Abdal-Jabbar, 56, Manchester<\/p>\n
Occupation Monitors offenders on electronic tags<\/p>\n
Voting record So far Labour, now looking at options between Corbyn\u2019s Your Party and the Greens<\/p>\n
Amuse bouche Is an extra in film and TV productions. He recently played a\u00a0paparazzo in the new Batman movie<\/p>\n
Will, 28, Manchester<\/p>\n
Occupation Works in operations and admin at Manchester University<\/p>\n
Voting record Labour under Corbyn, and was a party member. Voted Green in 2024<\/p>\n
Amuse bouche Volunteers at a heritage railway in Wales, a full-sized, preserved old slate railway, the first in the world. His dad is very train oriented<\/p>\n
For starters<\/p>\n
Abdal-Jabbar Lovely, presentable, polite chap. Very educated \u2013 he\u2019s got a degree in history. I think he knew a bit more about contemporary politics than I did.<\/p>\n
Will He seemed very well put-together, well-spoken. We chatted about interviews and jobs and things \u2013 he seemed like he\u2019d been all round the shop doing all sorts of things.<\/p>\n
Abdal-Jabbar He had impeccable table manners. I was eating the starter with my hands and he went in with a knife and fork. I went for the cod tempura, pasta, pineapple juice.<\/p>\n
Will I had croquettes as a starter, and then a chorizo something or other.<\/p>\n
The big beef<\/p>\n
Abdal-Jabbar He kept saying, \u201cGo\u00a0for\u00a0it, let\u2019s bring them all in, borders are just a line in the sand.\u201d I\u00a0didn\u2019t agree. There needs to be some curbing of the people who come on boats. If we let them all in, it\u2019ll be nonstop; there\u2019d be pandemonium in the end. While we have been a\u00a0fantastic, generous country, people are\u00a0taking advantage of it.<\/p>\n
Will I think he was quite surprised by\u00a0my stance \u2013 the only problem with\u00a0illegal immigration is that it\u2019s dangerous and people are drowning in\u00a0the Channel. He has an issue with the illegality of it. My view is that there\u00a0should be more safe routes to take the power away from people smugglers. My partner\u2019s done volunteer work in refugee camps \u2013 incredibly unpleasant places to be for years on end. You can understand how people are driven to desperation.<\/p>\n
Abdal-Jabbar I don\u2019t think anyone knew just how bad it would get. I know Shabana Mahmood is ripping up the rulebook now and saying refugee status should be temporary. We will always need some immigration \u2013 doctors, nurses and carers. But how effective are they? You might be qualified as a doctor but are you qualified culturally to understand British people? I don\u2019t think it\u2019s racist to ask that.<\/p>\n
Will It was fine for us to talk about the nuances of the immigration debate because there were so many issues we\u00a0were not that far apart on. If I\u00a0were sat across from a Reform voter, we wouldn\u2019t have got five minutes in before one of us said something the other thought was morally wrong.<\/p>\n
Sharing plate<\/p>\n
Abdal-Jabbar We agreed it was a\u00a0shame about Jeremy Corbyn and Zarah Sultana falling out. We agreed that the Gorton and Denton byelection had restored our faith in Britain.<\/p>\n
Will In terms of his actual positions on minority rights, we weren\u2019t too far apart. He was a Labour\/Green split voter, like me.<\/p>\n
For afters<\/p>\n
Will He views polarisation in modern politics as a unique development of\u00a0the last 10 years or so. I was more of the opinion that these sentiments were always there under the surface; the curtain has just been pulled back. The emergence of rightwing populist politics, Farage, the impact of social media on the political landscape \u2013 this is the natural endpoint of a\u00a0development of post-cold war politics. Thirty years of American dominance, which doesn\u2019t translate into improved living conditions, and people swing right.<\/p>\n
Abdal-Jabbar I have some concerns about rightwing extremism. They\u2019re\u00a0hijacking woke culture and appropriating ideas of freedom of speech in order to spout racism. If that\u00a0turns into violence, some of that needs curbing. He was more for woke culture, more encouraging of it.<\/p>\n
Takeaways<\/p>\n
Abdal-Jabbar We shook hands outside and parted amicably. He was a lovely chap. Very nice human being.<\/p>\n
Will The whole evening was amicable \u2013 we never got to the point where we were aggressively disagreeing.<\/p>\n
Additional reporting: Kitty Drake<\/p>\n
Abdal-Jabbar and Will ate at Maya<\/a> in Manchester.<\/p>\n