Dumfries
May 21, 2026 · 59 min · 7 segments
Fiona Bruce presents a topical debate, taking questions from a studio audience in Dumfries. Joining her on the panel, Labour's Kirsty McNeill, Conservative Harriet Cross, The SNP's Stephen Flynn…
May 21, 2026 · 59 min · 7 segments
Fiona Bruce presents a topical debate, taking questions from a studio audience in Dumfries. Joining her on the panel, Labour's Kirsty McNeill, Conservative Harriet Cross, The SNP's Stephen Flynn…
Kirsty McNeillPanelist
Stephen FlynnPanelist
Ross GreerPanelist
Harriet CrossPanelist
Thomas KerrPanelistBut let's kick off with our first question, which is from Mary.
Mary Hartog.
Good evening.
Should we implement, um, a price cap on food in order to reduce food poverty and ease the cost of living, or is that simply unworkable and doomed to failure?
Would you welcome it, Mary?
I personally am not sure.
I heard what the retailers had to say yesterday when, um, the Treasury explored the idea of, um, limited caps.
So we know what they think.
I'd be really interested to hear what the panel think.
Okay.
We clearly have a problem.
Okay, so we've had two different ideas coming up.
We've got the, the government, uh, at Westminster talking about, well, sort of like various ideas being mooted, possibly a voluntary cap, although that now they seem to have decided maybe not to do that.
Is that gonna work, or is it doomed to failure?
I mean, I, I have spent the last six and a half years in politics outraged at the fact that there's people in our communities who can't get by, and so many of them rely upon food banks and upon food pantries.
But for so many other people who don't want to access those facilities or who can't access those facilities, they're going into the shops and they're seeing prices balloon, absolutely go through the roof.
And I think it's absolutely incumbent upon politicians of all colors in that context to try and ensure that people's basic needs, the ability to feed themselves, can be met.
Now, what we are seeking to do is bring forward legislation in the first 100 days of this new government to, to ensure that we can cap the price of some specific items that we all find in our shops and that people really need in order to have a good, healthy, balanced diet.
And I, I, I'm at a loss as to why an individual who sits in the House of Lords, uh, would seek to have a disagreement with that.
But let's kick off with our first question, which is from Mary.
Mary Hartog.
Good evening.
Should we implement, um, a price cap on food in order to reduce food poverty and ease the cost of living, or is that simply unworkable and doomed to failure?
Would you welcome it, Mary?
I personally am not sure.
I heard what the retailers had to say yesterday when, um, the Treasury explored the idea of, um, limited caps.
So we know what they think.
I'd be really interested to hear what the panel think.
Okay.
We clearly have a problem.
Okay, so we've had two different ideas coming up.
We've got the, the government, uh, at Westminster talking about, well, sort of like various ideas being mooted, possibly a voluntary cap, although that now they seem to have decided maybe not to do that.
Is that gonna work, or is it doomed to failure?
I mean, I, I have spent the last six and a half years in politics outraged at the fact that there's people in our communities who can't get by, and so many of them rely upon food banks and upon food pantries.
But for so many other people who don't want to access those facilities or who can't access those facilities, they're going into the shops and they're seeing prices balloon, absolutely go through the roof.
And I think it's absolutely incumbent upon politicians of all colors in that context to try and ensure that people's basic needs, the ability to feed themselves, can be met.
Now, what we are seeking to do is bring forward legislation in the first 100 days of this new government to, to ensure that we can cap the price of some specific items that we all find in our shops and that people really need in order to have a good, healthy, balanced diet.
And I, I, I'm at a loss as to why an individual who sits in the House of Lords, uh, would seek to have a disagreement with that.
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