TOPICS ranging from tuition fees to women feeling unsafe walking in the city were raised at a mostly polite and orderly hustings this evening at the University of Bradford as Bradford West candidates took to the stage to deliver their reasons for standing.

There was no drama to mirror a political meeting last week for Muslim women politicians which saw Labour candidate Naz Shah leave the floor amid a storm when her request for Conservative candidate George Grant, who was in the audience, to be allowed a platform was refused.

Tonight five out of the eight candidates took their seats - Celia Hickson, Green Party, Ms Shah, Salma Yaqoob, Independent, Mr Grant and Liberal Democrat Alun Griffiths.

All spoke for three minutes to speak about why they were standing and all received applause from an attentive audience.

There were a couple of outburst from members of the audience and the anticipated bickering among the candidates.

Speaking first, Mr Grant said his party was interested in economic growth for everyone, not only the "perceived" wealthy Tory voters.

"They amount to one per cent. We couldn't have won the last election with just one per cent of the vote," he said.

Ms Yaqoob said she was aiming to stop divisions, to work with everyone and to address the thousands of children who were going hungry today and the 40 per cent of the constituency who were in poverty.

"I am not tribalistic. I can bring people together and will work with people from other parties to make sure that we solve the problems, not just talk about them," she said.

Ms Shah said her party was aiming to fight poverty with a £10 minimum wage and said a vote for her and Labour was a vote for prosperity, not austerity. She also questioned the safety of the Tory manifesto following the Party's U-turn today on the dementia tax.

Ms Hickson said the Greens were committed to fighting the rights of citizens as well as the environment and addressing climate change. She added that raising £8 billion to write off student debts was a possibility stating the politicians who brought in the fees in did not have to pay when they went to university.

Mr Griffiths said, as a practicing GP, he was concerned about health and social care and that his 32 years working in Bradford helped him understand the needs of people in Bradford. He also pointed out his feelings on the importance of education, particularly early years education and the need for more money for schools.

On tuition fees Ms Shah said the Labour Party would scrap them from September. Ms Yaqoob and Ms Hickson both said their policies involved scrapping the fees with Ms Hickson adding: "Education transforms lives and should be available to people of all ages and free for all."

Mr Grant said the present system where paying back fees was fair.

"Those who earn £17,775 after finishing university would not have to pay anything. Those on £18,000 would pay it back at £1 per month while those earning £25,000 would pay back £24 per month.

"When you get a big job and are earning big bucks then quite rightly you will have to pay what you owe," he said.

Mr Griffiths said his party would make sure student loans were not sold on and that the interest rates on them do not go up."