More than 130 people at a climate change hustings event had the chance to quiz all six parliamentary candidates for East Hampshire.

Held in the Festival Hall Rose Room in Petersfield on Sunday, the event started with candidates putting forward their views on how to deal with the climate crisis.

Labour candidate Gaynor Austin focused on the party’s Green Industrial Revolution, saying it would create ‘green’ jobs, providing the skills needed to environmentally retrofit houses and build renewable energy facilities.

She also said Labour’s Plan for Nature would help rebuild biodiversity in the countryside and added sanctions were needed to make ‘big business’ polluters pay penalties – to help pay for green initiatives and strategies to reduce carbon emissions.

For the Liberal Democrats, David Buxton said the party’s Tackling the Climate Crisis Together strategy would help ensure the net-zero CO² objective was built into decision making by national and local government, businesses, investors, communities and households.

Stopping Brexit would mean the UK could continue working with the European Union (EU) to tackle the climate crisis.

Conservative candidate Damian Hinds said the Tories had already made real progress reducing CO² emissions across the UK, and he was keen to see more solar and wind power replacing fossil fuel generated electricity.

He added that to help make the changes needed to tackle the climate emergency schools should lead the way – students could then take informed views into the family home and influence lifestyle decisions, and in time carry them forward with their own children.

Zoe Parker of the Green Party said agri-business should focus on protecting the environment instead of profit.

Agri-ecology and organic farming should be promoted, and the Green Party aimed to stop all live animal exports.

Jim Makin for UKIP insisted CO² in the right proportion was part of the natural world and one reason UKIP had successfully campaigned for Brexit was so the UK could make its own decisions about the environment, rather than follow EU legislation.

Eddie Trotter of the Justice and Anti-Corruption Party said the party was very keen to tackle climate change.

He added a main target was ‘land banking’ for future development where companies could make ‘huge profits’ when the land was eventually developed.

He said big businesses seen as polluters should pay penalties to help subsidise green projects.