Generation Screwed?

Up until about six years ago, I had a really successful career as a TV presenter.

This programme contains some strong language

'And I had a big house, 'and a flash car and I was famous,

'and I was really pumped about how well I'd done,

'and I was kind of'

desperately running around trying to be the next Noel fucking Edmonds.

And then in 2011, the riots happened.

And I sat there watching it on telly in my nice house.

I kept coming back to the fact this was Britain,

and Britain's one of the richest nations in world,

and yet there's this incredible inequality going on in this city,

the city where I live.

I had to really question how I'd lost touch and lost perspective,

and right there, the bubble that I'd been living in so comfortably

for so long just burst and I had a meltdown.

I had a few years off work and I tried to make sense of it all.

Whilst I was busy, kind of, giving George 2.0 a run out, that actually things weren't getting any better,

and in fact maybe things were getting worse.

2016 was the year that rattled the establishment.

Communities feeling left behind was a key factor for the Leave vote in the Brexit referendum.

I was part of the 75% of young people that voted to remain in the EU.

Ever since Brexit I have been pretty disheartened.

If I want change, I want more equality,

more opportunities for anyone.

It's hard to see my youth fit in to a society that seems geared towards

the top and rich old people,

which most young people don't fit into.

They think we're all naive, loudmouth, Liberal snowflakes,

and it's not the case.

If things are going to change, then it's going to start with the young,

so I'm travelling across the UK

to hear the voices left out of the mainstream media today.

According to our own government,

almost one in three kids are growing up in poverty now,

a figure that's rising.

The richest 10% own nearly half the country's wealth,

and if you're born poor in our society,

the likelihood is you'll stay poor.

As the dust settled on the 2017 election,

the Grenfell Tower fire struck,

killing an estimated 80 people

and destroying the homes of hundreds more.

A burning symbol of inequality in one of the UK's richest boroughs.

They don't care about us!

They don't care about us!

If it was a rich persons' block...

they would care about us. They don't give a fuck!

As a grieving community's counting its dead,

the feeling on the ground is that Britain is divided.

I think what it symbolizes to me, one word if I was to sum it up,

is neglect.

I think there's a lot of divisions,

a lot of barriers that exist right now in Great Britain.

In metres you can see the juxtaposition of people

living in excess - the rich -

next door to council estates

where the most vulnerable members of society live.

My type of people, who are city rats,

then you got the rich people that trickle scraps.

They have 50 quid notes in their pockets, we have pounds in our pockets.

It's bad at the moment.

But with the tower incident,

it didn't matter whether you was poor or rich,

everyone was getting together to help.

Deep down, we all have community spirit,

it's just that it doesn't show itself often.

Despite its wealthy facade,

nearly 40% of young people grow up in poverty in London -

the highest figure in the UK,

a number which rises significantly if you're not white.

This is Darren, on his estate in Brixton.

I'm a housing activist,

I'm trying to bring affordable housing

to the area. I definitely see my future in politics.

At the moment, I live with my nan.

My upbringing was rocky, to say the least,

because we was in foster care.

My parents were drug abusers.

One time a group of middle class 20 to 30-year-olds

called me a chav and a thug.

It really demoralised me, because I was trying, like,

really hard to go to school by myself, and, like,

trying to get education to better my life,

and they just judged me on something that wasn't true,

just on my appearance,

so, ever since then I've been trying to defy people's expectations of me.

What's this estate called, Darren?

Moorlands Estate.

If you had to do a, kind of, temperature check,

is there content, is there a nice community spirit?

Are people pissed off?

-What's the vibe?

-Yeah, I'll say, like, um...

A lot of people are pissed off, just the way how Brixton is changing.

People just don't see this as being Brixton any more,

it's kind of lost its culture.

There's nothing for the youth.

That's why you'll see a lot of people, including myself,

just hanging around.

That gets, like, a bad reputation as well.

It's crazy to think that's right opposite my estate.

Play to your own tune, never skip a beat.

They're on a whole, kind of, like, Brixton music buzz, basically.

-Yeah.

-"Feel it.

"Now live it. Hear it."

Exactly, not going to live it.

They're not even showing, like, no diverse people.

All white people in the middle of Brixton!

-Hm-mm.

-It's nuts!

Are there any flats going up around here now, which have got, like, affordable homes in them, or not?

The Government's definition of affordable is still, like, around about 400,000,

-which, um...you know...

-It's not happening.

-Yeah.

-How does it make you feel that everything that's coming in here now

is not aimed at local Brixton people?

It makes you feel disheartened,

especially being a young person seeing all these new properties being built and knowing

that you'll never be able to afford one of them.

Like, all this just looks like, you know, it's progress, right?

-From the outside.

-The term they use is regeneration,

when really that's gentrification.

I'm not saying that the money coming in is bad,

it's just that the majority of it is not to help the working class.

They're going to be driven out of our community.

That's the councillor.

-Yeah.

-Hey, how you doing?

You all right? George Lamb, nice to meet you.

Nice to meet you, too.

-Just out with Darren, we're making...

-Darren is a great man.

He's a wonderful young man, isn't he?

Yeah. Future Prime Minister here.

Definitely. Nice to meet you, chief.

-All the best.

-Thank you, God bless, take care.

He was the former mayor of Lambeth.

Darren's got big dreams, but whilst he's trying to make them a reality,

he needs a job so he's got money to live.

Are you looking for any staff?

Are you hiring at all?

Are you hiring at the moment?

You can't get a job unless you have experience, but you can't get the experience unless you have the job.

And is that a lot of the chat that you get when you go in these places?

-A lot of places.

-So, it's a bit of a chicken and egg scenario, basically.

-Yeah.

-Now, how long have you been unemployed?

Since 2015.

Why do you think you're unemployed, Darren?

You know, I'm not going to say I'm perfect for every role,

but I feel like my appearance, it gives off, like, a negative image.

-There's not a lot you can do about that, though.

-Yeah, exactly. Exactly.

You know, it's...

Darren's neighbourhood is benefiting from big investment,

but it's not taking him with it.

No luck on the job front today,

so Darren's going to hang out with his mates.

-You up for it?

-Yeah, come on.

-Yeah?

-Lovely!

Do you feel like there's some momentum going on?

Yeah, definitely. The youth, now,

are starting to get really politically engaged.

I feel like there's a lot of hope for the future,

but hope can only take you so far.

I feel like those issues - health care, employment, housing,

we all feel like they need to be improved.

It's just our understanding of how to fix them is different.

I feel like the MPs and the baby boomer generation,

they don't really see us as important or influential in any way.

They just see us as so politically apathetic.

The reason we are apathetic is because you're not trying to appeal to us.

Why would you not try to appeal to us?

I just don't understand.

I think young people in the UK have a huge role to play in our society.

We're looked down on as young people who don't have a lot to offer,

but actually we do have a lot to offer and it is our future which we are dealing with.

Politics, yeah.

Politics don't make sense.

Sometimes you sit there, eating your dinner,

and you're watching these people about the politics talking about it.

Sometimes you don't even know, it just doesn't make sense what they talk about.

Issues in our cities are well-documented,

but with nearly ten million people living in rural communities,

what are the challenges for young people living in the countryside?

I headed out west to Gloucestershire.

In some local stables I met 24-year-old Caitlin, who works 12-hour days

and despite the idyllic backdrop, still feels like she's struggling.

He wants to come and say hi.

Hello, mate. He's lovely.

Sweet, isn't he?

If you were describing to someone who'd never been round here,

how would you describe this area?

I absolutely love it here. Like, I wouldn't really swap it.

I just think it's a really nice area, it's really nicely connected.

I have no desire at all to go to London,

so it doesn't matter for me that it's a long way.

What about young people round here?

Are they ambitious? Is there lots of work for them?

Is there opportunity?

I don't really know that many people my age here.

The people younger than me I know are all about to go to uni

and they've been working in bars to save up, or go travelling, or whatever.

What's it like around here? Obviously, driving round,

it seems pretty affluent and seems pretty well-heeled,

-all of it.

-Yeah, there's a lot of that.

-Yeah?

-It's, um...

There is a lot of money around, but it's quite, you know,

you can tell how hard people work for it.

OK. And do they work hard for it or not?

-Some do.

-Right, OK.

Yeah, being a younger person who's hoping to buy a house

this lifetime, yeah, I work harder than a lot of people round here.

Right, OK.

As we made our way across the country, we passed through

plenty of affluent towns with tourists taking pictures of quaint postcard England.

Welcome to Burford, everybody.

Apparently all you need here is love, laughter and Prosecco.

400 quid for a pair of waders.

Do you think this is a kind of like reasonable representation of kind of like Britain, this place?

Or is it... Because it looks...

-No, it's very sheltered.

-No, yeah.

I mean, if you're growing up around here you're kind of quite privileged, I think.

Does it feel like it's a bit of a bubble, this place?

It is a bit of a bubble, yeah.

I'd like to think that some of us, at least, realise it's a bubble.

-Right.

-And really appreciate what we have.

But these towns didn't feel like they were going to give us

a fair representation of life in the country,

so we carried on up the road to Cinderford in the nearby Forest of Dean.

This is rush hour in Cinderford.

It's all happening.

What's it like as a town, then?

Boring. They haven't got any activities.

We've got loads of pubs, loads of fast-foods.

Like, you don't need, like, a chip shop there, there and there as well as down there.

-We're bored.

-Right.

-I go with my own vibe.

-Good.

It's the only vibe to go with, mate, your own vibe.

Yeah, anybody wants to join along, they can.

Is it a nice town, Cinderford?

I enjoy it. It depends on a person's perceptions, doesn't it?

Yeah. Is there much work?

-Not at all, no.

-So, what's the long-term plan, then, for you?

I never plan anything.

Plans always fail for me.

-Really?

-Yeah. I ride the wave and go with the wind.

What are the aspirations for most people you know round here,

-young people?

-There isn't much aspiration.

They just want to live for the moment, they want to enjoy their lives while they can.

-Why do you think that is?

-Because there's no opportunities.

There's no opportunities for anyone round this area for a grown-up.

All of my generation and people that are younger,

I think, how are they going to get the opportunity because there isn't an opportunity for them?

I work in the Tesco's shopping store down in Chepstow,

just not far down from here, so it's literally a train ride for me.

For me, it's a happy job.

I struggled for finding myself work for quite some time.

Now I've found myself a job which I quite enjoy.

It's a cleaning job on the shop floor, do you know what I mean?

Cleaning up after people, like, rubbish on the floors,

following a routine of checking things and making sure everything's in order.

A basic job like that for me makes me happy.

My ambitions, I can't really think of any ambitions that I really have.

I haven't gone nowhere else.

It's always been here. The future for me just makes me feel like

it's still going to be the same for me as it is

but just being a different aged number

and hopefully seeing some gradual changes.

As a whole on a plate it's just going to be the same me,

hopefully have some better things,

living somewhere, and that will be me, that will be happy.

What's the vibe round here with all the people your age?

Do you feel like there's hope and possibility?

Do you feel like things are going to change?

To be the truthful person, no, because the fact of

where it's such a small place there's no go in the place.

There's no general hope with anyone or anything like that.

The vibe's just sit round in, like,

just sit there in a group and just put your music on, really.

That's the only vibe there is.

When you were a kid, did you think it's going to be great,

I'm going to go off and I'm going to...?

I knew full well I was still going to live this sort of life,

be down here for so long.

And as it goes on this is where you want to sort of like be, right, I want to get away from Lydney.

Like, all the time I think to myself, I just want to get away from here.

So, then, do you feel isolated living here?

Yeah, I'd say I am isolated.

Are you interested in politics?

Oh, Christ. It's all a big jumble.

It's like a jigsaw puzzle, really, and stuff with politics.

But it just doesn't really make no sense, really,

cos it's not going to change nothing down here, so there's no...

Do you genuinely think nothing can change, then?

Not down here. If ever it did happen, Christ,

I'd hold my hands up and thank God or something because, I don't know,

nothing will change.

And are you from here, boys?

-Yeah.

-Yeah, yeah.

-Yeah?

-Lydney, yeah.

-You've all grown up around here?

-Yeah, I've lived here all my life, yeah.

-Do you think you'll stay here?

I've always wanted to move abroad, Miami or something.

I can't see that being a realistic thing to happen, yeah,

-but...

-Why not?

Expand.

If life goes to plan then that's where you end up,

but I wouldn't be unhappy

if I stayed here for the rest of my life.

And did you get involved with the election?

No. My reason is, like, I actually don't know enough.

I don't look into it to see what you can vote for, what it benefits,

so I just stay away from it.

I don't think it will, like,

change my life enough for me to worry about it that much.

Really? So, what, just basically,

there's no point getting involved because it doesn't matter

what party's in, it's still going to be the same old thing?

Because they, like, help quite away from all, like,

the main places, means you don't see a change really out here.

So, if they're going to change funding for whatever it is,

by the time it gets to you lot there's not much happening anyway?

A lot of empty promises.

There's not a lot going on.

You want more promise, don't you, definitely?

If you were mayor of Lydney, what would you be doing?

Bring in maybe like a McDonald's like they did say they would and they haven't. A Domino's.

-Er... I don't know.

-There's an old bar over there.

Even a clothes shop, maybe, like Primark would do it.

Or a Topman. Topman, you know?

-Get River Island in Lydney, man.

-We need branded shops in Lydney.

They feel they've got no possibility

to kind of impact what's going on in the kind of wider world.

None of them have got any idea about politics or any interest in politics

because they don't really feel like it affects them.

They feel completely cut off from everything.

Rural areas often get called the left behind areas by politicians.

Distribution of resources changes your life experience

and that's something that we need to talk about.

People who live in those sort of environments where there isn't a lot

going on in the local community, no youth clubs and whatever,

and that sort of stuff fosters boredom which then fosters stuff like crime

because there's nothing to do.

They're very much forgotten by the government and that's really sad.

We have a responsibility to help everyone in British society.

Moved from a really right-wing little village

with absolutely no transport links

and a few pubs and a little shop to a city,

and it's opened my eyes a lot, I think.

It's removed any isolation.

My community exists online, on Facebook and Twitter.

It can span miles.

It goes across countries.

It's a lot easier to change who you follow on Twitter than it is to move

house if you don't like your neighbours.

We sort of think of the English as all being completely different from us,

which is probably not the case.

I headed to Faslane on the West Coast of Scotland,

home to Britain's Trident nuclear weapons system.

Does the sense of being unheard get stronger the further you go from Westminster?

UK politics is a mess,

particularly from the viewpoint of a Scottish person who's consistently

not seeing their own views reflected in Parliament.

Scottish independence is a pipe dream.

I'm completely behind it both as a Scottish person and as an antinuclear protester.

But whether or not we're going to get there in this current

climate remains to be seen.

Iona lives in a commune as an antinuclear protester.

I wouldn't say that we're like very high up on the pecking order

for people's respect in this country,

but, hey-ho.

That's the way it is.

Look at this.

Faslane Peace Camp since 1982.

Wicked.

Hello. How are you doing?

-It's nice to meet you.

-You all right?

-I'm George.

-Iona. Nice to meet you.

-Are you good?

-I'm good, yeah.

-Great.

-It's a little early. It's a little wet.

-It is a little wet.

-But we'll be OK.

Yeah. So is this your caravan?

This is my van. This is your van.

Let's have a look.

I'm in the one with the nuclear mermaid who's got two tails and two sets of eyes.

She's got nuclear reactive breasts, three of them.

"Fuck off"!

Every Wednesday, the protesters hold a vigil outside Her Majesty's naval base where the nukes are kept.

-We're going now.

-Cool.

-I don't think he wants to be on the camera.

-Right, OK.

Ooh! Almost.

Oh, look, here we go. There's a few other people here.

Banners are up.

It's an interesting mix.

The younger ones look like what you'd expect activists to look like,

and then you've got Mary there who used to live in exactly the same peace camp but 20 years ago

and she looks like your mum.

The legitimate face of activism.

On the end you need to clamp the top and the bottom because the wind,

it flaps up on the word "no,"

and it just says "more Trident," "more Hiroshimas", it's really bad.

What is it in you that makes you decide, right,

I'm going to get off the treadmill and I'm going to get involved in something that's bigger than me?

Part of it is from coming here and watching other people doing it.

It's very infectious and you do tend to get caught up in it.

Personally, I've got this sort of added grievance of the fact that

they're British weapons that are housed in Scotland.

If there's an attack here, if there's an accident here,

you're talking about the entire central belt of Scotland being wiped out.

So, for me, it does definitely feel like Scottish lives are collateral damage for Westminster.

-Scottish lives matter.

-Yeah, exactly. Scottish lives do matter.

-Maybe that's the new campaign.

-Yeah.

-But then what do you do,

-because then when you got offered the referendum you didn't want it?

-I know.

Is this a good turnout?

-Yeah.

-Yeah, this is pretty decent, yeah.

-Definitely.

Do you think you're any closer to getting this place moved on?

We thought we might get Scottish independence,

which would mean this country could throw them out,

and for a lot of us that's why we voted for independence.

Our main reason was it was a chance to get rid of Trident,

so we were gutted when we didn't get that.

Do you see being part of this as kind of opting out,

or do you actually see it as the opposite, actually, kind of opting in?

I think a lot of people would say there's a source of pride in the sort of opting out of everything,

deciding not to contribute your labour or your time to, sort of,

systems that continuously fail the masses.

So it's kind of resistance through a kind of social refuge, I suppose.

You know everybody's names.

-I know I do.

-How long have you been talking to activists?

-26 years.

-Really?

-26 years. Wow.

-So, that's why they'll call me.

Do think this'll be here forever?

Well, I think it'll see me.

-See you out?

-Yes.

It's weird because there's a bit of me that thinks,

"Is this really having any effect?"

But then at the same time, they're standing up for what they believe in.

That's most important thing.

What's on the menu, Chef?

Here we've just got a pot of couscous from...

I love that you turned into a TV chef, there.

-Oh, I'm sorry...

-"Here we've just got a pot of couscous that I've prepared..."

We did make it earlier.

Could you see yourself still living here in a few years' time,

or have you got aspirations to go back to the city, or...?

I don't think I have the complete sort of selfless nature required to live here full-time.

There was a bit of me that's looking at these people

that have been doing it for 30 years and I'm like, "Is this happening? Is there anything happening here?"

Do you feel, kind of, validated in your efforts?

I think you have to certainly lower your expectations.

When you arrive, you think there's going to be stuff going on all the time,

you think it's going to be really positive because you get so in the spirit of things. Um...

And definitely, sort of, spending the amount of time here has to teach you that patience is absolutely key.

Things, you know, aren't going to get done overnight,

under any circumstances.

Iona's made a choice to remove herself from society,

at least for the time being.

But not everyone wants to live on the outside.

And when you step back on the treadmill,

that comes with an inevitable amount of responsibility and stress.

I'd place my partner and I, and our circumstances, kind of, yeah,

middle class, really.

So, I wouldn't say we're right down at the bottom, like,

we're not struggling that much that we're crying out desperate desperate,

but we're not comfortable at all.

I still go to bed worrying about finances and things.

If you're just managing, I want to address you directly.

And I know that sometimes life can be a struggle.

We're going to go and meet Claire.

Her and her partner just had a baby.

And they describe themselves as just about managing, you know,

and these are the kind of bleary-eyed alarm clock Britain workers

who are out here, you know, working really hard,

but seemingly not being able to get ahead of themselves.

We've always worked, always paid our taxes.

When all the bills come out, the rent comes out, you know, things for Leo,

just the essential stuff that needs to come out,

we're not left with a lot.

So, yeah, we're just about, kind of, getting there.

-Hello!

-Hello, how you doing?

-Nice to meet you.

-I'm George.

-So, how long have you been living here?

-Couple of months.

Who's in your family, then?

-Who's the...

-So, it's me, and obviously my son and then my partner.

Before you had Leo, were you working full-time?

Yeah, I was working full-time.

I'm a nursery nurse, so, I work in a private nursery.

And, your partner, what does he do?

-He's in the building trade.

-What kind of percentage of your take-home is spent on rent

and just running the house and all the rest of it?

85%, even a little bit more.

-Really?

-Yeah, oh, definitely.

We're, kind of, just kind of scraping by,

just kind of paying what needs to be paid.

So, when it comes to, you know,

us maybe one day getting a house and stuff,

it's just never going to happen, because you can't save with, like,

the rent being so high, it's just impossible.

Does it stress you out?

Yeah, of course. Me, especially, because obviously I'm...

Do you know what I mean? I'm at home all day, so it's kind of...

I got a bit more time for it to process in my mind.

What are you doing then to try and make your money go as far as it possibly can?

Food-wise, we'll go out and get, you know, like freezer stuff, things with like long dates or like...

pas...do you know what I mean, pasta, rices.

-Yeah.

-If lights don't need to be on, you know, they're switched off.

It's just wasting money, it's just basically throwing your money away.

Are you entitled to any, like, at work benefits or anything like that?

No, because me and my partner earn over...

I'm not quite sure what the exact figure is, but it's either 28 or 29.

-And you earn just over it.

-But we're literally just...

I'm literally, like...

Just by the smidgen, just over.

Does it you frustrate you when you see other people, you know,

living nice lives who aren't working, you know,

anywhere near as hard as you guys?

Yeah. You got people that you just know full well could be working,

but don't, obviously are claiming benefits,

and then living a much more comfortable life than what, you know,

people are that are working their, like, arses off.

Something, yeah, that really frustrates me.

Seems like a nice neighbourhood, this.

Yeah, do you know what? It's not bad.

Do you feel kind of positive as a young person then, like,

about your future?

At this moment in time, no, not really.

Not with, kind of, you know, everything that's going on.

But I can't see us owning a house.

I just don't think that is possible.

Do you feel like young people are being heard?

No. No, not really.

I just think we kind of...

Because of our ages,

I just think we kind of get put in a kind of category.

You know, they're only 21, so...

What do they know.

-They don't know anything.

-What does your tattoo say?

"Do good and good will come to you."

And is it working?

No, not at all.

Because I'm doing good, but no good's coming to me.

-Yet.

-Yet.

But, we shall see.

We don't know what the future holds.

I want to bring up my children, my future children, in my own house,

and not have to rent off someone.

If the housing crisis stays the way it is,

I don't see myself moving out of my parents' house any time soon,

or even, you know, thinking that I could afford to do that.

It's pretty rubbish, really, if you're young.

There's no way that most of us can afford a house of our own.

We'll just keep paying rent month in, month out.

It gets framed in terms of, like, generation rent

and young people not being able to move out of the family home,

and isn't that terrible, and that is a problem that needs to be fixed,

but that is not a youth issue.

Everybody needs housing.

The rich people, they might have a house, they might have a nice car,

they might get up every morning and go to work,

but only because their parents had a bit of money behind their back.

And me now, it might be a hostel, but I'm sorting myself out.

Once the UK's third biggest port, Hull suffered decades of decline

as the fishing and shipping industries were decimated.

The UK City of Culture 2017 is Hull.

CHEERING

The city is now benefiting from much-needed investment.

But not everybody here feels like they're winning.

That's when my son was just born.

I was full-time in work, I was happy.

Things changed.

I think I've...

I believe times just got hard.

I don't know. But that's one of my favourite pictures.

It's a shit hole.

River's a shit hole.

I mean, just look at the place.

Hull won an award.

But I don't see anything looking better apart from

they're putting a couple of statues up, or loads of lights.

Water fountains, I don't know.

I don't know how that can benefit me.

Or anybody else.

I hand in my CVs, I do my job searches.

There's nobody willing to take me on.

Because I can't get a job, I can't work.

Yeah, I just can't get no work whatsoever.

I'm not on t'sick.

I'm fit, I'm healthy.

I feel so isolated from society, well,

because there's nothing around here for me.

I met up with Spence outside a food bank.

How long have you been homeless, then?

Who, me? A month nearly now.

-Really?

-Yeah, it's the first time I've ever been homeless.

-You got a kid?

-Three.

-You got three kids?

-Three kids, yeah.

-So, were you working, then, up until a little while ago?

Yeah, well, the last job I was getting a bit of cash was pot washing,

but I left that cos it was shit.

Because I didn't really think ahead...

What, when you jumped out the last job?

-Yeah, I just jumped.

-What? And you just assumed you'd get a job, then?

No, I just didn't want to work.

I know it sounds stubborn, but I just couldn't be arsed.

My head was up my arse. I felt like...

You what, sorry?

Who was up your arse?

-My head.

-Your head was up your arse, right.

I didn't know what to do with myself.

The only reason why I got into the life of crime was because of the people I was hanging around,

and I could see there was money to be made, so I thought I'd do it.

I made a bit of money. Got done for it, went to prison, come out,

did it again, and then did it until I realised that enough was enough.

And I haven't been to jail for the last three years, now.

Why do you think you've ended up having this life?

Um... I don't know, because what's around me, I reckon.

Do you take any responsibility for it?

I do now, yeah, but back then I didn't.

-You're the lad from the hostel.

-How you doing, mate? You all right? I'm George.

Nice to see you, man. Are you good?

Yeah, yeah.

How's it going? Are you from Hull?

He's lived here all his life.

Have you been in prison as well then, or not?

-Yeah, yeah.

-Do you think you're going to get yourself out of this situation?

-Yeah.

-Genuinely?

-It's just hard.

Hull's main priority's build these hotels for these posh people to come and enjoy Hull.

We're just city rats to them, we're fuck all, aren't we?

What are they going think to me, "Oh, shut up, little boy."

-They'd think, look at these two chavs.

-Yeah, they'd say, "Fuck off."

Unemployment is over the national average in Hull,

and in recent years there's been an influx of European migrants.

67% of Hull's voters were prepared to take the leap into the unknown and voted to leave the EU.

I got laid off, because Polish people were coming to work for cheaper.

So, in the end I lost out.

Foreigners are coming over here because the Government's let them.

They come over here thinking, "Oh, we got better benefits, NHS..."

And they can milk the system, but that's when people like us lose out.

So, if we stop all immigration...?

Yeah? Life would be so much better, wouldn't it?

-Then you think you'd be all right?

-Yeah, yeah, miles better.

Because you'll be able to get the jobs?

Yeah. This is England, this is our country.

This isn't Poland, this isn't Holland, or whatever you want to call it.

It's England. Fuck off, I don't like it.

It pisses me off. Because there's nothing for us, is there?

Because they're taking it.

I find it really sad that poor people go after other poor people

basically because they're from a different country.

All his anger's focusing on the wrong stuff.

Unfortunately, Spence is not unique in this situation.

There's loads of poor guys living in hostels around the country

who, you know, coming from broken homes,

have created their own broken homes, can't get into work, in and out of,

you know...in and out of prison, and I don't...

You know, I don't know how you get it...

I don't know how you make it better.

Despite my differences of opinion with Spence, meeting him -

a man who wants to find work but can't find any -

I understand why he has grievances, even if for me they're misplaced.

In making this film,

I'm seeing that most of us are just products of where we come from.

It's all a lottery, and when we get handed a winning ticket we manage

to convince ourselves it's all our doing,

and forget about those who didn't happen to get so lucky with their ticket.

You get us, you get middle-class, and you get the best.

And the best are going to always outwin us, because they got power.

So, you've got class, race, age, gender, sexuality.

They're checklists on how well or how not well you're going to do in society.

I'm a white, middle-class, straight guy.

I'm privileged enough that I don't have to engage with politics.

No matter what governments come next, I'll bear pretty well,

but there are people out there that won't.

I have a voice. I shouldn't be labelled by, like, my disadvantage.

I have power, like, just like anyone else.

I'm from a pretty standard working-class family.

I grew up in an estate in Hackney, just up the road,

and then went to university at Sussex,

and from there I got involved quite heavily in politics,

and then got into journalism.

I think today's political climate is extremely exciting.

With the Brexit vote, there's been an explosion of discussion

about people getting up and getting engaged in politics,

and I think that's really shaken the status quo.

Back in London, I met Ella.

She's optimistic about the future,

and feels that young people are finally waking up.

We've been going all over the country, and, you know,

particularly the people who really need help, they have this kind of,

you know, just total apathy for politics and don't really...

They don't believe in themselves, they don't believe in their ability to change anything.

OK, so you've talked to people who've said that,

but I've kind of had a different experience.

Over the last two years I think we've had some really monumental political shifts.

The Brexit vote last year I think was the first real turning point.

People who weren't interested in parliamentary politics suddenly were

really enthused by this argument, and were rebellious,

and I think that has continued.

The Grenfell Tower, the Brexit vote,

all of these things have got people talking,

and there's no better way to get people engaged then for there to be stuff to get engaged with.

Do you think we live in a disunited kingdom?

No, I don't think we live in a disunited kingdom.

I think that there's a lot of division on issues.

So, there obviously... There was, you know, the Brexit vote was a big division.

There's talks about Scottish referendum.

There's a big disjoint between the urban centres and rural areas.

So, there's lots of big questions being asked,

and people are fighting about stuff.

But I see that as a very positive thing,

because if you've got a bit of argument,

if you've got a bit of contention of people positively but assertively

making their voices heard, and coming into conflict with each other,

then that's where real change happens.

There's actually nothing really more important than, like,

playing an active role in society.

Like that, surely, like, number one thing is you're a person,

you're part of this big collective, you have to have...

You have to have some kind of understanding of your role in it.

You're not a bystander in it, you are it.

It's so refreshing meeting somebody like Ella,

because she's full of hope and possibility,

and she genuinely believes we can change things,

and I think that's because she's decided that she's going to engage with it all,

and she's going to figure out how she can be part of the solution.

I think something's only screwed,

something's only ruined if you say it is.

I feel like there's a lot of uncertainty.

Through that uncertainty, that's where the hope comes in.

Because I feel like people will be like, "Yeah, OK,

"it's time for us to make change."

And getting engaged doesn't mean that you've got to go on marches or chain yourself to trees.

You know, at the very least you can just start listening to people, all the people around you,

and realising that your perspective isn't the only perspective.

We've inherited a lot of things that aren't our fault,

and we're going to have to find the solutions to them.

Do I feel like our generation's been screwed?

Um, yeah, absolutely, but I think every generation does.

There's a tiny minority of people who have all the power and all

the wealth, and everybody else is just struggling to survive,

and that's crazy. Inequality's not going to solve itself.

Right, how I feel about the future right now?

Nervous, excited, terrified, but I...

You know, I like to think that there's a decent future in store for my generation.

I don't think our younger generation is screwed.

I think we most definitely have a chance,

it's just whether we're going to take the opportunity or not,

when it comes.

Young people are screwed only if they decide they want to be,

and if they're going to let themselves be.

If you want things to be different, take responsibility and make them

-different.

-We have seen the mistakes of the past generation,

and I feel like we've learned from that.

Our future's sorted, that's not going to happen.

That's not going to run with us.

We're going to make things a lot better,

and they'll just have to watch and see.