The war in Ukraine, benefits reform, and renationalising water companies were the issues discussed at the latest episode of Question Time in Reading.
The BBC politics show hosted by Fiona Bruce allows audience members to question guests, with a recent episode happening at the University of Reading.
The panel was made up of Steve Reed, the Labour secretary for the department of the environment, food and rural affairs, Helen Whately, Conservative shadow secretary for the department of work and pensions, Fraser Nelson a columnist for The Times, BBC broadcaster Richard Bacon and Greg Swenson, chairman of Republicans Overseas UK.
Thomas Gould: “President Donald Trump was supposed to end the war in Ukraine on day one.
“After his phone call with Vladimir Putin, what is next for the Art of the Deal?”
Mr Swenson replied: “These are baby steps and are necessary, we’re closer to peace than we have been in three years, and that’s important to keep in mind.
“Getting Putin to the table, it’s never going to be perfect, and I think it’s unfortunate that sometimes compromises with the aggressor have to be made.”
Harrison Wilkes asked: “Is the welfare system broken?”
Helen Whately, the Conservative MP for Faversham and Mid Kent said: “If you can work, you do work, but actually if you’re disabled and you really can’t work, you need to get support.”
Jane Turner asked: “With the Netflix drama Adolescence and Gareth Southgate recently talking about ‘toxic influencers’ what can be done to help our young people?”
Mr Bacon suggested treating smart phones like cigarettes by banning them until a young person reaches 16.
The last question focused on bringing Thames Water, which is head quartered in Reading, into public ownership.
Maddy Welsh asked: “Is it time to renationalise Thames Water so a life necessity is no longer monopolised by private profit-seeking companies?”
A member of the audience said: “I live in a beautiful town which regularly has sewage dumped into the river by Thames Water.
“If you look at the numbers involved for Thames Water it is going to fail as a business, it has no cash, so surely it’s better to get on the front foot, invest more money in it, put income tax up if you have to because if it’s going to make the waterways better, I think you’d get a lot of people agreeing with that, but not if it’s going into the pockets of shareholders.”
A woman in the audience questioned when reform would be implemented.
Mr Reed, the Labour MP for Streatham and Croydon North, replied that he is due to receive a report on recommended regulations in June.
A fellow audience member suggested income could be generated from a wealth tax.
Towards the end of the broadcast, horns can be heard from tractor drivers protesting the end of inheritance tax relief for agricultural estates worth more than £1 million.
The broadcast took place on Thursday, March 20, with repeat viewings available on BBC iPlayer.
