Episodes

  • 21. Beyond the triple lock - what else are the parties offering?

    21. Beyond the triple lock - what else are the parties offering?
    Jul 2 2024
    With both of the main political parties claiming your pension is not safe with the other, and that they will keep the triple lock, we drill down into what the parties are offering, whether it’s enough for the future and how they will deliver it. For this episode Mubin is joined by David Gauke. David is a British political commentator, solicitor and former politician who was the Member of Parliament for South West Hertfordshire from 2005 to 2019. David has served as Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, Secretary of State for Justice and Lord Chancellor. He is also a member for the Pensions Review steering group.
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    35 mins
  • 20. Public Spending – Investment or austerity 2.0?

    20. Public Spending – Investment or austerity 2.0?
    Feb 21 2024
    As we approach the general election, the political parties will set out their stalls. What will their spending promises be? What might they cut? How will they pay for it all? We speak to Gemma Tetlow about how it all works. What is public spending? How much room is there for change? What are some of the big ticket areas of expenditure? Mubin asks questions about what is driving changes in public spending: To what extent are changes in spending being driven by demographics – for example our aging population, migration? We’ve got some big commitments coming such as the NHS workforce development plan and the childcare commitments. Can you tell us a bit about those and what pressures that’s going to create? Are tax rises inevitable or are tax cuts the answer? What might we see in relation to infrastructure commitments? What are the parties committing to? Is it possible to say what these different approaches mean for living standards?
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    41 mins
  • 19. The Living Standards Election?

    19. The Living Standards Election?
    Jan 29 2024
    Guests • Torsten Bell, Resolution Foundation • Clare Moriarty, Citizens Advice We discuss how the squeeze on living standards might influence the general election. Guests consider where people are feeling the squeeze, how that has changed over time, and how likely it is to influence the way they vote in the upcoming general election. Mubin asks Claire and Torsten what can be done to improve living standards and they talk about how we could all aim to be a bit more Dutch. Questions include: And what’s driving the stagnation in real incomes? Who’s particularly affected? High inflation has been a key factor in the cost of living crisis, but that’s been tumbling. However, interest rates have been rising. Is the crisis over now? What’s the picture like in countries similar to the UK? Have they been facing the same squeeze on living standards? What measures have the government [and others] brought in to help people weather this period? Will this be the Living Standards election? How concerned are voters by this issue? Where are our political parties promising in relation to living standards? What’s your take on what we’ve been offered. Is it enough? Do we have the money to pay for this? Given the state of the public finances – high debt repayments; tax levels high, but not as high as Europe; existing spending commitments like the NHS workforce plan
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    37 mins
  • 18. Employment: How can political parties get Britain working?

    18. Employment: How can political parties get Britain working?
    Jan 4 2024
    What is the state of employment in the UK? How many people are unemployed? Has this gone up or down since the pandemic and is enough being done to get people back into work? Guests • Nita Clarke, Involvement and Participation Association • Tony Wilson, Institute for Employment Studies In this podcast we speak to Nita and Tony about the labour market in the UK. What the post-pandemic labour market recovery has looked like, how the UK is faring compared to other OECD countries and what needs to be done to help people into work. We also ask the experts questions including: Who’s not in paid work and why? And what are the future trends? Is employment growth set to halve? What will an older population mean? What is being done on developing skills and improving the workforce? Where are the political parties offering in relation to improving this provision? How does conditionality work? Does it lead to more people in the workforce? The growth in insecure work. What does this mean in practice and have we seen any recent improvements in employment practice? To what extent can workers, especially those who are low-paid and in insecure work, enforce existing rights? What are the parties proposing to improve rights and reduce insecurity?
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    35 mins
  • 17. Wealth: How can political parties close the wealth gap?

    17. Wealth: How can political parties close the wealth gap?
    Oct 31 2023
    Guests: • Arun Advani, University of Warwick • Ian Mulheirn, Resolution Foundation What do we mean by wealth? It’s savings and housing but also investments such as shares and crypto-currencies. In this episode, we explore what’s been happening to wealth over the past few decades and how it might affect the next election. Including: Why does the wealth gap and wealth inequalities matter? How important will the issue of wealth be at the next general election? Does wealth taxation come up as an issue in relation to public spending? Have we got the balance right between income taxes and wealth taxes? How can we reduce housing wealth inequality? Tax reliefs and reforms which might help those on lower incomes grow their assets. Why does inheritance tax have so much political salience - and public resistance - when it is paid by such a small fraction of estates? How about an annual or one-off wealth tax? Something you and your colleagues looked at as part of the Wealth Tax Commission – what would that look like and is the concept gaining any traction? Non-dom status. Would the super-rich leave the UK? How much tax do we think it might raise? Might we still see reforms to wealth taxation, even though they aren’t in the manifestos?
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    37 mins
  • 16. Low pay in a high-cost Britain: Kate Bell, Trades Union Congress

    16. Low pay in a high-cost Britain: Kate Bell, Trades Union Congress
    Jul 31 2023
    Summary Guest: Kate Bell, Assistant General Secretary at the Trades Union Congress. For many years wages have stagnated, at a time of low inflation people did not feel the hit, but now with prices on all the essentials from pasta to petrol going through the roof workers are feeling the hit. The episode examines the pay gap, and how it has changed over the years, low pay and what can be done to address it. How do we make pay fair? Mubin speaks to Kate Bell about pay. What is a fair wage? How has pay changed over time? How do we compare to other countries? And of course, pay is the main factor behind the recent industrial action we have seen across a range of sectors, which we’ll also be touching on. Questions driving the story What are the long-term trends relating to pay? And what impact is this having on living standards? Are there particular groups/populations/sectors affected? We’ve seen a decline in those on lower to middle incomes getting their fair share – who’s getting more of the share of the pie? And why has that trend occurred? Is this happening globally? We’re seeing greater reporting by companies in relation to pay ratios and the gender pay gap – is this leading to positive change? Are we seeing more action by shareholders? What has been the impact of the national living wage? What are some of the gaps the Low Pay Commission still needs to address? We’ve also seen the living wage movement grow, with some 13,000 employers accredited. What impact has this initiative made? We often hear it said that higher wages lead to an inflation spiral. How accurate is that?
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    31 mins
  • 15. A Minimum Income Guarantee for Scotland: Russell Gunson

    15. A Minimum Income Guarantee for Scotland: Russell Gunson
    Jun 5 2023
    In this episode we speak to Russell Gunson, Head of Policy and Research at the Robertson Trust, about the Minimum Income Guarantee for Scotland. The Minimum Income Guarantee may not be a concept many of us are familiar with, it's fairly new and is aiming to improve living standards across the board. Russell answers questions such as: What is a Minimum Income Guarantee? How will incomes actually be boosted? What is the combination of activities that are underpinning the Minimum Income Guarantee? How do you set the Minimum Income Guarantee level? Will the Minimum Income Guarantee be different for different groups? Is there a Minimum Income Guarantee in anywhere in the rest of the world? How do we ensure this does not just become about a massively increased social security budget? How would the Minimum Income Guarantee help meet the child poverty targets that the government has set? There is cross party support for a Minimum Income Guarantee, how has government been taking this forward? Will Minimum Income Guarantee replace Universal Credit? How much might a Minimum Income Guarantee cost? How much public support is there for a Minimum Income Guarantee? How does Minimum Income Guarantee differ from a Universal Basic Income?
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    30 mins
  • 14. Childcare: Abby Jitendra and Bel Guillaume

    14. Childcare: Abby Jitendra and Bel Guillaume
    May 11 2023
    How to solve the childcare crisis The government recently announced future changes to childcare which should make it easier for parents to work. We will discuss what those changes are, how they will work and if they go far enough, with Abby Jitendra, from the Joseph Rowntree Foundation and Bel Guillaume, from Onward. We ask the following questions: Why does childcare cost so much? Why are childcare workers not paid very well? What government support is available for childcare costs? Why is quality important? What was announced by the government on how support for childcare will change in future in the recent budget? How do we ensure better pay for childcare workers? What's happening on childcare in other countries? The five billion the government is investing, this may not necessarily lead to higher pay, because it's about expanding for amount of provision - isn't there a danger that they may not be able to recruit the necessary workforce for that expansion? Has anyone done any calculation of how many extra workers are needed? And how much of a difference will the government’s changes make to childcare costs? How big an issue is this going to be in the general election?
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    30 mins