Radical with Gabriel Gatehouse - Cost of Living: Should Government Pay For Life's Essentials? (Anna Coote)

Download Cost of Living: Should Government Pay For Life's Essentials? (Anna Coote)

What if housing, childcare, transport and social care were no longer treated as things to buy and sell but as services everyone was entitled to, regardless of their ability to pay?

Social policy analyst Anna Coote believes the market has failed to provide many of life's essentials. Her answer is universal basic services: a system where access to housing, care, education, transport and other necessities are free or genuinely affordable.

She tells Gabriel Gatehouse about a proposal that challenges the assumption that markets are the best way to allocate resources. From housing shortages to childcare costs, Anna explains what universal basic services would mean in practice and whether Britain could ever afford them.

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Published on Wednesday, 7th October 2026.

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