All the key points from the Makerfield by-election debate

Five of the candidates standing to be the next MP for the Makerfield constituency have gone head-to-head on a live BBC debate.

The Liberal Democrats' Jake Austin, Labour's Andy Burnham, Robert Kenyon from Reform, Michael Winstanley from the Conservatives and Sarah Wakefield from the Greens discussed a range of topics from immigration and crime and antisocial behaviour to their favourite Wigan delicacy.

Kenyon claimed "the vast majority" of asylum seekers were "fighting-age males" and said anyone who came to Britain should "come here legally and go through the right process".

Burnham said that more people were being "returned to their country of origin" under the Labour government, but added: "It is something that just has to be gripped and gripped properly, because it is about trust in politics."

Wakefield described the other parties' positions on asylum seekers as not "a politics of compassion and kindness", but a "politics of cruelty", adding: "We are a country built on immigrants."

Winstanley said: "We want to make sure that the people who need to be are here as well, and are contributing to society and paying those taxes which help to grow the economy."

Austin said: "We are constantly told by the extreme parties, particularly on the right, that immigration is the cause for most of our problems... but immigration has come down significantly over the last couple of years. Yet those problems are not solved."

Winstanley said there needed to be "more police on the streets", and that their powers needed to be increased so they could effectively "clamp down".

Wakefield said too many services for young people had been "cut, cut, cut, cut over years of austerity", and that there needed to be "more youth clubs, more opportunities for sports, more opportunities for creativity".

Kenyon said there should be a youth club in each ward, and said there were areas where "there's not really anywhere for kids to go", adding the centralisation of youth services into the town centre was not ideal because "who wants to drop their kid off in a town centre?"

Burnham said there was a need for "a combination of firm policing, but with better youth provision", adding young people needed "a kind of sense that the world is theirs", with opportunities and training available to them.

Austin said: "It's a two pronged approach between, yes, making sure that the police have the resources that they need, but also making sure that we're providing opportunities for young people so they do not feel like they have to turn to anti-social behaviour."

Burnham rejected the idea he was using Makerfield as a "stepping stone", adding that Makerfield included a lot of his former Leigh constituency, and that "I've always been rooted here and determined to get the best I can for this area".

Kenyon said he was a truly local candidate, not "parachuted in" like former MP Josh Simons. He said he would tackle "local issues on a ward-by-ward basis".

Winstanley said he was "born and bred" in the area, and wanted to "put a clear Conservative view forward… between now and polling day".

Wakefield said politics needed to "give people a sense of hope… of how things can be better", investing properly "in the things that make life really worth living in our communities".

Austin, who pointed out he had grown up in Hindley, highlighted Lib Dem plans to "reduce VAT on the hospitality sector so that pubs and restaurants can begin to thrive" on high streets like those in Makerfield.

Burnham said he would like to remove the restriction that stopped older and disabled people using bus passes before 09:30 GMT, and that he would like to see more "essential services" brought under "stronger public control".

Winstanley said we should "end the obsession with Net Zero" and "get drilling again in the North Sea for oil and gas"

Kenyon said nationally the party would "scrap VAT on energy bills, scrap Net Zero and start drilling in the North Sea".

Wakefield said "If we invest properly in our public services, then we are all going to be able to enjoy a life together".

Austin said the the Lib Dems "believe that money needs to go back into the pockets of the people who are paying those energy bills, because energy is not a luxury."

The debate ended with each candidate asked to reveal their favourite "Wigan delicacy".

Austin opted for "a chunky steak pie", Wakefield put forward Uncle Joe's Mint Balls, Kenyon said his choice would be "chunky steak on a buttered barm", while Burnham championed the "babby's yed" (baby's head), which is a type of steak pudding.

Winstanley said his favourite Wigan delicacy was an old-fashioned meat and potato pie, "rounded off with an Uncle Joe's Mint Ball".

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