TORY leader David Cameron faced his toughest grilling yet during a question and answer session with Selby district residents on Wednesday.
Hundreds of people applied to take part in the live and unscripted Cameron Direct event at Selby High School, with a lucky few being selected by ballot to attend.
Mr Cameron, who was greeted with a round of applause as he took to the stage in the school's main hall, opened proceedings by declaring he was bored with politics in Britain today. He told the audience he thought the purpose of British politics was m
ending a broken society – drawing attention to problems with crime, anti-social behaviour, drug and alcohol and stalled social mobility leaving people stuck on benefits generation after generation. He also called for greater social responsibility in tackling these problems.
Mr Cameron spoke candidly on a number of issues including the proposals for eco-towns in the district saying the current government was dressing up a standard development in a fancy green wrapper and trying to impose it on local people.
He said: "My message to the government is don't wrap up planning permissions in fancy green paper and think you will get away with it. Make sure communities feel, if a development goes ahead, then they will benefit from it and get rid of all those top down targets for housing."
The most controversial statement of the night came in answer to a question about how to deal with the current situation in Zimbabwe from district councillor Iain Nutt. Mr Cameron said: "There is a monster dictator terrorising his people but it's a very different situation to Iraq and Afghanistan. You can't just send in the paratroopers.
"If there was a magic bullet I would willingly pull the trigger."
The recurring theme of the night was curing voter apathy by getting rid of the Labour spin and not promising what can't be delivered. He said: "The worst legacy of the Labour government is everything they have done to make people think politics won't change anything."
Mr Cameron also spoke honestly about retaining tuition fees, providing financial incentives for married couples to stay together and potentially repealing the hunting ban as well as promising to provide more support for full time carers, honour pay deals with the police force, link pensions to earnings and abolish inheritance tax for all but millionaires.
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