Healthcare, the economy and education were among the topics discussed by Carlisle’s election hopefuls during the city’s first hustings event – which ended up as a fiery affair.

Conservative candidate John Stevenson, who has represented Carlisle as its MP since 2010, was joined by Labour’s Ruth Alcroft, Liberal Democrat Peter Thornton and Ukip’s Fiona Mills at The Reiver, in Yewdale last night.

Around 50 people listened intently to hear what each of the candidates had to say, in the event organised by Heineken, in association with the News & Star.

Other issues debated included renewable energy, Brexit and electoral reform.

The candidates were asked for their views on the fact that Kingmoor Infant and Nursery School in the city had recently asked parents to donate items such as paper, crayons and glue sticks.

However Miss Mills sparked jeers from some sections of the audience when she suggested that the problem was not about the amount of money given to schools, but about how they are managed.

In response, Mrs Alcroft said: “Using double-sided photocopying is not enough to pay for a teacher.

“I know what teachers mean to children in our communities.

“A teacher gives them critical opportunities. A teacher is there when a child has fallen down and grazed their knee.”

Mr Stevenson said: “I think Carlisle schools have had a difficult 10 to 15 years. Funding is going in and it will be made fairer by the next government.

“We’ve got to make sure we get funding right. The Conservatives are putting £4bn extra into the education budget.”

The candidates were also asked how their parties intended to fund the NHS. David Steele raised the issue that more than 7,000 acute beds have been lost since 2010.

Miss Mills said: “We need to change the system to get better outcomes.

“Beds aren’t the right places for people to be. They need to be up and about and at home. We need more community nurses.”

Mr Thornton said he agreed, adding. “It’s a challenge in the NHS. People shouldn’t be in beds. The difficulty is that a social care setting is means tested, but hospital beds aren’t.”

Mr Stevenson said that the Conservatives have committed to spending £8bn more on the NHS. “How we deliver it has to change,” he said. “We need to integrate social services with the NHS. For example in London there were 32 stroke hospitals – that’s been reduced to eight but we’ve made sure they’re centres of excellence. It takes longer to get to them but the recovery rate has increased enormously.”

Mr Steele also asked if there were any plans to give a pay rise to nurses.

Mrs Alcroft said: “We need to remove the pay cap. It’s been at one per cent for a long, long time.

“The problem means that wages aren’t going up. That impacts here in Carlisle because people aren’t confident about spending money. We want to see people treated well with respected wages going in line with inflation.

“We want people to enjoy their job.”

One audience member also raised the fact that in its manifesto, Labour had outlined plans to raise corporation tax to 26 per cent – something that would impact on job creation.

Mrs Alcroft said: “We’re not anti-business. We’re keen to support people starting. I’m a director of a social enterprise. The Labour Party has said it will increase corporation tax but there will be a separate rate for small businesses.”

“Ninety-five per cent of businesses are small,” Mr Stevenson said. “Most people are employed by small businesses rather than large ones. It’s vital they get the most support they need.

“They create additional wealth. Small businesses are the backbone of the local and national economy.”

Miss Mills added: “We need to support small businesses. They are the backbone of the economy and we embrace them.”