Welfare, solar
Any Questions? and Any Answers?
The episode explores the complex socio-economic tensions in the UK, focusing on the debate between maintaining the state pension triple lock
Key takeaways
- Andy Burnham's leadership is being scrutinized as he approaches his first Labour conference in Liverpool.
- The 'triple lock' on pensions is a point of contention, with some viewing it as an entitlement and others as a burden on the young.
Main topics
- UK Welfare and Pensions
- Solar Energy vs Food Security
Notable quotes
The triple lock is a political minefield that was laid by one government.
Conclusion
The episode illustrates the difficult trade-offs required in modern go
Transcript preview
Speaker 6 (0:00) This BBC podcast is supported by ads outside the UK. Welcome to the Haunted Library. Have you come in search of a tale? This podcast invites you to browse the shelves and find stories that will linger long after you've left this place. From gothic masterpieces to pulpy penny dreadfuls, join me, Colin Morgan, with new episodes twice a week. Find The Haunted Library wherever you get your podcasts. Speaker 2 (0:38) Good afternoon. Welcome to Any Answers. We've got a lot to talk about. Andy Burnham is in Liverpool this weekend for his first Labour conference as Prime Minister and the stakes are high. This week he told the United Nations that Britain is back. He also sat down with Donald Trump, who called the Chagos deal terrible, but said the two men could do business. So, the question that was posed... Has the mayor become a statesman? And what about domestic politics? There are uncomfortable choices ahead. The welfare budget, energy security, resilience plans. Is he the man for the moment? Is Andy Burnham the prime minister? you thought he would be? Is he doing enough to boost growth, for example? There's a former Labour business secretary who this morning says no, he's not. So I really want to hear from you. If you voted Labour, what does he need to say in Liverpool to keep you? 03700 100 444. And thanks to the triple lock, the full state pension is set to rise to more than 30,000 a year next April. Meanwhile, around a million young people are not in work, not in education, not in training. Now, some say... The old are being protected at the expense of the young. Others say nobody relying on the state pension is living in luxury. And not everybody gets this £13,000 anyway. So tell me, is this triple lock fair or is it time to shift the balance towards the next generation? Maybe you're a grandparent or, you know, the generation who never had it so good. Maybe you feel quite guilty about the youngsters in your family. And to the under-25s, I'd really like to hear from you. How does this debate look and sound to you? Speaker 2 (2:16) In Warwickshire and Worcestershire, plans for the Arrow Valley solar farm, up to 500 megawatts across 2,600 acres, have angered many local residents. Now, supporters are saying Britain needs clean power. Critics say good farmland should be used for growing food. So what matters more, renewable energy or food security, or is that just not the choice we should be thinking of? Should local communities have the final say? And if you farm or you live near a development like this, what has this meant for you? And more broadly, if you're a farmer, I just want to hear what life is like at the moment. Higher diesel fuel costs coming at you, a wet summer. Do solar farms make more financial sense than traditional farms these days? A3700, 100, 444. And the BBC must save millions. The director general, Matt Britton, says, among other things that he could allow would be to let AI present or make a programme within guardrails, he said. So could a machine do a presenter's job? I mean, could it do my job? Better than I do. And how do you use AI? For advice in your work? How comfortable are you with AI in your life? There is an extraordinary Ofcom fact that I wanted to share with you, which says more than half of UK adults use AI tools. One in eight use it for conversational purposes. you know, to offload at the end of the day or to ask advice. What do you make of that? 03700 100 444. Let us start, though, with this idea of the triple lock welfare. Who has it good and who does not? Mary Rowe calling us from East Devon. Good afternoon, Mary. Hi, Anita. Hi, welcome, welcome. So what do you make of the debate and the fact that triple lock is in the spotlight again? Speaker 7 (3:59) Right. It wasn't so much about the triple lock. It was about the fact that people seem to think that pensions are a welfare issue when I believe it's an entitlement issue. I'm in my 80s now. And when we started work, we had to pay national insurance contributions towards our pension. We had to have 40 stamps. That takes me back, doesn't it? Before we could get... a full pension. And so I don't think it's a comparison. I think they're two different issues, both very important. Speaker 2 (4:38) Okay. For those who say, well, actually, no, it is a welfare payment because we're making sure, you know, people who pay tax pay taxation for a number of different reasons. And if the need is now with the young, we should... definitely look at alleviating some of the burden that lies on their shoulders. Your generation had affordable housing. It has free health care. It had, I don't know whether you went to university or not, but, you know, sort of education. There were no fees to be paid up front. And because we are living in a different world, we need to re-evaluate what went before. Speaker 7 (5:15) Yes, but when I was growing up, it was very, very hard. My parents both came out of the World War and they had to start from scratch. And I remember even being a teenager, money was very, very tight. I come from East Devon. We had to move away for work unless we wanted to work in a shop. So I had to move to Bristol. Then I was moved to London. Then I moved to Sheffield. And that's where I met my husband, who comes from Plymouth, because he had to move away as well. So it hasn't always been easy for us. Yes, we are enjoying a good lifestyle now, but I don't have a work pension. I have a small work pension, but not very big. But I rely on my husband's pension. Speaker 2 (6:09) Thank you, Mary. Joel is agreeing with you. Joel Curran's been in touch. People who are receiving the state pension have worked hard and they have paid into it. It's not a handout. People like me have paid in for many years and we're still waiting for it because the pension age got moved twice during my career. And regarding young people, we do need to do more for them. Dave Carey says all state benefits other than a basic entitlement should be means tested. I think the triple lock should apply to, say, net incomes of £25,000. and then increases should be at the current rate of inflation. Leslie Aitchison says, you know, the last cohort of baby boomers are passing on financial assets to their children. In turn, the millennials will pass on this wealth to their children. Clearly, the answer is that inheritance tax needs to be massively hiked in order that the state can redistribute money. Let's go to Lizzie, who's calling us from East Sussex. Hi, Lizzie. Speaker 5 (7:02) Hi, Liz. Hi, Anita. Speaker 2 (7:04) Hello, welcome. Speaker 5 (7:07) Go ahead, ask me a question. Speaker 2 (7:09) All right, I will ask you a question. Okay, so at the moment, the way in which the question has been framed is that it is a sort of an either-either situation. Because we are honouring the triple lock, we cannot afford to spend more on young people and young people are struggling. I mean, I sort of started off by saying the number of people who weren't in education or training. Speaker 5 (7:35) Yes, I'm a mother of an Eid. Speaker 2 (7:37) OK. Speaker 5 (7:39) And I'm very, very mindful of trying to get him into university and to work. This is a circular problem. If we do not have enough people working from the young, there will be no pension for elderly people. I am 58. I am looking. to my pension. But if we don't meet the needs and get the needs into work, and that is by improving our mental health services, providing a very structured and supportive approach to getting people into work, then we will not have the money for my pension. So we have to pay. We have to look at money for young people. Okay, and Speaker 2 (8:32) where should that Speaker 5 (8:33) money come Speaker 2 (8:33) from Speaker 5 (8:34) then? Well, there isn't a lot of choices of where the money could come from. I'm sorry for elderly people who feel that they are entitled to this. But if we can remove the triple lock, mean test those pensions and make people who are in work, force them to make it a mandatory contribution to pensions, then we have their own pensions. People need to stand on their, you know, we need to have those who can need to stand on their own two feet so that those that can't can begin to get onto their feet and begin to work and begin to pay, you know, in tax so that we can actually fund the pensions Speaker 2 (9:24) that we need, that people will need. Okay. So, I mean, even if you're just looking out for yourself, this is an argument you would have that, you know, look, just for the sake of generations to come. We ought to be thinking this way. Liz, thank you. Tony on email says, the young have been dealt a really poor hand by recent and past governments, whilst the list of pensioners reliant on the state pension has improved. It is the economic growth problem that needs to be solved, not pensioner income. Echoing the comments made by Peter Kyle this morning when he was asked whether he thought anti-Burnham was doing enough to boost growth, he said he did not. He was speaking to the BBC two months after being sacked from his... Speaker 2 (10:07) And he says, look, if the destination means prosperity, if it means freedom for people to do new things, it means security for people and families, then why wouldn't we put our foot down and get there quicker? So what do you make of that? I mean, is it growth that we should be aiming at or redistribution? Let's go to Anne Hill, who's calling us from North Yorkshire. Hi, Anne. Hi there. Hi, welcome. Speaker 8 (10:33) Well, I don't want the elderly and the young to be put at loggerheads. Everybody needs to help. Why I really rang was to say I wish the BBC would stop saying that all pensioners are