YORK Festival of Ideas hosted a panel discussion on the Politics of Hope.

The panel on Friday morning included Owen Jones, Vicky Pryce, Gulcin Ozkan, Claire Ainsley and Martin Smith and was held in the Ron Cooke Hub on the University of York Heslington East campus.

Claire Ainsley, director of external affairs at the Joseph Rowntree Foundation, began the event by noting how pertinent and important a discussion of the Politics of Hope would be during a week which saw the deaths of 49 LGBT people in Orlando, and the murder of Labour MP Jo Cox.

A minute’s silence was held to remember the victims of both attacks.

Owen Jones spoke of the great divide between the wealthiest ten per cent and the rest of the country, and said the politics of fear and envy were used by the media to redirect the anger of the poor against immigrants or people on benefits.

He ended by saying: "The illusion of every era is that the way things are now are the way things always will be, but things do and can change but only if people organise, and force their voices to be heard.”

The rest of the panel dealt with similar issues, with Vicky Pryce, Board Member of the Centre of Economics and Business Research, discussing the rise and fall of inequality due to the destruction of assets during recession periods.

Claire Ainsley focussed on how poverty has changed to include people who are in work and are still struggling to make ends meet, as well as discussing the idea of inclusive prosperity.

Gulcin Ozkan, professor at the University’s Department of Economics, highlighted the link between gender pay gaps and inequality in OECD countries as well as the link between equality and growth, finishing her speech by saying “now is the time to act.”

Questions from the audience focussed on a wide range of topics, including whether or not 16 and 17 year olds should have been allowed to vote in the upcoming EU referendum, and whether or not the press should be regulated to guard against bias.