Blackpool North Hustings: Heated confrontation breaks out between candidates

A heated confrontation broke out between two political candidates at the Blackpool North and Fleetwood hustings tonight.

The event, organised by the Blackpool Gazettein partnership with the Blackpool Lead and Shelter Lancashire, saw candidates for the area introduce their policies as well as face a number of questions from both Gazette readers and audience members.

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With more than 60 people in attendance, debates became fiery and answers given by candidates were either met by a shower of applause or further questioning and probing.

After one question, Reform UK candidate, Dan Barker went on to reference a previous investigation into Conservative candidate, Paul Maynard who was also on the panel.

The investigation was one that saw The Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority (Ipsa) order Mr. Maynard to repay £1,367 after he used a state-of-the-art device for campaigning purposes.

This was after the Sunday Times, who broke the story, said that he broke expenses rules by using a taxpayer-funded printer to produce “overtly political” material for the Tories.

At the event, Dan Barker said: “Paul, bless him, has had his own little scandal with over £1,000 for printing.

“As your MP, I will ensure that I will put this constituency first and I will not have my hands in the till like your average Tory in this area.”

These comments were met with shock by the audience with some members protesting Mr. Maynard’s innocence while others noted the ‘lack of relevance’ to the comments.

Mr. Maynard, who was clearly affected by the comments, and was given an opportunity to respond to these words.

Addressing the investigation, he said: “IPSA determined that we should have been paying £4.50 a month more for a particular piece of equipment.

“There was no criticism of me and I was quite happy to pay the difference.”

This was then when Mr. Barker interjected, saying how Mr. Maynard had ‘had enough time to respond’ and that he was ‘giving everyone a story’.

Mr. Barker had to be calmed down by staff at the hustings who then ushered the candidate back to his seat.