Question Time panel divided over benefits, work and youth support

A televised Question Time debate heard sharp disagreement over benefits, work incentives and support for young people after an audience member said older workers were being asked to carry younger people who were better off out of work.

Lesley Hooper, an audience member, said people of her age were working longer so that younger people could stay in bed and not work because they were better off financially on benefits. She later said she had spent 25 years working in the Rhondda Valleys with young people as a basic skills lecturer, and that some had told her they did not intend to work because they were better off not working. She also argued that the Barnett formula left Wales at a disadvantage and that if Wales had the same funding as England there would be more opportunities for young people.

Panellist George rejected what he called the old snowflake myth. He said many young people are not in education, employment or training and that cuts to services push that number up. He pointed to large waiting lists at further education colleges in Wales, with young people desperate for places on construction, engineering, social care and childcare courses. He said young people also face the climate crisis, a poorer economic future than their parents and a demographic shift in which fewer young people will support more older people. He said they should be treasured and cherished because the country will rely on them.

Other audience members challenged the idea that young people were lazy or unwilling to work. One said it was shocking that politicians kept saying young people were not doing enough, adding that friends wanted to go to further education to become doctors, dentists and psychologists. Another said young people had been robbed of opportunities, citing Brexit and the prospect of tens of thousands of pounds of university debt. A third, who said he had spent 25 years in education, described young people as ambitious and said they needed guidance and opportunity from the generation above them.

On the panel, James said it was important that work paid. He said constituents wanted full-time employment but were better off on benefits. He argued the tax system should benefit working people and that businesses needed the conditions to grow and create jobs. He criticised pressure on businesses from Labour, citing changes to national insurance, business property relief and the minimum wage. He said his party had been clear that it would take 50 billion pounds out of the welfare budget to make sure it pays to work, and rejected the idea that the debate was about winners and losers, saying economic levers should be changed to make work more viable.

Mindy said work was about much more than a pay packet and that it felt far too hard for young people to get a start. She said it had been tough for her and for others, but that it felt impossible for young people now, and that the problem needed fixing. She also said she disliked the framing of young against old and haves against have nots.

The discussion did not produce agreement on who should lose benefits or how the welfare system should change. The host sought to move on to other subjects after taking several questions on benefits and youth support.