The Stray Ferret asked the candidates from the four main parties who contested the Skipton and Ripon constituency to reflect on what has happened since the 2019 General Election and the coronavirus crisis.

The election saw Conservative  candidate Julian Smith comfortably hold the seat with 34,919 votes, while Labour candidate Brian McDaid, finished second with 11,225 votes; Andrew Murday was third for the Liberal Democrats with 8,701 votes and Green Party candidate Andy Brown finished fourth, polling 2,748 votes.

Mr McDaid, Mr Murday and Mr Brown, all responded to our request, but The Stray Ferret has received no response from Mr Smith.

Brian McDaid, whose wife is a paramedic, and Andrew Murday, a retired NHS cardio-thoracic surgeon who also worked in palliative care, both expressed concerns about under-funding for the NHS and social care, while Andy Brown, says that the government should have banned mass events earlier:



Mr McDaid (left) said:

"It's shocking to see the deaths and outbreaks of COVID-19 in care homes in our local community. Following concerns raised by the Alzheimer's Society and others on the pressures facing the social care system, it is imperative we have clarity from the government on the support it will provide to increase testing, access to PPE and financial support.   My wife is paramedic and listening to what she is facing every day, really hits home how vital our front-line workers are to all of us. It has also opened our eyes to how under-resourced our NHS is."



 

Mr Murday, (left) who is a recently retired doctor, is preparing to resume working to help the NHS, believes that the government failed to heed warnings at the end of January as the coronavirus pandemic approached.  He said:

"They failed to invest in testing kits, ventilators and PPE, leaving our front-line healthcare workers over exposed and under equipped. I am particularly aware of the hazards involved."

 

 



Mr Brown, points to the breakdown of human beings' relationship with the environment as one of the root causes of disasters ranging from flooding in the Skipton and Ripon constituency, to the eating of bats from a Chinese wet market, that caused the coronavirus crisis.

He claims that the UK government dithered, while other countries took action - an example being the fact that the Cheltenham Festival was allowed to go ahead in March, while mass attendance events were banned elsewhere.

Mr Brown, (left)  said:   "The Cheltenham races took place when the virus was already spreading within the population and some (who attended) will have taken the virus back across the country."