Martin Brookes, front centre, chairman of the Telford and Wrekin Senior Citizens Forum, is see with General Election candidates. Back from left: Paul Kalinauckas, Labour and Co-operative for Wrekin, David Wright, Labour for Telford, Malcolm Hurst UKIP for Wrekin, Denis Allen, UKIP for Telford, Phil Bennion, LIb Dem for Telford and, front, Mark Pritchard, Conservative, for Wrekin and Tom Biggins, Conservative, for Telford.

The election campaign in Telford & Wrekin kicked off in earnest today with seven prospective parliamentary candidates for the area facing more than 130 people over the age of 55 in a political forum.

Candidates from Labour, Conservative, Liberal Democrats and UKIP were present at the questions session, held at The Place @ Oakengates and organised by the Telford & Wrekin Senior Citizens Forum.

Each party was given five minutes to address the audience before the tables were turned and the senior citizens were given a chance to grill the election hopefuls, with immigration, pensions and social care dominating the agenda.

It was the issue of immigration and the EU which brought the debate to life with Telford’s UKIP candidate Denis Allen earning an ovation for his response.

He said: “We’ve got Romanian families, Portuguese families and they’re not skilled workers that have come over here – they’re here for the handouts. Let’s get back in the real world and address it.”

Sitting Conservative MP for the Wrekin Mark Pritchard said should the Tories gain power a new UK border police would be introduced, but Labour’s David Wright, sitting MP for Telford, hit back by saying that pulling out of the EU would lead to job cuts.

He said: “If you want to see jobs go out of Telford at a hell of a rate then pull out of the EU because I tell you there will be some people in the dole queue.”

The tax debate was raised with Mr Pritchard outlining plans for a Council Tax freeze, adding there were no Tory plans to raise VAT.

The audience was also given assurances over social care. Liberal Democrat candidate for Telford, Phil Bennion said: “What we have been looking for is some form of cross-party consensus. We’ve got to work out a scheme that will work and will cover everybody.”

Mr Wright added: “People are fearful that they’re going to have to sell off all of their assets to fund their care and that’s not right.”

By Election Reporter Alex James