Free Thinking in the Summer

Rana Mitter chairs a debate from the York Festival of Ideas on whether we can afford ethical business. The panel includes The Guardian's Lucy Siegle, Adrian Wooldridge of The Economist, founder of Ethical Superstore Andy Redfern and economist Virginie Perotin. As austerity bites into family finances and public services, cheap goods seem ever more attractive, even vital. But is there a price to pay in fairness, and to the environment? York has a long history of making ethical business ideals a reality, but can those ideas be carried forward into the era of austerity?