Juliet Davenport, Gary Younge and Madeleine Bunting Chaired by Stephen Law

Businesswoman Juliet Davenport, broadcaster Gary Younge and author and journalist Madeleine Bunting look at what has caused the cost-of-living crisis and debate what can be done about it.

As mortgages and rents soar, energy prices rocket, and food prices become ever more crippling, wages have stagnated for years. Half those on benefits are in work, yet already struggling to manage. Teachers report increasing numbers of children showing up hungry. Many elderly people cannot afford to put their heating on. The British workforce is stressed, overworked, insecure, and has not been so powerless for centuries. What has gone wrong? And is there really no alternative?

Davenport is a British businesswoman and the former chief executive of Good Energy, a renewable energy company in the United Kingdom. She also hosts The Great Green Podcast. Her latest book, The Green Start-Up, is an essential toolkit for the modern entrepreneur. Younge is an award-winning author, broadcaster and professor of sociology at the University of Manchester. He is a former Guardian columnist and author of books including Another Day In the Death of America Bunting was a columnist and associate editor on The Guardian. She wrote on a wide range of subjects including politics, social affairs, faith and global development. Her books include the forthcoming Seaside: England’s Love Affair and Willing Slaves: How The Overwork Culture is Ruling Our Lives.

Discussions are chaired by Dr Stephen Law, a philosopher and academic, author of bestselling introductions to philosophy for adults and children, editor of the Royal Institute of Philosophy Journal Think, and the festival’s major projects director.