I, Daniel Blake exclusive roundtable with Ken Loach, Mark Steel, and Edith Bowman

The BAFTA and Palme D'Or-winning film pays tribute to those who suffer undue cruelties under the State's current welfare system

Ken Loach's brilliant, BAFTA and Palme D'Or-winning I, Daniel Blake is a true testament to cinema's power to spark conversation.

To mark the film's home entertainment release, Loach sat down with a variety of creative and political figures to discuss the film's wider themes and impact in depth, filmed at The Royal Society of Arts, London.

He was joined by comedian and columnist for The Independent Mark Steel, founder and co-director of the Real Junk Food Project Adam Smith, co-leader of The Green Party Jonathan Bartley, Head of the Royal Society of Arts in Scotland Jamie Cooke, Commissioning Editor for the website Economy Victoria Waldersee, and presenter and radio host Edith Bowman - who acted as moderator.

"People were falling over themselves to tell us their stories," Loach comments. "Obviously, people who have been sanctioned, but also the people who work in the job centres, the job coaches... they told us their stories. Everybody came clean and said, yes, there are expectations. They didn't use the word 'targets', but if every person going into a job centre does everything perfectly, every dot and comma, always on time, somebody's going to get sanctioned."

"We were asked if we wanted Theresa May, Ian Duncan Smith, and Damien Green to watch it and we said, no," he also adds. "Because they know exactly what they're doing, and if they don't know then they're incompetent. And if they do know, they're morally bankrupt and shouldn't be in power".

"Why are people not angry?" Cooke adds at one point. "The whole country should be saying, 'This is an absolute disgrace.'"

The film focuses on the titular Daniel (Dave Johns), a 59-year-old joiner who seeks support from the State for the first time in his life, after a sudden heart attack leaves him unable to carry out his job; yet the deep flaws in the system leave him in a perilous situation as he struggles to find a means to live.

I, Daniel Blake is out on DVD & Blu-ray now.