WE at the Journal have asked each of Salisbury's election candidates some questions in the lead-up to the general election on July 4.

We have already spoken to the Green Party's Barney Norris, and Victoria Charleston from the Liberal Democrats.  

Up next is the Reform UK candidate Julian Malins KC. 

Why should people vote for you?

Reform UK, as everybody knows, is a comparatively new party, and we have produced a manifesto which has received very broad support across the whole country, not just from traditional Conservative voters, but from Labour voters and the floating voter.

They are all very popular policies, and the reason why they are popular is because they reflect what people want and the reason why I invite the electorate in Salisbury to vote for Reform UK is because you can be sure Reform will, if we form HM Government, will actually implement them.

A classic example is we will stop the boats. The Conservatives say they will but they haven’t, Labour doesn’t even want to. That’s just one example. The country seems to be in inexorably decline. We intend to stop it and reverse it.

What would be on your to do list on day 1 and what would be your top three priorities going forward?

My very very first job, when I have ascertained who the Home Secretary is, and this would take five minutes maximum, is I would call up him or her, and ask that Julian Assange be immediately released. His continued incarceration is a blot on the good name of British justice, but that would only take five minutes.

Afterwards, let's assume that Reform is in opposition.  First would be to get a grip on our own sovereign, foreign and trade policies. I would also immediately live in the constituency and be absolutely on tap 24/7 to help constituents in every way, which has been for 50 years my actual profession.

What are your policies on climate change / net zero?

Our manifesto is perfectly clear about this. We will scrap net zero and all net zero-associated subsidies. As for climate change, I think it is very possible that we are entering into a natural period of warmer weather, which we have had often in our history, which are often followed by periods of extreme cold, which happened in the 17th century. I do not believe that the warm period is man-made and even if it were, the proportion of the additional CO2 introduced by this country is so minuscule compared with all the great powers of the world, that to deindustrialise the United Kingdom is a disastrous policy.

What do you think needs to be done to fix the NHS, especially with regards to NHS dentists?

I shall point out that my eldest daughter is a consultant in the NHS. The other parties accuse Reform of either wanting to private the NHS or turn it into an American-style health system. Those accusations are false. We are as committed to free healthcare at the point of delivery as was [William] Beveridge when he and his committee wrote his report. Our view is that we believe it is widely shared that the NHS creaking and cracking under a whole range of problems and requires reform. We have a very radical approach to the NHS.  

NHS dentists are nowhere to be found. That would be a priority for me. All our reforms would apply to that as well. 

What are your policies on housing, especially for young people? 

I have been involved and still am in the training and apprenticeship system for young barristers so I am dealing with young people. First of all, they are all in gigantic debt and they are all in the position where they have to have another one or two jobs, because the cost of living for them is so high. The first thing we would do is to abolish interest on student loans and my own policy is to find a way of abolishing all student debt. But we do need to review the planning system, and fast-track development on brownfield sites and make the applications to empty office and other commercial-type premises into domestic flats and homes much easier. We would also prioritise social housing for local people and British tax payers. 

The full list of candidates for Salisbury is: 

  • Matt Aldridge: Labour Party
  • Victoria Charleston: Liberal Democrat
  • John Glen: Conservative
  • Chris Harwood: Climate Party
  • Julian Malins: Reform UK
  • Barney Norris: Green Party
  • King Arthur Pendragon: Independent