Chair: Jonathan Derbyshire
Torsten Bell (Resolution Foundation) Louise Haagh (University of York)
Anthony Painter (RSA)
Nick Pearce (University of Bath Institute for Policy Research)
Should the government give everybody in the country a minimum income, regardless of their circumstances? Advocates of a basic income argue that it would be a simple way to help very poor people and would not penalise them when they get work, in contrast to current benefit systems. It would also help society to adjust to the widely-anticipated effect of automation on jobs. Critics say it would be unaffordable at any meaningful level. Is this an idea whose time has come?