Newsnight

London, UK | 0 comments

Polly Sheratt: “My question is very simple. Back when I was deciding what to do at university, everyone told me that if I wanted a job, I should choose medicine or programming. Some kind of trade or vocation, you know? So I studied engineering. I figured the world will always need people to build bridges and roads. But last year, my firm started getting undercut by the Gujarati and Rwandans on the cheaper business and by the Amplified teams on the high end. I was last in the company, so I was first out.

“So when you give people like me this stupid ‘Real Work’ entitlement card which is supposed to make us ‘get a job’ or ‘retrain’ while being forced to take cheap mimic scripting training work… it makes me think you’re evil. Either that, or just stupid. I did everything I was supposed to, and what did you do, Minister? You haven’t held a job in your life. I read up on you: PPE at Oxford, marketing for the party, MP’s assistant, councillor. So what are you going to do about it?”

Minister of Work, Alice Ravi: “Well, I’m very sorry that you feel that way, Polly, because I genuinely believe that this government is putting forth the best strategy to reduce unemployment. We were left with a 10% rate from the previous Coalition and -”

Polly: “That’s what you -”

Alice: “No, let me finish. We had 10% coming in, and at our current rates of growth, we weren’t going to dent that for over a decade. That’s why we introduced our ‘Real Work’ scheme, to help give people like you a lift back up into proper work, and that’s why we were elected.”

Polly: “That’s what you always say, it was the other lot’s fault. But your party was in power just three years ago! And unless you’re saying we’re simply lazy, I don’t see how cutting our benefits and making us work for free is going to improve this country!”

Moderator: “I’m sorry, Polly, but we need to take another question. I have Brian Martin representing the South Shields Students’ Group.”

Brian Martin: “I’d like to ask about what the government is planning to do in response to what’s happening in the rest of the world [interrupted by applause]. Northern European countries have adopted the basic minimum income, we’re getting outgunned by the recompetitive states in Southeast Asia and South America, and some of our best and brightest are leaving the country just when we need them the most.”

Alice: “That’s a great question. I’m just not sure that you can take the lessons from other countries and apply them to our own. I don’t think the solution is to provide even more handouts to people like they’re doing in Norway or Sweden though – I think we have to go our own way and that’s by encouraging people to do real work, by matching them up with available positions in British companies.”

Brian: “Well, my Group isn’t finding your answers very convincing, I’m afraid – we really don’t want to be made to perform grunt work just because you won’t provide us with any support. I can tell you that 4592 have just set their delegated votes to the opposition in the last 20 seconds.”

Alice: [looks flustered] “I’m sorry to hear that. But this country can’t afford to pay for people’s flights of fancy.”

Moderator: “We have a new snapshot in from our researchers. For those of you who aren’t getting the Sopol feed, this debate has been causing some waves across the country. The Northern Co-op has announced a new fund for providing local health and transport services, specifically to bypass the national government, and they’ve already received the equivalent of £9.6 million in funding in the last hour. Let’s get the co-op on the line.”

Northern Co-op: “Thank you. That £9.6 million is about half in direct pledges or investment, and half in terms of delegated selection of future consumption towards our qualifying startups. It’s not our first fund of this type, but it’s specifically aimed at young people looking for microfinance – the sort of people who we believe this government is neglecting. Our studies show that we have more than enough wealth to spare to provide people with basic essentials, so it seems needlessly intrusive to dictate how people live. What are you going to do with unemployed? Vilify them? Kill them? Force them to work? We won’t let them be homeless, won’t let them starve, won’t let them be offline. ”

Moderator: “Thanks. Before you answer, Ms. Ravi, I want to get another question in.”

Adam Bharwani: “Well, I completely disagree with the previous speaker. I’m sure it seems very impressive to click a button or blink a link or whatever it is people call it these days, and move around millions of pounds in a minute, but it’s hardly what I’d call a considered action. Young people don’t realise that we can’t afford to lavish money on their crazy business schemes on Sopol, selling toys and trinkets to each other. That money comes right from our pensions and our healthcare, and it’d mean even longer waits for operations, getting up into even one or two weeks for stem cell therapy. I think the Minister is spot on for putting these kids in their place.”

Alice: “I’m glad to hear a voice of reason! Of course, the NHS is one of our top priorities and we’re working very closely with the unions to ensure that we can continue to offer a high level of care. We have an ageing population in this country and they need and deserve the best treatments we can afford – and I hope that younger generations understand that this will benefit them in the long term as well. But we also want to support good business ideas, and that’s why we’ve assembled a team of top regional commissioners, businesspeople, and experts who’ll assess and provide funding to innovative and strategic startups.”

Moderator: “One response from the floor, from Katie Silva.”

Katie Silva: “I’m sorry, Minister, but we really don’t need any more so-called experts who get to award millions to their friends. I agree with a lot of the government’s policies, particularly on energy independence, but I don’t see how you can rule out a basic minimum income while also finding the money to spread around to pet projects. That’s our money – what makes you think you know how to spend it better than we do? This isn’t the 20th century, we have the information and we have the ratings systems to understand what to do.”

Moderator: “Just a quick reply please, Minister.”

Alice: “I absolutely respect that view, Katie, and I’m glad you can get behind our goals on energy independence. We were elected on that platform, just as we were on our promise to get the best experts to commission the best projects that will help our country – that’s how the government works, and it’s what makes our country so strong. I hope you will continue to give me just as much robust feedback in the coming months!”

Moderator: “Thank you Minister Alice Ravi for joining us tonight, along with those who’ve been following live. Our next live event will be in fifty minutes, with the country’s leading Ethics Delegate, Zoe Clarke.”