I like hustings.

I shall be doing quite a few of them during the election campaign.  And it is good to see the other candidates on the stump, sweating, taking flak.

This afternoon, I get an invitation to a hustings for Muslims and I decline.

But what happens when we go ahead and you are not there?  I suppose there will be an empty chair, I reply.

I do not see Muslims as a monolithic bloc.  There are conservatives and liberals.  Gay and straight.  Devout and not so devout.

I suggest the organisers team up with Pendle Building Bridges who are organising two multi faith hustings.  If there is demand for a third one, then go for it!

In places like Pendle we need to bring people of different faiths together.  Listening to different points of view.  Learning from each other.  Nurturing a common citizenship.

Building Bridges has been working for years to reach across religious and cultural divides.

Time to support them, I’d say.

Hustings arranged so far:

• 15 April: RSPB in Barrowford on Climate Change.
• 20 April: Building Bridges in Christ Church, Nelson
• 22 April: Building Bridges in Barnoldswick
• 23 April: Nelson and Colne College