It was all happening at Farnham Maltings on Sunday as a general election hustings packed the hall, with hundreds of questions sent in and more drama than the REEL cinema

The most contentious questions revolved around Labour’s pledge to charge VAT on private school fees, Brexit, and climate change.

On the VAT policy, Labour’s Alex Just argued that the funds for state schools "have to come from somewhere" and dismissed concerns about SEND kids overwhelming the state system as “scaremongering."

Reform UK candidate Ged Hall labelled the scheme "barking mad," astonishing the audience by proposing a 20 per cent tax relief for those educating their children in private schools.

Conservative Gregory Stafford said he disagreed with the policy morally. Mr Stafford said: “This is about choice. Parents who have decided not to spend their money on other things, to spend it on their children’s education, should have that choice.”

Liberal Democrat Khalil Yousuf also criticised Labour’s pledge, saying: “Our education sector needs a great deal of support, but taking from Peter to give to Paul is not the way to do it.”

When heckled by the audience about whether he attended private school, he said: “No I didn’t. I wore patches on my trousers, my parents worked in factories, and we lived without heating. My parents worked very hard and all of you need that opportunity as well.”

Regarding Brexit, Cllr Steve Williams, who was standing in for Green Party candidate Claire Matthes, declared Brexit a "big mistake" and advocated for rejoining the EU, while the other candidates upheld the referendum results. 

Mr Yousuf stressed repairing relations with Europe through cooperation, not confrontation. 

Mr Just criticised Rishi Sunak's early departure from the D-Day celebrations, calling it "disgusting" and indicative of the Conservatives' EU stance. 

Gregory Stafford acknowledged Brexit's business challenges and that it was “never going to be smooth sailing” but stated that UK-EU trade has increased since leaving.

On climate change, Mr Williams pushed for a green economy via renewable energy while Mr Stafford supported a balance of renewables and nuclear power for rapid decarbonisation.

Mr Hall wants “to scrap Net Zero” stating it "makes no environmental difference” because all it means is “someone else pollutes for you.” He advocated reopening North Sea oil drilling. 

Mr Yousuf called for bold action, including free home upgrades and 90 per cent renewable energy by 2030. 

Mr Just called out Reform saying: “It is not good enough to say we only emit one per cent of the emissions, so we will only do one per cent of the work.”

Locally he wants to improve bus routes, and increase infrastructure for renewable energy. Other topics questioned included:

- Social care: Green argued for increased local government funding.

- Affordable housing with all the candidates finding common ground on the need to have the infrastructure in place to meet the housing needs. 

- Nursery fees: All candidates agreed current costs are unacceptable.

- National security which had all parties focusing on farming and energy. 

- Integrity, with the question asking each candidate for an example that proves their own integrity.

See the below videos for each candidates answer: