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Speaking to the Yorker, David Levene, Labour candidate for Heslington in the 2011 local elections, told us that his main policy is “speaking up for the great things students do, in terms of RAG and student volunteering”.
Admitting there was tension between local residents and students, David promised to look at alternatives to the regulations proposed by the current Lib-Dem run council on the construction of student housing.
Speaking ahead of the polls, where he will take on the Green Party's Caleb Wooding and the Liberal Democrat's Chris Wiggin, David Levene emphasised his desire to promote “the positive things students bring to the community”.
Levene also promised that more services would be protected from cuts under Labour, saying that his party would have spent £1 million more on services had they been running the council this year.
Furthermore, he rejected allegations that Labour councils have been particularly savage in their cuts, after it was revealed that Labour run Manchester council would cut 2,000 jobs whilst closing libraries and childcare centres, unlike nearby Lib-Dem run Sheffield council where the cuts aren't so deep. Levene argued that the Lib-Dems in Sheffield have been denying “what their party in government has been doing”.
Despite campaigning against the increase in tuition fees in 2010, Levene denied commenting on the levels of tuition fees he thought the University should charge, saying that was up to the Students Union to campaign on. Levene told the Yorker that although he would lobby the University on fees, it wouldn't be appropriate for him to comment on the levels they should be set at. With no Conservative candidate in Heslington, Levene hinted at the possibility of a Lib-Dem pact, with the Tories not standing in areas where they may take votes away from the Lib Dems, allegations York Conservatives have described as “absolute nonsense”.
He also launched an attack on the outgoing Heslington councillor Ceredig Jamieson-Ball saying that he “quite badly neglected” the area, arguing that a new ballot box on Heslington East and “student surgeries” with their councillor would improve this.
The interview in full has been posted below.
The Yorker has interviewed all candidates for Heslington. Click here for the interview with Green Party candidate Caleb Wooding and here for the interview with Chris Wiggin of Lib Dem.
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