Question Time debate asks whether UK has become a nation of no hope

A Question Time debate has considered whether the UK has become a nation of no hope, after Labour's conference used the slogan Hope Again. The question came from an audience member, Susan Malcolm, who said the phrase was emblazoned across conference literature and that people were fed up with successive leaders and governments letting them down.

Malcolm said working people felt let down and hopeless. She listed student debt, graduates struggling to find jobs that repay loans, stamp duty on homes, tax on savings and lower tax-free thresholds, and the prospect of working for decades before a pension. Asked whether any party had the answer, she said: 'At this time, no.'

Other audience members took the debate in different directions. One woman in a red shirt criticised what she called negative rhetoric from Suella and Reform, saying it fed discontent and a lack of hope and was seeping into the nation's morale. The host noted the audience included more Labour supporters than Reform supporters, as well as Conservatives, Reform, Green, Liberal Democrat and undecided voters.

A man in a blue shirt said Andy Burnham spoke of hope but the rest of his rhetoric did not match it, pointing to higher taxes and problems in the Middle East. He also said government borrowing was high and gilt yields had risen sharply over four years, not only because of Liz Truss but because of Labour policies and the macroeconomic situation. He asked how the country could have hope and prosperity at the same time.

Another man said hope was not enough. He argued that decline in hope had been happening decade after decade and that traditional political parties could not provide an answer. He called for a vision for the country and said the UK was at a turning point.

A young audience member said a lack of action on the climate crisis was a reason for having no hope. He asked whether the Energy Secretary would rule out North Sea drilling and other action that would add to the climate crisis.

Miatta, the Energy Secretary, said Labour's manifesto position was no new licensing and that the position holds. She said decisions on Jack Doar and Rosebank were about existing fields and that the process was quasi-judicial, so she could not comment. She added that Labour had clear climate commitments, pointing to record heatwaves, droughts and wildfires, and said the party would not step back from those commitments.

On hope, Miatta said people across the country were despairing because the economy and politics did not work for them. She welcomed a prime minister who said the UK had been on the wrong path for 40 years. She criticised successive governments, including Margaret Thatcher's sale of water, transport and energy, a system where shareholders win while businesses and households bear the cost, deindustrialisation, power concentrated in Whitehall and Westminster, and austerity that weakened the social safety net. She said change was needed and praised Andy Burnham's passion and clarity.

After being asked directly whether the UK had become a nation of no hope, another panellist said small business owners gave her the most hope. She said they were creative and industrious but were being loaded with high costs and high taxes, and that government kept finding ways to tax them more. She argued they should be backed by changing business rates and reducing energy costs, and said she was worried about Miatta loading costs on energy.

The debate ended with the panel short of time and the host moving between several questions. No formal vote or conclusion was reached on whether the UK is a nation of no hope.