Question Time

Question Time came from Tottenham in North London. The first debate followed a question about whether supporting current and future pensioners to fix social care would betray future generations, after Andy Burnham and the Prime Minister proposed adjusting the triple lock to help fund a national care service. Miatta Fahnbulleh said the change would mean the state pension rising each year by inflation or 2.5% from 2030, while keeping the pension-to-earnings ratio, and that about £15 billion a year could go towards free personal care. Suella Braverman called the move an attack on pensioners, Julia Lopez said the Conservatives remained committed to the triple lock, and audience members and Ollie Dugmore debated costs, generational fairness, pensioner poverty and pension credit.

Immigration was the next major subject, with a question about how it can be debated without making migrants feel unwelcome. Julia Lopez spoke about control and contribution, Suella Braverman said she was British-Asian and not English, prompting a discussion about English identity and ancestry, and she cited Ministry of Justice data about Afghan men and sex offences while saying illegal migration posed security threats. Audience members challenged her, and Miatta Fahnbulleh described coming to the UK as a first-generation migrant and said the system was broken and needed control, reform and compassion. The programme then turned to violence against women and girls, after the government promised to halve it in a decade; the host noted two women a week are killed by a man and police leaders have called it a national emergency. Miatta Fahnbulleh discussed prison capacity, early release and tagging, Julia Lopez and Suella Braverman disputed the record on prison places and early release, and Ollie Dugmore and audience members raised misogyny, prevention, education and low rape prosecution rates.

A final question asked whether the country had become a nation of no hope, referencing Labour's Hope Again conference slogan, student debt, housing costs, tax and pensions. A young audience member asked about North Sea drilling and climate anxiety; Miatta Fahnbulleh said the manifesto position was no new licensing while existing fields would be maintained, and spoke about climate commitments and long-term economic change. Julia Lopez highlighted small businesses, business rates and energy costs, while Ollie Dugmore linked the discussion back to identity and argued that Suella Braverman's earlier comments implied Englishness required whiteness, which she denied.