Generation Gap Newsnight


Generation Gap

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in the Palace of Arts in Exhibition Park.

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Half the audience is over 60 and half is under 30.

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How different is life for them and how divided are they over

:00:17.:00:19.

Tonight, a Newsbeat Newsnight special on the generation gap,

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the world of work, a chance to study without huge debt, the likelihood

:00:51.:00:52.

of owning a home, the kind of country you want to live in,

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are the younger and older generations worlds apart,

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and which of the parties offers the best deal?

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Joining us in Newcastle, 70 people and seven politicians

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and our resident fact checker, number cruncher, from the

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Resolution Foundation, Thorsten Bell.

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Are we right, is there a generational divide?

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I think everyone agrees there is a generational divide,

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and the hard job for politicians is pursuing that gap,

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because they need votes from the young and the old.

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All right, so, we know that there is an issue, so,

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what is government's priorities? First, let's hear how the government

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spends our money and who benefits. Meet Betty Boomer

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and Millennial Matt. She was born in the post-war years,

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grew up listening to the Beatles and the Beach Boys,

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and got her first smartphone He doesn't remember a time

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before wireless internet. and graduated during

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the financial crisis. Betty is part of a generation

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who hold more wealth than the entire A group which is more

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than twice their size. But who is getting

:02:04.:02:07.

more from the state? The government has increased

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the health budget. You might think that this

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benefits everyone. But two fifths of NHS spending

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is spent on those over 65. An 85-year-old Betty will cost

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the NHS seven times more than Matt. it isn't just that the government

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is spending different amounts It is also protecting

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policies which Betty The triple lock, which is designed

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to make sure pensions continue to rise and Betty's benefits have

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been protected In fact, there has been an 8.1% rise

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in pension benefits since 2007-2008. In contrast, since 2009, working age

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benefits have fallen by 10%. Joining us tonight, an audience

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of over 60s and under 30s. And politicians from all the main

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parties are here, too, so I'm going to ask politicians

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first, do you accept there is a generational divide

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and you should be doing something to solve it?

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Certainly it's a challenge, the two things you have got to do,

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you have to have a strong economy, and since 2010, we have seen

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3,000,000 new jobs created. That's hugely important

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for the young people here. But also to create the revenue,

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both to invest in 3 million new apprenticeships but also to

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raise the state pension by ?1250, which we have managed to do...

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I'm afraid that is over 20 seconds(!)

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So I'm moving on, to Labour. From Labour, do you accept that

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there is a divide but actually you have the responsibility to make

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sure that each person is treated fairly in the divide?

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Both young and old have been failed by the Tory government,

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but the truth is, given that this is the first generation that looks

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set to be poorer than its parents, clearly there is a divide.

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And it is up to government, the Labour government,

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to make sure that we see we are stronger together and we are

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for the many, not the few. Liberal Democrats.

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How do you characterise that divide? Well, I am always struck by an old

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quote I remember, "Times are hard, the young don't respect the old."

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I say old because that was said by Cicero, in the first century,

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I say old because that was said by Cicero, in the first century,

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if there is a generational divide, it has always been here.

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It is up to politicians to offer policies to ameliorate that,

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restoring housing benefits for the under 21s and triple lock.

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We are going to talk about policies, you accept there is a divide,

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you have a responsibility, now moving to the SNP.

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How does the SNP plan to address that divide?

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Well, in the SNP, we don't want there to be a generational gap,

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we want to have intergenerational fairness, we believe the way to do

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that is to reject Conservative austerity agenda and invest

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in public services and people. Let's hear from Ukip now,

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because David Kirton, you have a different view.

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What problem exists between the generations?

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I wouldn't use the word divide but there is different needs

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between the older generation and the younger generation,

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what I think is the main issue we need to address is everyone

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is talking about the skills gap, we certainly haven't been training

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young people with the skills they need, particularly

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technical skills. Where do you see the

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divide hurting most? There is a divide within

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generations. Over 1 million pensioners

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in poverty, if you are 16 years old, minimum wage of ?4 an hour,

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if you're older, maybe ?7 an hour work,

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the question we fundamentally have do ask, who is the economy for,

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there is enough money to not have this generational divide at all.

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Where do you see the divide hurting most?

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There is a divide, but I would say, a lot of the issues that

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are important to young people are important to old people as well.

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We advocate an approach that gives care to those people that have

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paid in over the years, as they look back on it,

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and add altered that has been one of relative prosperity and giving

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hope at the same time to a generation that

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for the first time in many generations without hope.

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-- as they look back on an adult hood.

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We have heard just about enough from the politicians for now(!)

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Let's get to the audience before time ticks away from us.

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You are going to tell us about your experience in foster care. From my

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experience in foster care, you can very clearly see the impact of

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austerity and cuts. Social workers are absolutely overstretched with

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caseloads that are not manageable anymore, two of my social workers

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had to leave the profession work is the amount of stress that was forced

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on them by the nature of their jobs. They are the forgotten kids. They

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are not really given a voice. There needs to be a lot more done to

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support them, especially with mental health. That is a massive issue. Do

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you think younger people get enough help from the government, present

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government or previous governments, in terms of the money that you pay

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in taxes coming back to help? Absolutely not, I would say that our

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generation have greater mental health issues, I think that is a

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massive issue that affects us, more so than the other generations. Also

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massive stigma around it. The cuts to the NHS are resonating deeply,

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and they are breaking people, it is political policy that kills people.

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Anyone got a different view on a different benefit they have received

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from the government? I was not sure about the personally, the main thing

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I would like to put forward as regards benefits and state and young

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people, first of all, I've got to speak faster, I'm sorry, first of

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all I would like to say I do not believe the young... I have been

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through the mill of mental health, I don't believe the young have any

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worse... Have it any worse than past generations. I have seen so much

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mental illness as a volunteer in care homes. I myself suffer from

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manic depression. I would like to make it quite clear that I don't

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feel that, whilst the young may feel hard done by, I don't think it

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should be a competition. But the danger is, let's talk to the Liberal

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Democrats, it turns into a competition, a lot of people feel

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that the elderly are over served, and if you look at the figures, the

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younger generation are getting less correspondingly? I think that is

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true, looking at the things the previous generations have had in

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terms of house prices, free education grants, the rest of it,

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and the older generation look at young people with baffled amazement.

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I don't think we can talk too much about Liberal Democrats and free

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education, frankly, right now. LAUGHTER

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I think there are things that are very clear, Dominic, that you have

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in the past very clearly said, we, the older generation, inclined to

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vote more. So let's make sure that the older

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generation is well served, and then you had an issue

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with your manifesto on the triple lock and suddenly it

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wasn't going to be quite so rosy for pensioners.

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And they are not very happy about it.

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And Kirsty, there are no easy decisions here.

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On top of having a strong economy, which I mentioned before,

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which pays the revenue, we have talked about the wish

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list of things we want, but they have to be paid for,

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and on top of that, you have to take difficult decisions.

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One of the things we have had to do is take difficult decisions in

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relation to some of those benefits. Equally, we have cut

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the government deficit, the difference between how much is

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brought in and how much it spends, by 100 billion,

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we opposed every inch of the way. Spending on education,

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look at the statistics, spending on education

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is going to fall... Kirsty, Kirsty, we have taken the

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difficult decisions for two reasons, one,

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we don't think the 100 billion should be left in debt and taxes

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for all the young people here. And, two, so that we can invest more

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in education, we have 3 million more apprenticeships,

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1.8 million more kids going to schools that are good

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or outstanding compare to 2010. Who wants to come back at Dominic.

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The Tories often talk about good schools as if there is some decide

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where there is good schools and bad schools,

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and it speaks to the policy they have on grammar schools.

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They are designing a two tier system in education that will see the kids

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in the poor backgrounds fall behind, and the kids in the more affluent

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backgrounds get better, that is iniquitous.

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That is why the Liberal Democrat people premium, which we brought

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in in coalition, has seen the attainment gap close,

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we want to sustain that. My view is that there is definitely

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a generational divide in my experience,

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I went to university, not only did I not have

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to pay tuition fees, I was given a grant!

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So that I could live, I could pay my rent and go

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out and enjoy myself. I came down here with no

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debt, got a job, one of five that was offered

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to me, quite easily! I then got a house, easily bored,

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for three times what I was earning. Today, the same house would cost

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ten times what someone in the same position as me

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would be earning today. That is ten times

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against three times. We will come into housing.

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He is rubbing it in. I came in under the ?9,000

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a year scheme, I get a maintenance loan and a grant,

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I'm one of the lucky ones, really. In terms of recent students coming

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in aren't getting grants at all. In particular, nursing students.

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Which is inherently unfair and leaving them in even more debt.

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When I think about the amount I'm going to accumulate,

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it is in the 40,000s. It's very difficult

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to manage sometimes. The problem is not necessarily

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with tuition fees, it's more of a housing issue as well.

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We will come to that. Let me bring in the SNP. The SNP's position is

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that the triple lock will stay, and also, there will be no means tested

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fuel allowance, and in Scotland you also do not have tuition fees, and

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the economy is not doing as well as in the other parts of the United

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Kingdom, so a situation where there is not endless pots of money. Why

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can you say, actually, a proportion of these people in here over 60 can

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afford to pay fuel allowance and do not need as much in their pension as

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8% increase, why not even it out? In the long term, these guys will not

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be able to pay for it. There certainly is not an endless pot of

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money and anyone who suggested that would be wrong but what you can have

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is different priorities. In Scotland, the Scottish Government is

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investing in education from the point of preschool years, we have 16

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hours free childcare for three and four-year-olds every week. Plus the

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most vulnerable to-year-olds. We have free school meals. We are

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investing ?120 million in a pupil equity funds to close the attainment

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gap, and of course, we have free education... Free higher education

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which saves ?27,000 a year... Labourer, you're going to help the

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under 30s when they have kids, by providing free childcare. If that is

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a policy for the younger generation it will cost the earth. Jeremy

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Corbyn this morning could not cost it. Did not know how much it would

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cost. I do not think the most important quality in a Prime

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Minister is to memorise the balance sheet. It will cost ?5 billion. That

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is an embarrassment for all generations. For young parents who

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know having good quality childcare enables them to go up to work and

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contribute to the economy. But grandparents acting as carers,

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they're taking it up. This liberates younger and older. And most

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importantly, and this is the difference between us and the

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Conservatives, they see all public services as some kind of money sink.

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This enables our economy to be stronger and better because we have

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well cared for children and parents who can contribute to the economy.

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That is why we are investing in it. You want to come in on that?

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I would like to say there is a whole group of women who are finding it

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difficult to take up those caring responsibilities now.

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A group of women born in the 1950s, expecting to retire at 60.

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Not getting their pension when they expected it.

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Not being informed of the change in their age.

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They would love to be looking after their grandchildren,

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they're having to continue to work and because they are working,

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they may be contributing to paying taxes, but they are unable to make

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that wonderful contribution of looking after their grandchildren

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and helping with childcare. So clearly a divide

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within that issue itself between the generations.

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But what about the divide in the workplace?

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We've grown used to the idea that our children's lives will be

:16:18.:16:22.

easier than our own. But is that true for

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Millennial Matt and his friends? If we look at this graph,

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we can see that earnings have increased year on year since Betty

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was a girl. Until the financial crisis in 2008.

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Everyone was hit hard. But the youngest were hit hardest.

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Matt has experienced a 12% real pay fall whereas Betty's

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went down just 3.7%. This means that Matt is ending

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?8,000 less in his 20s than his parents did.

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For the first time ever, he cannot expect to be better off

:16:55.:16:58.

than his mum and dad. Partly this is because annual pay

:16:59.:17:00.

increases have gone down while the cost of living

:17:01.:17:04.

has gone up. In other words, he has less money

:17:05.:17:08.

coming in and more going out. The typical annual real pay increase

:17:09.:17:12.

for employees has fallen from a healthy 4% when Betty

:17:13.:17:15.

was in her 20s too close to zero today for Matt.

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Perhaps this explains why a quarter of adults still needed help

:17:20.:17:22.

from the Bank of Mum and Dad by the age of 35.

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Let's now talk about inequalities at work and concerns people have

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about jobs and being worse off than the generation before.

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Do you worry about being worse off than your parents or grandparents?

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I do in a way. I do feel worse off because I feel

:17:43.:17:46.

I think Labour have caused us to be in dire straits with the economy

:17:47.:17:49.

because of the spending they did in their previous government.

:17:50.:18:01.

It has left us with a poorer future. Who is worried about that here?

:18:02.:18:07.

Lots of people worried about debt. What are your concerns about debt

:18:08.:18:12.

and not actually being able to save? I graduate this year,

:18:13.:18:16.

I will be ?27,000 in debt. I'm going to move home,

:18:17.:18:19.

I have not got prospects of a job and I'm finding it difficult to get

:18:20.:18:22.

on the housing ladder. It is pretty bleak.

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It is worrying me and I do not think, I do not blame older people,

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but I'm jealous of the benefits they have had.

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That is interesting because this young woman is jealous

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of the benefits that you have all had in your lives.

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Do you think you have had it better than the younger

:18:44.:18:45.

generations are having today? Tell me why you think you do.

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We did not have tuition fees, we had grants.

:18:49.:18:52.

We could easily find a job. And we can get back there, I think

:18:53.:18:57.

with the Labour Party policies, and having growth and investment,

:18:58.:19:01.

we can get back to that. Gentleman in the background?

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I also think it is quite an issue that the kinds of jobs that young

:19:07.:19:10.

people are now being offered involve them in sort of arrangement

:19:11.:19:14.

like zero hours contracts, having to work well below their actual

:19:15.:19:17.

expectations after university. In order to actually even get

:19:18.:19:20.

a permanent long-term job. I feel that is quite unfair.

:19:21.:19:29.

What expectations do you have of your working career?

:19:30.:19:32.

The research says that actually you are much less likely

:19:33.:19:37.

to see your earnings increase because you're going to be too

:19:38.:19:43.

scared to move jobs. You're going to be worried about

:19:44.:19:46.

moving jobs, worried about job insecurity.

:19:47.:19:47.

I wonder does anyone actually have an ISA,

:19:48.:19:50.

even a private pension for example, they are paying into?

:19:51.:19:51.

Gentleman at the back has a private pension.

:19:52.:19:54.

Anyone else like to talk about their concerns

:19:55.:19:56.

about the world of work? Heather, I should come

:19:57.:19:57.

to you straightaway because you are about to be starting

:19:58.:20:00.

mental health nursing and you reckon 60,000

:20:01.:20:03.

is what it is going to cost you. Yes.

:20:04.:20:06.

I do not come from a well-off background.

:20:07.:20:09.

I have been saving for quite a few years to put

:20:10.:20:12.

towards my university fees. But when I graduate it will be

:20:13.:20:17.

towards the ?60,000 mark. I'm going into mental health nursing

:20:18.:20:20.

so working for the NHS, that in itself scares me.

:20:21.:20:22.

Given the direction it is going in right now.

:20:23.:20:32.

And I am worried I'm going to spend so much money on this education,

:20:33.:20:35.

will I even get a job at the end of it as a qualified nurse,

:20:36.:20:38.

will I even be able to provide for my future family?

:20:39.:20:41.

A theme emerging I think on this side of the room about low wages,

:20:42.:20:44.

low expectations in terms of the careers you can

:20:45.:20:49.

hope to go on to do. Dominic from the Conservatives,

:20:50.:20:51.

things are looking grim for this half of the room at the moment,

:20:52.:20:54.

there is no denying that. I think grim is wrong,

:20:55.:20:56.

I think which can be optimistic about the future.

:20:57.:20:59.

But it is difficult I think for this generation.

:21:00.:21:01.

We cut youth unemployment from the 20% we inherited to 12%.

:21:02.:21:04.

And we have left the average basic rate taxpayer,

:21:05.:21:06.

low and middle income earners, with ?1000 more in their pockets.

:21:07.:21:08.

We have introduced the national minimum wage.

:21:09.:21:11.

I think a big issue is housing. We have seen 300,000 more

:21:12.:21:13.

affordable homes built. But we are ambitious

:21:14.:21:15.

to build even more. But there is no getting away

:21:16.:21:18.

from the basic fundamentals, you need a strong economy to deliver

:21:19.:21:26.

the jobs and investment. Let me come in here, Dominic keeps

:21:27.:21:29.

talking about a strong economy but you never ask the question

:21:30.:21:32.

who is the economy for. The fact is the Conservatives have

:21:33.:21:34.

cut corporation tax, that is a tax on the profits

:21:35.:21:36.

of big corporations. Since 2010.

:21:37.:21:38.

To the point where we could perhaps be getting 20 million,

:21:39.:21:41.

?20 billion a year, 8 billion of which could pay for Heather's

:21:42.:21:43.

tuition fees, another 12 billion could go into actually providing

:21:44.:21:46.

those decent jobs and investing. It doesn't have to be this way.

:21:47.:21:52.

You have a whole bank of people over 60 wanting in here on this.

:21:53.:21:55.

On the question of jobs, job security, pay and so forth.

:21:56.:22:02.

Gentleman in the front. Do you think that actually you have

:22:03.:22:05.

had it a lot better than this generation?

:22:06.:22:07.

No, I have been through the world of work now since I was 16.

:22:08.:22:11.

I have not been in a single job for more than three years.

:22:12.:22:14.

I have not got a pension, I have had to, towards the end

:22:15.:22:17.

of this I have been better paid so I bought a flat to rent out,

:22:18.:22:23.

to use as my pension. And thank you again

:22:24.:22:25.

to the Conservatives for taking tax off me because they have changed

:22:26.:22:33.

the tax rules on renting. Do you think this generation has

:22:34.:22:36.

got to harden up a bit and take it on the chin?

:22:37.:22:38.

There is part of that. But also I think they were sold down

:22:39.:22:42.

the river with the tuition fees for universities.

:22:43.:22:45.

Because they were promised that those tuition fees would never

:22:46.:22:49.

be shown as being part of their loans and debt.

:22:50.:22:54.

As part of the older generation, would you have been prepared to pay

:22:55.:22:58.

more tax to make sure this generation had a free

:22:59.:23:00.

university education? I'm already doing that.

:23:01.:23:04.

Yes. Hands up how many would be prepared

:23:05.:23:07.

to pay a little more tax, the radio is listening in here,

:23:08.:23:10.

and it is a full house. I would like to say practically

:23:11.:23:13.

every person over 60 says they would be prepared to pay more

:23:14.:23:17.

tax, a hypothecated tax, to have young people going to college

:23:18.:23:21.

and university free. The gentleman with the purple

:23:22.:23:25.

shirt in the background. This is the difficulty,

:23:26.:23:28.

you're talking about strong economy but most of these people are not

:23:29.:23:32.

even going to be able to engage in that strong economy

:23:33.:23:36.

because they're not going to be able to earn a living wage,

:23:37.:23:38.

they're not going to be able, they will be weighed down by huge

:23:39.:23:41.

amount of debt. It is just ridiculous.

:23:42.:23:45.

You're not even going to be to earn a living wage.

:23:46.:23:47.

Gentleman here. I worked part-time along

:23:48.:23:49.

with my undergraduate degree, I'm now doing a masters degree

:23:50.:23:52.

so in total I will have about ?60,000 worth of student debt.

:23:53.:23:54.

Which is unbelievable. The Tories will tell you you do not

:23:55.:23:58.

have to pay it back until you earn over 21 grand and that is fine.

:23:59.:24:02.

But the reality is there is no incentive for me to want to earn

:24:03.:24:05.

over 21 grand because I'm never going to pay more than

:24:06.:24:07.

the interest I am accumulating. So you are stuck?

:24:08.:24:11.

He is stuck? I do not know, it is

:24:12.:24:14.

a personal situation. But he is telling you.

:24:15.:24:18.

I understand. I did a masters and I had to pay

:24:19.:24:21.

towards my fees for my masters at that stage and I know

:24:22.:24:23.

it is difficult. But we also need the younger

:24:24.:24:26.

generation to think about the choices they are making

:24:27.:24:28.

and see whether it is worth while for them.

:24:29.:24:32.

Do you think it is worth someone going to university to come out

:24:33.:24:34.

with ?60,000 worth of debt, and not have the possibility

:24:35.:24:42.

of having a job in anything like that income bracket?

:24:43.:24:46.

I would say I want to go into academia and near

:24:47.:24:50.

enough all the Ph.D. stipends are EU funded.

:24:51.:24:52.

The government said it is going to replace the funding we will lose

:24:53.:24:55.

from leaving the EU but do I believe that?

:24:56.:24:57.

Do I believe the 350 million for the NHS?

:24:58.:25:07.

This is probably a good time to go to independent expert Torsten

:25:08.:25:10.

Bell. Is it with these guys even bothering to go to university,

:25:11.:25:12.

forking out for those tuition fees, if they live in England,

:25:13.:25:17.

for the wages that they are going to earn in their various careers?

:25:18.:25:23.

Everyone would prefer not to have tuition fees or fees

:25:24.:25:25.

for anything you are doing. There is a big difference

:25:26.:25:28.

between the world that a lot of people here have been talking

:25:29.:25:30.

about when they went to university because only five

:25:31.:25:33.

or 10% of the population went to university.

:25:34.:25:35.

25 year olds now have a third of them will have gone to university.

:25:36.:25:38.

We do need to be careful because lots of the older generation

:25:39.:25:41.

did not go to university, they did not all get free grants.

:25:42.:25:44.

So yes the small numbers that did go to university got good jobs.

:25:45.:25:47.

If we look at the employment practices, the level of employment

:25:48.:25:49.

amongst those older generations, far fewer of them had unemployment

:25:50.:25:52.

than the young people today. Man in the front row.

:25:53.:25:54.

Starting out on a career, we had good support,

:25:55.:25:56.

we had reasonable wages, we had free education and we worked

:25:57.:25:59.

hard, every bit as hard as you guys are working,

:26:00.:26:02.

but we got rewards for it. And that is what is missing

:26:03.:26:05.

for this generation. And it is a tragedy.

:26:06.:26:09.

The Labour Party say they want to put up a living wage

:26:10.:26:13.

to ?10 an hour by 2020. I think that is right.

:26:14.:26:19.

But there are worries that that will hit the lowest paid

:26:20.:26:21.

because employers simply will not be able to pay it.

:26:22.:26:23.

You cannot just throw money at the issue of low wages.

:26:24.:26:26.

A low-wage, low skill economy is the reason why some people

:26:27.:26:29.

here do not think it is worthwhile going to university.

:26:30.:26:31.

We all benefit from a high skill, high wage economy.

:26:32.:26:34.

And raising the minimum wage to ?10 an hour by 2020

:26:35.:26:38.

which is what we have committed to do, that will give people

:26:39.:26:41.

a better incentive to work and also reduce the benefits that we pay out,

:26:42.:26:45.

the subsidy the state pays for people to stay in low-wage,

:26:46.:26:49.

low-income jobs and it will help transform our economy.

:26:50.:26:55.

We cannot make our way in the world as a low-wage, low-income economy.

:26:56.:26:57.

That is what Dominic does not understand.

:26:58.:27:06.

We need high skills. ?10 an hour, still

:27:07.:27:09.

not film star wages. Is that a good living wage to hope

:27:10.:27:12.

for even in five years' time? The gentleman in the

:27:13.:27:15.

T-shirt in the front. Going back to the university

:27:16.:27:17.

question, I have a degree, I now regret going for that degree.

:27:18.:27:22.

Because I was told if I went into a place where jobs were needed

:27:23.:27:27.

in various parts of the country, which I did, and I came out of that

:27:28.:27:33.

degree and no jobs at all. You had to travel to go to free

:27:34.:27:36.

internships in certain places in Manchester and London.

:27:37.:27:39.

I now regret that because every time I now go for a job I'm

:27:40.:27:42.

either overqualified or do not have experience.

:27:43.:27:48.

So it is a barrier, sometimes I take it off my CV.

:27:49.:27:52.

What do you say to that? I also want to come back

:27:53.:27:55.

to the mental health nurse to be and I thank you for going into that

:27:56.:27:58.

profession because mental health is very much the unsung profession

:27:59.:28:01.

within the health service. What would you do about public

:28:02.:28:04.

sector pay to make sure Heather did not get 1%?

:28:05.:28:08.

The cap, lift the 1% cap because right now a new nurse

:28:09.:28:12.

like Heather is going to be will be ?530 a year worse off by the end

:28:13.:28:16.

of this decade as a result of that 1% year on year rise,

:28:17.:28:20.

based on a 2% inflation. You're just not getting the money

:28:21.:28:26.

to keep pace with inflation. Gentleman in the background.

:28:27.:28:29.

Instead of freezing wages as they do with the 1% cap,

:28:30.:28:33.

why not link it to what the MPs get? They would think about it then.

:28:34.:28:40.

Guaranteed applause for that line! I just wonder if there is anyone

:28:41.:28:43.

on this over 60s half of the room who is still working,

:28:44.:28:46.

let us not have the impression that all sitting pretty in retirement

:28:47.:28:48.

on huge wads of cash? Quite a few of you.

:28:49.:28:54.

I have been made redundant several times throughout my working life.

:28:55.:28:58.

I'm running my own business at the moment but earning next to nothing.

:28:59.:29:02.

Having said that I still pay tax and would gladly pay more

:29:03.:29:05.

to support these young people through their education.

:29:06.:29:10.

On the question of jobs and helping, I wonder in the bank of over 60s,

:29:11.:29:14.

who has been, who has had to be the bank of mum and dad or the bank

:29:15.:29:19.

of Granny and grandad? Just one two, three.

:29:20.:29:27.

Not many. My children were fortunate enough

:29:28.:29:30.

to get grants to go to university. But if not you would have had

:29:31.:29:33.

to help, or they just would not have gone to university?

:29:34.:29:36.

Yes. I wonder if any of you actually

:29:37.:29:40.

regret, apart from this gentleman here, in the under 30s,

:29:41.:29:43.

regret your career path because actually you have come out

:29:44.:29:48.

worse than you thought you would be? Holly in the front?

:29:49.:29:51.

I'm a teacher, I just do not feel for what I do,

:29:52.:29:55.

the amount of work I put in, I do not feel I'm getting enough.

:29:56.:29:58.

And going back to the motivation, of the students and teaching,

:29:59.:30:01.

saying to them you will have to pay this much for university,

:30:02.:30:03.

there is going to be so much competition,

:30:04.:30:05.

and no job security. You're going to be working

:30:06.:30:07.

until you are at least 70. Those young adults.

:30:08.:30:10.

It is just, it is really difficult for me to be motivating.

:30:11.:30:16.

I wonder if you don't necessarily resent but question the fact that

:30:17.:30:23.

triple lock on state pensions means that pensions have risen 8% since

:30:24.:30:29.

2005, and if the triple lock continues, will continue to rise, so

:30:30.:30:33.

basically you have the chance that the minimum is going to be 2.5%,

:30:34.:30:38.

increase for pensioners, each year, how do you feel about that? This lot

:30:39.:30:42.

don't look too old! LAUGHTER They don't look too old! Howedes

:30:43.:30:51.

feel about that? I don't want any division. -- how do you feel like

:30:52.:30:55.

about that? Any to be more cohesive, certain parties are trying to divide

:30:56.:31:00.

the young and old, I think that is difficult. We have concerns about

:31:01.:31:15.

jobs. Now, to a pretty stark difference, housing.

:31:16.:31:25.

If we look at Betty's generation, 65% of them own their own home.

:31:26.:31:28.

By comparison, Millennial Matt has struggled to get

:31:29.:31:30.

At the age of 30, only 40% of his generation owns a property.

:31:31.:31:34.

So was it easier to buy a house in the 1970s?

:31:35.:31:37.

In 1974 Betty was 26 and was able to buy her first term for 2.5

:31:38.:31:41.

a 30-year-old Matt is struggling to buy his first home.

:31:42.:31:58.

The property will cost on average more than four

:31:59.:32:00.

So Matt and his friends are stuck renting from private landlords.

:32:01.:32:04.

Matt will spend on average ?44,000 more on rent than Betty did.

:32:05.:32:08.

And to make matters worse,

:32:09.:32:13.

he is probably paying his rent to Betty!

:32:14.:32:16.

Half of all rent that goes to private landlords,

:32:17.:32:20.

around ?4 billion a year, goes to those over 60.

:32:21.:32:23.

The effect of this is a two thirds of the aggregate wealth created

:32:24.:32:26.

since 2007 went to Betty and her generation while wealth

:32:27.:32:28.

format and those aged 16 to 34 has fallen.

:32:29.:32:39.

Let's start this section with a quick show of hands, this will be

:32:40.:32:43.

interesting, on the younger side of the room, how many people already

:32:44.:32:49.

own their own home? One man! Sheepishly putting his hand up. The

:32:50.:32:56.

most dead, only his own home! And just out of interest, how many of

:32:57.:32:59.

you expect to own your own home before you are 30? One, two, three,

:33:00.:33:05.

four... Just a few of you. There is a glimmer of hope there. Let's go to

:33:06.:33:10.

Dean, in the back row, you are saving hard to buy your own home,

:33:11.:33:14.

how much are you putting away a month? ?700 a month, that is the

:33:15.:33:21.

maximum I can put away for a help to buy ISA and I saved ?2400 last year.

:33:22.:33:26.

How much were you saving each month? I have saved ?2400 per year, that

:33:27.:33:32.

will do well towards a deposit. What about your social life? I live with

:33:33.:33:39.

mother and father, so...! Interesting, help to buy scheme,

:33:40.:33:44.

Labour is going to phase out the help to buy scheme by 2020 and yet

:33:45.:33:47.

it is the only lifeline that many young people have of the possibility

:33:48.:33:51.

they will get on the housing ladder, why phase out help to buy? What we

:33:52.:33:56.

have found is that helps to buy has been going to people who have over

:33:57.:34:03.

?100,000, and it has not succeeded in changing the housing market. --

:34:04.:34:07.

Help to Buy. What we are hoping to do is to build investor build 1

:34:08.:34:11.

million new homes over the next Parliament. So no? ... So no Help to

:34:12.:34:22.

Buy? We will be building affordable homes that young people can afford.

:34:23.:34:29.

Who likes Help to Buy? Anybody else? You are doing it. How much has Help

:34:30.:34:35.

to Buy given new optimism that you might get on the housing ladder

:34:36.:34:39.

question mark it has given me a lot of optimism, I'm saving ?200 a month

:34:40.:34:43.

as well, living with mum and dad helps as well, so it has given me

:34:44.:34:47.

optimism, especially with the extra money the government give you, it

:34:48.:34:50.

gives a boost to your savings and makes it easier to save.

:34:51.:34:53.

Who is paying through the nose for rent at the moment? Whose biggest

:34:54.:34:58.

bill is rent? Probably pretty much all of you. In the second row...?

:34:59.:35:06.

The lady in the blue. I'm studying at college at the moment, just

:35:07.:35:10.

because I'm a student I am allowed to be a bit more flippant with my

:35:11.:35:14.

spending, but I don't have a job at the moment, that's practically

:35:15.:35:18.

impossible, I don't quite know what to do, really, it's impossible for

:35:19.:35:23.

me. That in a vicious circle. Who has had terrible accommodation that

:35:24.:35:25.

they cannot believe they have had to pay for? We have had housing,

:35:26.:35:32.

student housing, for the last three years, one of the being in halls,

:35:33.:35:35.

private renting for the rest of it, we have gone through these,

:35:36.:35:42.

administration fees, hundreds of pounds each year paid just to go for

:35:43.:35:47.

the house, just to put the paperwork through, shoddy work done for

:35:48.:35:53.

repairs, the heating, I am sure most people remember the student has been

:35:54.:35:57.

cold and damp, and all the horror stories that you hear are true,

:35:58.:36:03.

basically. Let me bring the greens in here, because you have, on the

:36:04.:36:08.

question of private renting, do you accept it is often really badly

:36:09.:36:13.

maintained, terrible rents, and you have a plan to change that? You have

:36:14.:36:19.

to get the heart of why there is a problem, the 2011 census showed we

:36:20.:36:23.

have more rooms per head of population than we have had in our

:36:24.:36:26.

history, this is not about generations competing, it is that

:36:27.:36:30.

housing has been turned into a speculative commodity, fuelled by

:36:31.:36:34.

buy to let landlords, trying to make money from young people and old

:36:35.:36:39.

people. If you take the subsidy away from the buy to let landlords, put

:36:40.:36:42.

it into social housing, allow councils to borrow against that,

:36:43.:36:46.

increase the supply, take the heat out of the housing market, have rent

:36:47.:36:51.

controlled as well, give local authorities the opportunity to cap

:36:52.:36:55.

rents and control them so we have a living rent. We can do it if we have

:36:56.:36:58.

the political will. This has been framed as young versus old.

:36:59.:37:02.

Actually, it really is not like that, there is enough money, if we

:37:03.:37:06.

have the political will, does not need to be taken from the old to

:37:07.:37:11.

give to the young. We can altogether have it. Shared responsibility from

:37:12.:37:14.

the greens. The fact is all the parties will promise to build

:37:15.:37:17.

however many new homes it is, the SNP, you cannot... Naomi, the

:37:18.:37:23.

government is not building homes in any parts of the UK that are

:37:24.:37:28.

anything like at the required rate. First of all, I'm 24 years old, I'm

:37:29.:37:32.

acutely aware of all of these difficulties that you are discussing

:37:33.:37:36.

from your accommodation when you are a student through to saving in your

:37:37.:37:41.

ISAs and things like that. -- Mairi. The Scottish National Party has

:37:42.:37:45.

built 50,000 affordable homes and helped people into home ownership,

:37:46.:37:48.

22,000, by shared equity schemes, and we have scrapped the right to

:37:49.:37:54.

buy, and we are going to restore housing benefit for 18 to 21-year

:37:55.:37:58.

old, that is something the Tories scrapped. In all these ways, we are

:37:59.:38:03.

trying to help young people in Scotland make the really important

:38:04.:38:07.

move into the housing ladder. Dominik, in 2015, the Tories pledged

:38:08.:38:14.

to build million new homes by 2020, since March, last year, you have

:38:15.:38:23.

built 100 watts...? I know that -- 100 and what? It has been 168,000

:38:24.:38:32.

350. That is not on track to build 1 million homes by 2020. We have seen

:38:33.:38:38.

300,000 affordable homes made since 2010, and plans for 400,000 new ones

:38:39.:38:45.

for both encouraging social housing in councils to create housing for

:38:46.:38:54.

rent, but also. What about borrowing, to build affordable

:38:55.:38:58.

homes. We talk about borrowing and the wish list, the money tree that

:38:59.:39:01.

keeps giving money, but the Scottish Government deficit is three times...

:39:02.:39:08.

We need to do this in a responsible way. You are taking the debt and

:39:09.:39:13.

putting it around the neck of young people. We keep racking up these

:39:14.:39:16.

debts, these young people have to pay them off. Taking public debts...

:39:17.:39:24.

It is not right to promise 1 million homes, then, is it? We are

:39:25.:39:31.

redoubling efforts, to deal with rental as well as homes to buy. We

:39:32.:39:35.

need to hear from somebody on the older side of the room am a new has

:39:36.:39:40.

a spare room, wouldn't mind mind renting it out? In all seriousness,

:39:41.:39:44.

who has a fairly big cows, plenty of room in it, but you are still living

:39:45.:39:49.

in it and maybe it could help solve the housing crisis? Two, in four

:39:50.:39:56.

bedroom, but I would like to say, I don't think it was any different in

:39:57.:40:00.

our day, getting on the housing ladder, we needed to pay 15%, in my

:40:01.:40:05.

language that equated to almost two years salary, gross, not net, gross.

:40:06.:40:15.

OK. Then, we went through the process just over 1990, where the

:40:16.:40:19.

interest rate on the mortgage actually went up to 16, 17%, every

:40:20.:40:24.

month getting a letter to say it was going up and up and up, when we

:40:25.:40:29.

bought the house, when we bought the house, our mortgage doubled. And we

:40:30.:40:38.

had to give into something. And that was our main thing to do, to pay the

:40:39.:40:43.

mortgage. Sounds like a lot of these guys have given up on owning their

:40:44.:40:46.

own home, is this an impossible dream? Should young people not worry

:40:47.:40:50.

about owning their own home? What about that, will we be a property

:40:51.:40:59.

owning democracy? This generation will not see the same home ownership

:41:00.:41:06.

rates that baby boomers saw. 80% for baby boomers, these guys are around

:41:07.:41:09.

half that and will never get up to 80%, there were hired first-rate,

:41:10.:41:13.

but the flip side, house prices in Britain have gone through the roof

:41:14.:41:19.

over the last 30 years. I would like to go back to the point made by

:41:20.:41:23.

Dominic on borrowing being a barrier to affordable home building.

:41:24.:41:32.

Absolutely note credibility 1 billion in government debt to 1:7...

:41:33.:41:36.

1 trillion, to 1.7 trillion, how on earth do you think your government

:41:37.:41:43.

track record is credible at all. Until you have paid off the deficit,

:41:44.:41:51.

you cannot... Until you pay off the deficit, you cannot... You cannot

:41:52.:41:55.

get the debt down, we have... The debt is increasing, the debt is

:41:56.:42:00.

increasing. Until you get the deficit down... That shows you how

:42:01.:42:06.

important it is... Austerity... Austerity... Right back to where we

:42:07.:42:10.

started. Austerity is an ideological choice, you can grow your way out of

:42:11.:42:15.

debt, wrote to a surplus. We are not going to take lessons from the SNP

:42:16.:42:18.

on economics. LAUGHTER Lot of the policies we are pursuing

:42:19.:42:24.

in Scotland... The Scottish economy contracted at the end of 2016, your

:42:25.:42:29.

budget deficit is three times... That is a key indicator of

:42:30.:42:32.

economic... The gentleman on the second row, in the under 30 section.

:42:33.:42:36.

I grew up in quality housing, I have lived with high costs and poor

:42:37.:42:41.

conditions for a long time, I don't think... It has got worse and worse

:42:42.:42:45.

in recent years... I don't think that is because the economy is

:42:46.:42:48.

rigged for the old, it is because it is rigged for the rich, it is no

:42:49.:42:54.

coincidence that 70% of Tories Tory MPs are landlords, they have

:42:55.:42:58.

modelled on revenge evictions, the wealthiest Tory MP in the country

:42:59.:43:02.

has jacked up rents, so the families who lived there all their lives

:43:03.:43:05.

could not afford to live there anymore. How much longer are we

:43:06.:43:08.

going to go on with 3 million children living in damp and mould

:43:09.:43:14.

and vermin in the sixth richest economy in the world, how much

:43:15.:43:17.

longer will we accept this? What would you do if you were in power?

:43:18.:43:21.

She is bang on the money, 1 million new homes, half... Half public,

:43:22.:43:28.

half... It is possible, if you stop building luxury flats and start

:43:29.:43:32.

building affordable homes. And if you have a bit of planning and

:43:33.:43:34.

strategy rather than just... To bring in Ukip. You heard that

:43:35.:43:47.

this is the end of a property owning democracy in the same way it was

:43:48.:43:52.

before. Do we just have disabled people are not going to be able to

:43:53.:43:55.

afford their own homes in the future and it will all be landlords perhaps

:43:56.:44:00.

from this bracket who will be renting out their homes? It is not

:44:01.:44:03.

acceptable but decisions have been made over the past 20 years which

:44:04.:44:08.

have led to the situation we're in. There is a lot of unreality in what

:44:09.:44:13.

I've been hearing, we talk about affordable homes but those could be

:44:14.:44:18.

80% of market price if the market price is 300,000 unaffordable home

:44:19.:44:23.

is 240,000. That is still not affordable. Everyone has made

:44:24.:44:27.

promises to build and for 20 years it has not happened. We have not

:44:28.:44:32.

mentioned as Ukip have mentioned often, you cannot separate the

:44:33.:44:36.

housing crisis from immigration levels that we have had. And over

:44:37.:44:42.

the last 20 years there has been huge increase in immigration which

:44:43.:44:49.

has been a deliberate policy of Tony Blair, David Cameron and Theresa May

:44:50.:44:52.

and together with not building enough homes for the demand. Who

:44:53.:44:56.

thinks that the housing crisis is due to immigration, show of hands?

:44:57.:45:02.

Two or three hands. It is basic supply and demand and you cannot

:45:03.:45:09.

separate the two. It is a factor as it is in schools. There are many

:45:10.:45:17.

empty homes in deprived areas in parts of Wales. People cannot afford

:45:18.:45:23.

to buy them. The Conservative representative has talked about

:45:24.:45:25.

controlling national debt and they have failed to get to grips with

:45:26.:45:29.

that but they're happy with young people going heavily into debt. Many

:45:30.:45:35.

of them will not reach the pain threshold for when they start to pay

:45:36.:45:39.

back their student loan. That is the reality of the problems young people

:45:40.:45:47.

are facing. I'm getting confused and irritated to some extent. I have

:45:48.:45:53.

five children, two of them bought good houses in this area in their

:45:54.:45:59.

mid-20s. Just in the past five years. I do not understand all this

:46:00.:46:05.

difficulty. Do not tell the people down south for goodness' sake but

:46:06.:46:08.

one of the benefits of living in this area is housing is affordable.

:46:09.:46:15.

I do not understand most of the arguments. And I have examples.

:46:16.:46:21.

Let's bring in the Labour representative. As previous and

:46:22.:46:27.

leave this area, housing was one of the top three issues constituents

:46:28.:46:32.

came to see me about every week. House prices are more reasonable

:46:33.:46:35.

here but the incomes are much lower and the ability to save for the

:46:36.:46:42.

deposit also lower. So I have a young woman constituent of working

:46:43.:46:44.

for the government on a very good wage and she cannot afford to buy

:46:45.:46:47.

her home. That is not being reckless. Does that ring true with

:46:48.:47:01.

anyone from the under 30s? I'm from London and am considering, I have to

:47:02.:47:07.

move back home now and it is embarrassing, but that is just the

:47:08.:47:13.

issue. Prices are now extortionate. Do not be embarrassed. Is there a

:47:14.:47:20.

geographical split, a difference? There are geographical differences

:47:21.:47:24.

in house prices and earnings across the country. The north-east has a

:47:25.:47:28.

higher rate of home ownership but it is not just a London issue. Places

:47:29.:47:33.

like west Yorkshire and Greater Manchester, over a 50% decline in

:47:34.:47:38.

home ownership amongst young families since just the 1990s. And

:47:39.:47:44.

the older half of the audience? I'm a bit let landlord, I invested in

:47:45.:47:52.

buy to let. I did not want to, did that because I want attention and

:47:53.:47:58.

annuity rates have crashed. One of the reasons that, one of the

:47:59.:48:01.

benefits for being young nowadays is interest rates are so low. What I

:48:02.:48:07.

was playing, 15% interest on a mortgage in the 1980s. The only way

:48:08.:48:13.

that I could build up a pension fund was to go into buy to let. What

:48:14.:48:18.

you're saying is that housing for you is an investment and not a place

:48:19.:48:22.

to live. Exactly but only because I cannot get a decent annuity rate. Do

:48:23.:48:31.

you understand how some landlords are rapacious and actually some of

:48:32.:48:34.

them have bad properties that they do not maintain. Do you think that

:48:35.:48:41.

you really set the fair rent? I said just below the market rent. But I do

:48:42.:48:47.

everything in accordance with the law and the returns on buy to let

:48:48.:48:52.

are pretty poor if you do everything properly. This guy has several

:48:53.:48:56.

houses. Who sees it as a realistic investment for the future? Nobody.

:48:57.:49:04.

House prices have steadily been increasing and will continue to

:49:05.:49:07.

increase as long as we have a strong economy. The only way to do that is

:49:08.:49:13.

to get a Conservative government. We are running short of time on

:49:14.:49:19.

housing. I think there is a clear split in the room over that. With

:49:20.:49:24.

Brexit ahead what kind of country do we want to live in?

:49:25.:49:29.

Older and younger voters have always been polarised.

:49:30.:49:34.

So we would expect them to disagree. 65% of Betty and her buddies think

:49:35.:49:38.

that membership of the EU has eroded British identity.

:49:39.:49:42.

But less than a third of Matt's mates would agree.

:49:43.:49:46.

In fact, almost 43% of those under 30 consider themselves

:49:47.:49:51.

to be Europeans first. In the days after the Brexit vote,

:49:52.:49:54.

Matt was one of the three out of four young people

:49:55.:49:58.

who voted to remain. He complained that his identity had

:49:59.:50:02.

been taken away by the 64% of over 60s who voted to leave.

:50:03.:50:06.

Betty might argue that more young people ought

:50:07.:50:11.

to have turned out to vote. There was a 64% turnout amongst 18

:50:12.:50:14.

to 24-year-olds, whereas 90% of Betty's friends voted.

:50:15.:50:18.

But now that Article 50 has been triggered,

:50:19.:50:21.

just how much do Betty and Matt disagree?

:50:22.:50:26.

Not so much, is the answer. The under 30s overwhelmingly think

:50:27.:50:29.

that EU citizens already living here should be allowed to stay.

:50:30.:50:34.

And 78% of the over 60s agree. Betty and Matt also agree that EU

:50:35.:50:37.

companies should be able to continue to trade goods and services

:50:38.:50:39.

as they do now. In fact while most under 30s think

:50:40.:50:42.

that British companies should continue to comply with EU

:50:43.:50:44.

regulations more than half of Betty's generation agrees.

:50:45.:50:55.

are we ready as divided as we think? Let's look at the banks of young

:50:56.:51:03.

people. What kind of Britain do you want to live in, a Britain that has

:51:04.:51:11.

fewer migrants, more migrants? I was not old enough to vote in the EU

:51:12.:51:19.

referendum. But my future has been plunged into uncertainty by the

:51:20.:51:22.

older people who voted to leave the EU. I will not have the chance to

:51:23.:51:27.

study abroad if we have to pull out of a Razma. I will not have the

:51:28.:51:32.

chance to have foreign lecturers and I want to live in a country where we

:51:33.:51:36.

can accept these people, except people from other countries and

:51:37.:51:39.

embraced the culture they bring and embrace them as citizens. I think a

:51:40.:51:49.

lot of what is being said amongst young people in the wake of the

:51:50.:51:54.

referendum is scaremongering in terms of Erasmus, immigration and

:51:55.:51:59.

other things. The whole reason, the reason I think a lot of people voted

:52:00.:52:04.

to leave is because they wanted to control, not necessarily because the

:52:05.:52:07.

numbers needed to come down but they needed to be control. People study

:52:08.:52:11.

abroad outside of the EU and you can still do that. So voted to leave

:52:12.:52:18.

amongst the over 60s question this young lady says you're still our

:52:19.:52:24.

future. -- you have stolen our future. I'm not against people

:52:25.:52:30.

coming in from different countries but I just think, I feel our

:52:31.:52:34.

culture, it is the culture, I feel it has changed too much and I'm

:52:35.:52:39.

worried for my granddaughters. Did you granddaughters get a vote? One

:52:40.:52:46.

is just coming up to 19 so she is going to vote. Did you talk to them

:52:47.:52:52.

about voting? Absolutely. What they think? They have own thoughts that I

:52:53.:52:59.

gave them mine as well! And the gentleman just behind, digit Vote

:53:00.:53:04.

Leave? I see Brexit in the town I live in, Hartlepool, 70% leave, I

:53:05.:53:13.

see the town and whole country becoming much more mean-spirited and

:53:14.:53:18.

narrow-minded and like this lady I'm worried about my grandchildren. They

:53:19.:53:24.

go to a school where there are 13 nationalities, asylum seekers,

:53:25.:53:32.

refugees, and their education has been greatly enriched and it is a

:53:33.:53:38.

wonderful school. And if that was to stop then this country would be

:53:39.:53:47.

poorer for it. That gentleman is saying that having these different

:53:48.:53:50.

nationalities in a classroom is an enriching experience. The young

:53:51.:53:56.

woman behind people who voted Brexit have stolen her future as a kind of

:53:57.:54:00.

of international person. Absolutely not, we're still going to be friends

:54:01.:54:04.

with European countries, we will still have links and friendships

:54:05.:54:08.

with people all around the world. People will still be able to visit

:54:09.:54:12.

and add we will still give out student visas. What we have seen

:54:13.:54:17.

since Brexit I think, all of the fear, all the things that people

:54:18.:54:21.

said were going to happen that were bad have not happened. We have not

:54:22.:54:26.

had Brexit yet. Since the referendum. I think the gentleman

:54:27.:54:36.

says we have not seen anything but people have been -- have become more

:54:37.:54:44.

) scared of different people. I never experienced racism before

:54:45.:54:48.

Brexit but I have since. Apart from these other logistical things it has

:54:49.:54:53.

created a narrower society. Do you think that all, that older people

:54:54.:54:59.

have stolen your future in the sense that they made a decision about your

:55:00.:55:03.

future and not their future? I do not want to blame all of people but

:55:04.:55:08.

I feel some of them have done that. I will not have free movement, not

:55:09.:55:14.

be able to travel abroad if I want to, so many things. I think that our

:55:15.:55:18.

culture is enriched by migration. I'm a descendant of an Irish

:55:19.:55:23.

immigrant and I have given a lot to this country. Things like public

:55:24.:55:28.

services are built on migration, 40% of NHS nurses are EU immigrants. We

:55:29.:55:36.

need free movement. Dominic Bradley, can you look these people under 30

:55:37.:55:42.

in the eye and said that if we do not get the deal we want it will be

:55:43.:55:49.

OK if we cut herself loose? I understand the nerves of young

:55:50.:55:51.

people but there are also opportunities here and we are

:55:52.:55:55.

fighting for a successful Brexit. Let me finish the argument. My

:55:56.:56:02.

vision is an optimistic vision, Britain as a self-governing

:56:03.:56:07.

democracy, strong relationships with European friends but also a global

:56:08.:56:12.

horizon. That is important because the jobs of the future will come

:56:13.:56:17.

from trading with emerging economies and free trade is also a great way

:56:18.:56:29.

to bring down prices. Blaming older people for the Brexit result, a

:56:30.:56:33.

massive proportion of young voters did not bother to turn out. And a

:56:34.:56:39.

lot of the older people who voted Brexit with the same ones that voted

:56:40.:56:42.

to join the EU and the first place and they have seen the progression

:56:43.:56:47.

of the political union. A key point is that a lot of people, young

:56:48.:56:52.

people, did not turn out. Would that have made a difference if they had

:56:53.:56:57.

turned out? No and it is not right to see -- to say there was a low

:56:58.:57:01.

turnout amongst young people at the Brexit referendum. In the Brexit

:57:02.:57:08.

referendum we had a higher turnout amongst younger people than

:57:09.:57:14.

previously. 60% as opposed to 50% in general elections. The question now

:57:15.:57:19.

is if they're going to turn out to vote in this coming general

:57:20.:57:22.

election. There has been hired registration in the coming weeks. --

:57:23.:57:34.

higher. I voted remain and I voted remain because I agree that we may

:57:35.:57:42.

be are stealing the future from youngsters. I also remain the cover

:57:43.:57:47.

believe we may now be facing a crash in the economy. -- also voted

:57:48.:57:54.

remain. It could well happen. So it is right to remain. I voted remain

:57:55.:58:02.

but I understand the reasons of those who voted for Brexit. One is

:58:03.:58:08.

cultural, and that was mentioned just over there. I think it is

:58:09.:58:13.

important for anyone coming to this country or for those of us who are

:58:14.:58:16.

British going elsewhere, to go into whichever environment we are in and

:58:17.:58:23.

learn and absorbs the culture and be part of that environment. I

:58:24.:58:27.

understand why they did that, I think it is important to integrate

:58:28.:58:31.

people properly. I'd also those who voted for Brexit because they were

:58:32.:58:34.

afraid for their jobs, being taken by people coming into the country,

:58:35.:58:38.

we have to go back to the changing world that we have. When we spoke

:58:39.:58:46.

earlier about going to university, you must go and study the right

:58:47.:58:50.

things, have the right skills. The world is changing in terms of work

:58:51.:58:55.

so what is important is that schools, education, it is

:58:56.:59:01.

appropriate. We have not heard from the Liberal Democrats. Just how hard

:59:02.:59:07.

are you prepared to stand up against a hard Brexit? Very hard. You began

:59:08.:59:12.

to see the Leave campaign evaporate on the morning of the 24th of June.

:59:13.:59:18.

The ?350 million pledge. We believe those who started the process should

:59:19.:59:22.

be given the final say on the deal, the British people. If there is any

:59:23.:59:30.

deal. It is astonishing to hear the rhetoric from Dominic, this is the

:59:31.:59:34.

opportunity stuff when he has no comfort for the many millions of

:59:35.:59:39.

citizens from the EU used as bargaining chips in this country.

:59:40.:59:44.

Another show of hands, who is feeling optimistic about their

:59:45.:59:47.

future in the UK? If you're listening on the radio, just a

:59:48.:59:55.

handful of hands on either side. Anyone want to quickly tell us why

:59:56.:00:05.

they feel optimistic? I think we have a great opportunity now, an

:00:06.:00:09.

opportunity to speak to other countries which we did not have the

:00:10.:00:13.

chance to before. America is reaching out to us, we have plenty

:00:14.:00:17.

of other countries outside the EU who want to make deals with us. They

:00:18.:00:22.

want to talk with us and our negotiations and trade deals. It is

:00:23.:00:25.

all there regardless of what happens with the EU. I feel optimistic

:00:26.:00:31.

because the polls are closing, there's a chance we might elect a

:00:32.:00:36.

compassionate and real human being as a leader. If we can bring in

:00:37.:00:41.

Jeremy Corbyn, we will create a revolution and hope for the future.

:00:42.:00:54.

We are in charge of our own borders. Infrastructure cannot cope with open

:00:55.:01:06.

borders. It cannot. We're running out of time. Lady behind you. I

:01:07.:01:13.

think that was a mainly Tory press headline. Very quickly on the front

:01:14.:01:22.

row. I'm optimistic because the thing I know about the British, we

:01:23.:01:26.

have this ability to see an opportunity in any situation.

:01:27.:01:32.

That is all we have time for, from Newcastle, thank you to our

:01:33.:01:40.

audience, whatever age you are, and to the politicians as well. That is

:01:41.:01:44.

it from the generation gap, just eight days to go until that

:01:45.:01:57.

all-important vote. From Newsnight and Newsbeat, good night.

:01:58.:02:06.

Hello, cooler, clear and night for many of us overnight leading to a

:02:07.:02:27.

bright and sunny start on Wednesday, more clout across southern England

:02:28.:02:31.

and into Wales, that will tend to break up some

:02:32.:02:32.

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