LIVE Link: Bernie Sanders is talking at Cambridge Union

[Donkees]

http://www.cambridge-news.co.uk/news/cambridge-news/bernie-sanders-cambridge-union-trump-13126698?service=responsive

He is due to speak at 10am.

A small selection of tickets went on sale this morning but there have been reports of people queueing for up to two hours in an attempt to get a seat.

The union has planned to seat people in overflow rooms to cope with the demand to see Mr Sanders, who sought the Democrat Party's nomination for president last year.

It's expected that Mr Sanders is going to heavily criticise President Trump and has already taken to Twitter to denounce his decision to pull of the Paris Climate Agreement.

News reporter Jasmine Watkiss is at the event.

Link to tweet

[Donkees]

1. Huge cheers for Mr Sanders

[Donkees]

2. Mr Sanders speaks on the Manchester Arena attack

“What happened there is indescribable.”

“just because somebody speaks a different language or lives across the sea, they need not be enemies, we can come together.”

---

A new generation

Mr Sanders is talking about how a handful of very very wealthy people have control of whole countries. “It is paramount that we work together.

“There has never been a generation of young people that is so intolerant of racism, homophobia, and so on.”

---

Intolerance will not stand

Your generation has the opportunity to create the kind of world that this planet has never been.
“For the sake of this planet, your generation must do a lot better than my generation has done. That is your responsibility .”

---

[Donkees]

3. Mr Sanders attacks Mr Trump's decision on the Paris climate change deal

Everything you do has to be based on science, on facts - not alternative facts but real facts

“Climate change is real, is caused by human activity, and is right now causing devastating problems in my country and all over the world.”
if we do not get our act together, the dangers we face today will become much worse in the future.
Rising sea levels will threaten countries around the world, especially poorer countries.”

---

Huge cheers for Mr Sanders as he talks about America's removal from Paris climate change agreement

---

Mr Sanders on climate change

Climate change is a very serious international security issue. Drought or flood causes mass migration, and mass migration creates a situation where conflict is far more likely.

---

Mr Sanders believes renewable energy is the way forward

He says we should be investing in power sources such as wind, solar, and geothermal.

---

Still hopeful for the future

“The United States will become a leader in combatting climate change.”

---

Sanders on Trump

Trump is a reverse Robin Hood. He is taking from the poorest and giving to the very, very rich.

---

[Donkees]

4. ...

"Disastrous"

Mr Sanders believes President Trump’s healthcare proposal is “disastrous”

---



---

[Donkees]

5. ---

Establishing the NHS in 1948 was revolutionary.
You should be very, very proud of the NHS.

---

American healthcare at risk

Trump decided, after deep thought, to make our bad healthcare system even worse.
50 million people will have no healthcare if Trump gets his way - which he will not.

---

UK should be an example

We will look the the UK as an example and we will fight for our own national healthcare system, providing high quality care to all people in a cost-effective way.

---

Attack on Trump continues

Trump has a disrespect for democracy, tolerance, and traditional American values.

---

Mr Sanders criticises the media

Every politician, including myself, criticises the media. It’s all being screwed up by the media
“If you cannot believe what is in the papers or on television, if everything is a lie, then who are you going to believe?”

---

[Donkees]

6. ---

Mr Sanders accuses President Trump of 'lying'

we now have a president who lies all of the time.

---

The Muslim ban

“Trump attempted to pass a ban on Muslims. The constitution of the United States said you can’t do this, you can’t ban someone because of their religious beliefs.”

---

Tells President Trump to get another job

To trump: “Get out of politics and get another job”

---

Trump undermines democracy

When you have a president of the United States trying to undermine democracy, that is the very opposite of what the USA is supposed to be about.

---

The audience love Mr Sanders

The audience is being responsive, lots of clapping and laughing.

---

Trump is dividing America says Mr Sanders

What presidents and leaders of any country are supposed to do is to bring people together and not divide them up. But what we are seeing in the Trump administration is discrimination against our Latino brothers and sisters.

---

[Donkees]

7. ---

Need to stand together

He says we should judge people on their character rather than the colour of their skin.

The horror and the pain that has gone on for so many centuries when we judge people by the colour of their skin or their religion.

---

[Donkees]

8. Photo:

[Donkees]

9. ---

Trump is a demagog

We have got to focus on the real problems facing our planet and not let demagogs take over.

---

On the Trump/Putin bromance

Americans are scratching their heads trying to work out why Trump has such an affinity for Vladimir Putin”, who works to dismantle democracy

---

Too many concerns to handle

We don’t have time to discuss all of my concerns about President Trump.

---

least popular president

He is the least popular president today of all the president’s after four months of being in office.
While we [the USA] are in fact the wealthiest nation in the world... The truth is there are many millions of people who have been left behind by the economy.

---

People are being left behind

You have a situation in America where single moms and families cannot afford childcare
people are working two or three jobs trying to make ends meet
Many millions of people over 60 have nothing in the bank, they have no savings... And many millions of people cannot afford healthcare.

---

Criticism for his own party

The Democratic party turned its back on millions of people in poverty

---

Feeling helpless

There is a feeling of helplessness and hopelessness among millions.

---

[Donkees]

10. ---

America's drug problem

There is an epidemic of heroin addiction, opioid addiction, ... and increased numbers of suicides.

---

Mr Sanders accuses President Trump of lying his way to the Presidency

One of the reasons why Trump won is that he said to these disillusioned people that he would fight for them, he would take on the establishment. Unfortunately, Trump lied. He had no intention of standing up to those people. He is standing up for the billionaire class.

---

Mr Sanders concerned about the rise of oligarchy in the USA

20 people in the United States own more wealth than the bottom half of the population - over 150 million people .
For the last 40 years, we have seen a shrinking of the middle class in the US economy.

---

[Donkees]

11. ---

Put yourself in their shoes

I want you to put yourself into the head of those workers, and you know that 40 years have come and gone and they are making less than they did 40 years ago.

---

Mr Sanders wants international cooperation for international problems

Together, we have to work to break up the large international corporations.
The top one percent own more wealth than the other 99 per cent.

---

Progress is not equal

We have made progress in combating racism, sexism and homophobi a.
But there is one area in which we are not making progress, but moving in the wrong direction. That is the struggle for economic rights

---

"The future rests in your hands"

Your generation has the opportunity to make extraordinary transformations on this planet.
The future rests in your hands.

---

Time for the Q&A

Mr Sanders will now take questions from the crowd

---

[Donkees]

12. ---

Mr Sanders not a fan of Republican policy

Asked what his favourite republican policy has been Mr Sanders struggled to find a positive.

The Republicans have moved away from small government conservatism to right-wing extremism .
Telling a woman what she can and can’t do to her body is not conservatism, it is hypocrisy.
Invasion of privacy and the need to protect people around the world from that is a very serious issue.

---

Mr Sanders believes gender should not play a role in politics

With all the hype surrounding a potential first female president, do you think, if you had been female, you would have been chosen as the candidate?

We have a long way to go in terms of getting women themselves the representation they need.
But it is not just the gender you have, it is what you stand for.
We need that, but we need candidates that will stand up and fight for working people.

---

Mr Sanders talks about "courageous Corbyn"

Final questions come from audience members mentioning comparisons have been drawn between Sanders and Jeremy Corbyn.

Sanders said:

What Corbyn is trying to do with the Labour party is not dissimilar to what people have tried to do with the Democratic party.
Corbyn has shown a lot of courage in dealing with some of the economic issues.

---

[Donkees]

13. Mr Sanders waves to the crowd

[Donkees]

14. Mr Sanders and his wife Jane have been made honourary lifelong members of Cambridge Union

Thank you and goodbye

Thank you Cambridge, it is an honour and a privilege for my wife and I to be here today.

[Donkees]

15. Reaction: They all felt the Bern

Reaction: They all felt the Bern

Those who attended all appear to have loved it.

Link to tweet

---

Sonia Pavel was one of the lucky students who got a ticket to see Mr Sanders

I thought it was great. I think Sanders is always very articulate and at the same time reasonable, not even promoting his political agenda but actually making points that resonate with people all around the world.
This could have been a lecture on global equality, access to economic rights, he has very strong views but at the same time the capacity, intellect and rigour to present them in such a setting. So I thought it was a great event.

---

We were just saying it was so uplifting hearing someone be so optimistic. It didn’t feel like he targeted it at a university audience, which is actually very nice.”