation” about policing in London and then claimed the Metropolitan Police are under-resourced.
No Challenger candidate mentioned policies directly affecting London’s 350,000 university students.