Videos

In this vital debate, filmed by WORLDwrite volunteers at the Battle of Ideas festival at Church House, Westminster, a highly engaging panel and audience discuss what’s happened in Afghanistan. Was intervention ever justified? Could there have been a different outcome or was disaster always on the cards? The speakers don’t all agree but share with us valuable insights.

The speakers are:
Peymana Assad-councillor, London Borough of Harrow; first person of Afghan origin elected to UK public office; founder, Labour Foreign Policy Group
Dr Philip Cunliffe- senior lecturer in politics and international relations, University of Kent; co-founder, The Full Brexit; author, Cosmopolitan Dystopia: international intervention and the failure of the West; co-host, Aufhebunga Bunga podcast
Mick Hume-columnist, spiked; author, Revolting!: how the establishment are undermining democracy and what they’re afraid of and Trigger Warning
Bruno Maçães-senior adviser, Flint Global; author, Belt and Road: history has begun and The Dawn of Eurasia
Ali Miraj-columnist, TheArticle; founder, the Contrarian Prize; infrastructure financier; DJ
The chair is Bruno Waterfield, Brussels Correspondent, The Times

With no one paid to edit the exceptional 33 debates filmed entirely by volunteers at the Battle of Ideas Festival 2021, the charity WORLDwrite still has to pay its Volunteer centre costs and edit suite overheads. These come to £130 a day. Most people maybe don't know what it takes to get a completed video out, even a simple 1.5 hour debate. To capture, sync, (2 cameras) edit, sound clean, colour correct, add titles, straps & end credits, transcode, export, compress and upload takes a minimum of 2 days for each debate. Thirty-three debates, sixty-six days, that’s £8580 we need to raise, without paying anyone. There's some vital and fascinating debates here, well worth sharing with the world, but to get them completed we need to raise at least this target. Please chip in what you can on our editing appeal page at https://www.justgiving.com/campaign/editingappeal

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In this debate, filmed by WORLDwrite volunteers at the Battle of Ideas festival at Church House, Westminster, a highly engaging panel and thoughtful audience share their perspectives on the Union, whether it can or should survive.

Some argue that the impact of Brexit and the Protocol disguise deeper problems with the Union. Irish political allegiances seem in turmoil and the whole question of the North-South border is back on the agenda. Do these developments make a united Ireland inevitable in the long term? A timely, must-watch debate on the 100th anniversary of partition. Do leave your comments to continue the debate.

The speakers are:
Mick Fealty - founding editor, Slugger O’Toole;
Andrée Murphy - columnist; Belfast Media Group and Belfast Telegraph board member, Ireland’s Future
Peter Ramsay - professor of law, London School of Economics and Political Science; author, The Insecurity State; founding signatory, The Full Brexit Gawain Towler - consultant; former director of communications, Brexit Party. The chair is Kevin Rooney co-author of Who’s Afraid Of The Easter Rising? 1916-2016, and editor of the Britain-based website www.irishborderpoll.com which campaigns for a border poll and Irish unity.

With no one paid to edit the exceptional 33 debates filmed entirely by young volunteers at the Battle of Ideas Festival 2021, the charity still has to pay its Volunteer centre costs and edit suite overheads. These come to £130 a day. Most people maybe don't know what it takes to get a completed video out, even a simple 1.5 hour debate. To capture, sync, (2 cameras) edit, sound clean, colour correct, add titles, straps & end credits, transcode, export, compress and upload takes a minimum of 2 days for each debate. Thirty three debates, sixty six days, that's £8580 we need to raise, without paying anyone. There's some vital and fascinating debates here, well worth sharing with the world, but to get them completed we need to raise at least this target. Please chip in what you can on our editing appeal page at https://www.justgiving.com/campaign/editingappeal

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There are frequent claims that the transition to a low-carbon economy will provide a boost to output. But many observers are sceptical that such gains could be made. Is the ‘green economy’ just the latest Big Idea to boost growth that will ultimately prove illusory? In this debate filmed at the Battle of Ideas Festival in October 2021 a terrific panel of speakers share their insights.


The speakers are:
Daniel Ben-Ami - journalist; author, Ferraris for All: in defence of economic progress and Cowardly Capitalism
Ben Pile - writer; researcher
Martin Powell - head of sustainability, Siemens Inc; former mayoral advisor on the environment; editor, The Climate City

Professor Vicky Pryce - chief economic adviser and board member, Centre for Economics and Business Research; author, Women vs Capitalism


If you find these debates useful please visit our editing appeal at https://www.justgiving.com/campaign/editingappeal

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Is ‘Nudge’ just a harmless effort by those who know best to modify our behaviour or an anti-democratic instrument that needs to be challenged? What happened to the self-directing citizen? In this excellent debate filmed by WORLDwrite volunteers at the Battle of Ideas festival at Church House, Westminster, straight-talking speakers and a feisty audience discuss what's going on.


The speakers are:
Dr NobuLali Dangazele - lecturer, Gordon Institute of Business Science; founder, ShakeXperience; co-founder, Nudgeathon
Laura Dodsworth - writer; photographer; author, A State of Fear: How the UK government weaponised fear during the Covid-19 pandemic
Professor Frank Furedi - sociologist and social commentator; author, 100 Years of Identity Crisis: culture war over socialisation and Democracy Under Siege: don't let them lock it down!
Professor Peter John - head, School of Politics and Economics, King’s College London; author, Nudge, Nudge, Think, Think: experimenting with ways to change civic behaviour and British Politics: an analytical approach
The chair is Timandra Harkness - journalist, writer and broadcaster; presenter, Radio 4's FutureProofing and How to Disagree; comedian, Take A Risk; author, Big Data: does size matter?



Help WORLDwrite Volunteers Edit
With no one paid to edit the exceptional 33 debates filmed entirely by volunteers at the Battle of Ideas Festival 2021, the charity still has to pay its Volunteer centre costs and edit suite overheads. These come to £130 a day. Most people maybe don't know what it takes to get a completed video out, even a simple 1.5 hour debate. To capture, sync, (2 cameras) edit, sound clean, colour correct, add titles, straps & end credits, transcode, export, compress and upload takes a minimum of 2 days for each debate. Thirty-three debates, sixty-six days, that’s £8580 we need to raise, without paying anyone. There's some vital and fascinating debates here, well worth sharing with the world, but to get them completed we need to raise at least this target. Please chip in what you can on our editing appeal page at https://www.justgiving.com/campaign/editingappeal

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How can we get secure supplies of energy that are reliable and affordable? Have we been too hasty in phasing out fossil fuels? Is there still a place for them until a new technology, like nuclear fusion, can easily supply all the energy we need? In this short panel discussion, filmed at the Battle of Ideas Festival in the run up to COP26, the speakers challenge eco doom mongers and put the case for a people first approach.
The speakers are:
Dr Caspar Hewett - Lecturer in Water Group and EuroAquae+, Programme Director, School of Engineering, Newcastle University; Director, The Great Debate
Don Watkins - Author, Free Market Revolution, Equal Is Unfair and I Am Justice
The Chair is Tony Gilland - Teacher of maths and economics; Associate Fellow, Academy of Ideas


With no one paid to edit the exceptional 33 debates filmed entirely by volunteers at the Battle of Ideas Festival 2021, the charity still has to pay its Volunteer centre costs and edit suite overheads. These come to £130 a day. Most people maybe don't know what it takes to get a completed video out, even a simple 1.5 hour debate. To capture, sync, (2 cameras) edit, sound clean, colour correct, add titles, straps & end credits, transcode, export, compress and upload takes a minimum of 2 days for each debate. Thirty-three debates, sixty-six days, that’s £8580 we need to raise, without paying anyone. There's some vital and fascinating debates here, well worth sharing with the world, but to get them completed we need to raise at least this target. Please chip in what you can on our editing appeal page at https://www.justgiving.com/campaign/editingappeal

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In this telling debate, filmed by WORLDwrite volunteers at the Battle of Ideas Festival at Church House, Westminster, speakers and audience discuss what’s happened to free speech and the way forward. The Kathleen Stock case is on the agenda too as she declines her place on the panel due to transphobia allegations and a witch hunt on campus. It's a must watch and it becomes clear there are no easy answers.

The speakers are:
Dr Piers Benn - Philosopher, author and lecturer
James Murray - Lawyer; senior associate, Taylor Vinters; research fellow, University of Buckingham;
James Tooley - Vice Chancellor, University of Buckingham; author, The Beautiful Tree
Dr Joanna Williams - Founder and Director, Cieo; author, Women vs Feminism and Consuming Higher Education: Why Learning Can't be Bought
The Chair is Timandra Harkness - Journalist, writer and broadcaster; presenter, Radio 4's FutureProofing and How to Disagree; comedian, Take A Risk; author, Big Data: Does Size Matter?


With no one paid to edit the exceptional 33 debates filmed entirely by volunteers at the Battle of Ideas Festival 2021, the charity still has to pay its Volunteer centre costs and edit suite overheads. These come to £130 a day. Most people maybe don't know what it takes to get a completed video out, even a simple 1.5 hour debate. To capture, sync, (2 cameras) edit, sound clean, colour correct, add titles, straps & end credits, transcode, export, compress and upload takes a minimum of 2 days for each debate. Thirty-three debates, sixty-six days, that’s £8580 we need to raise, without paying anyone. There's some vital and fascinating debates here, well worth sharing with the world, but to get them completed we need to raise at least this target. Please chip in what you can on our editing appeal page at https://www.justgiving.com/campaign/editingappeal Thank you.

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Are the current divides reflective of a sea-change for feminism, or does the current infighting stem from its roots in identity politics? Can feminism survive its current civil war, or is it time for a new women’s liberation movement? Filmed at the Battle of Ideas Festival this panel of speakers know where they stand.

The speakers are:
Julie Bindel - Journalist; author, Feminism for Women: the Real Route to Liberation
Belinda de Lucy -Former MEP; former Member, Women's Rights (FEMM) Committee - EU Parliament; commentator
Naomi Firsht - Journalist; co-author, The Parisians’ Guide to Cafés, Bars and Restaurants
Inaya Folarin Iman - GB News journalist; political commentator; social campaigner; Founder and Director, The Equiano Project
The Chair is Ella Whelan - Co-Convenor of the Battle of Ideas Festival, Journalist & Author

With no one paid to edit the exceptional 33 debates filmed entirely by volunteers at the Battle of Ideas Festival 2021, the charity still has to pay its Volunteer centre costs and edit suite overheads. These come to £130 a day. Most people maybe don't know what it takes to get a completed video out, even a simple 1.5 hour debate. To capture, sync, (2 cameras) edit, sound clean, colour correct, add titles, straps & end credits, transcode, export, compress and upload takes a minimum of 2 days for each debate. Thirty-three debates, sixty-six days, that’s £8580 we need to raise to cover volunteer centre costs, without paying anyone. There's some vital and fascinating debates here, well worth sharing with the world, but to get them completed we need to raise at least this target. Please chip in what you can on our editing appeal page at https://www.justgiving.com/campaign/editingappeal

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In this fascinating debate filmed at the Battle of Ideas festival, an engaging panel of speakers and lively audience discuss the pros & cons of Woke Capitalism and what’s driving it. Is it all ‘woke wash’ and what does it mean for democracy if corporations play an increasingly activist role in pursuing a liberal agenda?
The speakers are:
Laura Bierer-Nielsen -Political consultant; Founder and Director, Foundation for Uyghur Freedom
Konstantin Kisin - Comedian; creator and co-host, TRIGGERnometry YouTube show; author, An Immigrant's Love Letter to the West
Professor Vicky Pryce - Chief Economic Adviser and Board Member, Centre for Economics and Business Research; author, Women vs Capitalism
Dr Diane Wei Liang - Professor of Business; author, The Eye of Jade and Lake with No Name
James Woudhuysen - Visiting professor, London South Bank University; co-author, Energise! A future for Energy Innovation; co-author, Why is Construction so Backward?
The Chair is Rob Killick - CEO, Clerkswell; author, The UK After the Recession


With no one paid to edit the exceptional 33 debates filmed entirely by volunteers at the Battle of Ideas Festival 2021, the charity still has to pay its Volunteer centre costs and edit suite overheads. These come to £130 a day. Most people maybe don't know what it takes to get a completed video out, even a simple 1.5 hour debate. To capture, sync, (2 cameras) edit, sound clean, colour correct, add titles, straps & end credits, transcode, export, compress and upload takes a minimum of 2 days for each debate. Thirty-three debates, sixty-six days, that’s £8580 we need to raise to cover volunteer centre costs, without paying anyone. There's some vital and fascinating debates here, well worth sharing with the world, but to get them completed we need to raise at least this target. Please chip in what you can on our editing appeal page at https://www.justgiving.com/campaign/editingappeal

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In this debate, filmed at the Battle of Ideas Festival, a fascinating panel of speakers and engaging audience discuss the state of the UK economy post-pandemic. The speakers are:
Brian Denny - Trade-Union journalist, Rebuild Britain; author, Rebuild Britain’s Fishing Industry; curator, working river: songs and music of the Thames Project
Liam Halligan - Columnist, Sunday Telegraph; presenter, on the money, GB News; author, Home Truths: the UK's Chronic Housing Shortage
Catherine McBride - Economist; Fellow, Centre for Brexit Policy
Phil Mullan - Writer, lecturer and business manager; author, Beyond Confrontation: Globalists, Nationalists and their Discontents
The Chair is Rob Lyons - Science and Technology Director, Academy of Ideas; Convenor, Academy of Ideas Economy Forum

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This session was part of Buxton Battle of Ideas festival 2021.


https://www.battleofideas.org.uk/session/should-we-resist-the-new-normal-2/

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This session was part of Buxton Battle of Ideas festival 2021.


https://www.battleofideas.org.uk/session/china-in-a-changing-world/

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This session was part of the Buxton Battle of Ideas festival 2021.


https://www.battleofideas.org.uk/session/electric-dreams-cars-and-the-future-of-transport/

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Can the free market provide adequately for all or should we demand more pay for the hardest, worst paid jobs? The speakers in this engaging short debate at the Battle of Ideas festival don't agree, but do raise plenty for us to consider.
Apologies for sound issues, one of the audience mics is not working.
The speakers are:
Hilary Salt - Actuary; founder, First Actuarial
Don Watkins - Author, Free Market Revolution, Equal Is Unfair and I Am Justice
The Chair is Kevin Rooney - Convenor, AoI Education Forum; politics teacher; co-author, The Blood Stained Poppy

Help WORLDwrite Volunteers Edit
With no one paid to edit the exceptional 33 debates filmed entirely by volunteers at the Battle of Ideas Festival 2021, the charity still has to pay its Volunteer centre costs and edit suite overheads. These come to £130 a day. Most people maybe don't know what it takes to get a completed video out, even a simple 1.5 hour debate. To capture, sync, (2 cameras) edit, sound clean, colour correct, add titles, straps & end credits, transcode, export, compress and upload takes a minimum of 2 days for each debate. Thirty-three debates, sixty-six days, that’s £8580 we need to raise, without paying anyone. There's some vital and fascinating debates here, well worth sharing with the world, but to get them completed we need to raise at least this target. Please chip in what you can on our editing appeal page at https://www.justgiving.com/campaign/editingappeal
Thank you

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Filmed at the Battle of Ideas Festival, a compelling panel give us plenty to chew on. Are boycotts simply legitimate expressions of preference or political opinion? Or, if they stray into the territory of suppressing political debate, do they then become more of a threat? Are boycotts an attack on free expression or a weapon for those fighting for accountability?
The speakers are:
Nick Buckley MBE - Charity founder, writer, former mayoral candidate
Jodie Ginsberg - Chief Executive, Internews Europe
Fraser Myers - Deputy Editor, spiked; producer, spiked podcast
Peter Whittle - Founder and Director, New Culture Forum
The Chair is Paddy Hannam - Editorial Assistant, spiked

Help WORLDwrite Volunteers Edit
With no one paid to edit the exceptional 33 debates filmed entirely by volunteers at the Battle of Ideas Festival 2021, the charity still has to pay its Volunteer centre costs and edit suite overheads. These come to £130 a day. Most people maybe don't know what it takes to get a completed video out, even a simple 1.5 hour debate. To capture, sync, (2 cameras) edit, sound clean, colour correct, add titles, straps & end credits, transcode, export, compress and upload takes a minimum of 2 days for each debate. Thirty-three debates, sixty-six days, that’s £8580 we need to raise, without paying anyone. There's some vital and fascinating debates here, well worth sharing with the world, but to get them completed we need to raise at least this target. Please chip in what you can on our editing appeal page at https://www.justgiving.com/campaign/editingappeal
Thank you

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The Free Speech Union (FSU) was launched in February 2020 by journalist Toby Young as a non-partisan, mass-membership public interest body that stands up for the speech rights of its members. Less than two years later, the FSU has almost 9,000 members and has provided support, including legal support, for over 500 people to push back against cancellation.

While some people doubt that ‘cancel culture’ exists, the evidence from the FSU caseload suggests it is very real indeed as this engaging panel reveals. In this session, we hear from individuals who’ve experienced first-hand what it’s like to be cancelled, but fought back – often successfully.

The speakers are:
Sam Bayliss - Writer; literature student, University of Edinburgh; member, Free Speech Champions
Nick Buckley MBE - Charity founder, writer, former mayoral candidate
Lisa Keogh - Law graduate, Abertay University
Harry Miller - Chairman, The Reclaim Party; founder, Fair Cop
Gillian Philip - Carnegie Medal-nominated writer; driver
The Chair is Toby Young - General Secretary, Free Speech Union; author, How to Lose Friends & Alienate People; associate Editor, Spectator

Help WORLDwrite Volunteers Edit
With no one paid to edit the exceptional 33 debates filmed entirely by volunteers at the Battle of Ideas Festival 2021, the charity still has to pay its Volunteer centre costs and edit suite overheads. These come to £130 a day. Most people maybe don't know what it takes to get a completed video out, even a simple 1.5 hour debate. To capture, sync, (2 cameras) edit, sound clean, colour correct, add titles, straps & end credits, transcode, export, compress and upload takes a minimum of 2 days for each debate. Thirty-three debates, sixty-six days, that’s £8580 we need to raise, without paying anyone. There's some vital and fascinating debates here, well worth sharing with the world, but to get them completed we need to raise at least this target. Please chip in what you can on our editing appeal page at https://www.justgiving.com/campaign/editingappeal
Thank you

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Recording of the Academy of Ideas Economy Forum discussion on Tuesday 18 January 2022. https://academyofideas.org.uk/event/inflation-short-term-blip-or-long-term-worry/

As the world economy has emerged from the pandemic and lockdowns, prices for goods, raw materials and services have risen sharply. In November, it was reported the UK Consumer Prices Index had hit 4.2 per cent in October, its highest level for almost a decade. In the US, consumer prices are up 6.2 per cent compared to a year ago. How much is this due to temporary factors and how much reflects longer-term government and central-bank policies?

The rising cost of energy is an important issue. In December 2020, Brent crude was priced at just $50 per barrel, but hit a peak of $86 per barrel towards the end of October. Prices for natural gas have shot up, too, from under $3 per million British thermal units (MMBTU) to over $6 in October. Not only do these rises affect costs for direct uses of energy – like household energy bills – but have a knock-on effect for the cost of everything else.

But there are many other factors affecting prices. Supply chains have struggled to cope with rising demand. In part, this is because production takes time to scale up after being placed in relative hibernation. But there are also issues due to rising demand and problems with logistics as container ships stack up outside ports, unable to unload.

New York Times columnist Paul Krugman argues that the problem isn’t an overall increase in demand but a change in the kind of things we’re buying: ‘In the pandemic era, people have been consuming fewer services but buying a lot of durable goods — home appliances, exercise equipment, etc. This surge in demand for durable goods has overstressed the ports, trucking and warehouses that deliver durables to consumers, leading to rapidly rising prices for stuff whose prices normally fall over time as technology advances.’ He argues that once supply chains become ‘unkinked’, key workers like drivers come back to work attracted by higher wages and production reflects demand better, inflation will ease off.

But others point to the growth in the money supply as a longer-term problem that isn’t going to go away. Interest rates in many major economies have been stuck at ’emergency’ levels – even going negative in some places – since the financial crisis of 2008. Moreover, central banks have used quantitative easing to push funds into the economy via banks. And state spending has gone through the roof as governments have spent heavily to cope with the pandemic. Some economists argue that these factors will mean that prices will remain higher even when short-term problems work themselves out.

Why is inflation rising and will it continue to do so? Why were many high-profile economists caught by surprise? What will be the impact of rising prices on living standards? What can governments do to get inflation down? What does the return of inflation tell us about wider problems in the economy?

SPEAKER

Jacob Reynolds
partnerships manager, Academy of Ideas

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This is ‘a code red for humanity’. So proclaimed the UN secretary general in response to the organisation’s latest climate assessment report in August. Yet the political consensus is at odds with the fact that ‘net zero’ policies – like giving up or severely restricting cheap travel, banning gas boilers and eating less meat – aren’t that popular in practice.

So how can we solve a problem like climate change? Should it be treated as an emergency that should subsume all other priorities? Do green policies even work or do they make matters worse? Is the problem that political and corporate rhetoric about taking action is just superficial ‘greenwash’, being seen to be green rather than making fundamental changes? Has the political consensus around climate change robbed voters of a chance to have our say?

SPEAKERS

Dr Shahrar Ali
spokesperson for policing and domestic safety, Green Party; author, Why Vote Green 2015

Shelagh McNerney
independent built environment consultant

Nikos Sotirakopoulos
lecturer in sociology, York St John University; author, Identity Politics and Tribalism: The New Culture Wars and The Rise of Lifestyle Activism

Martin Wright
writer and speaker; director, Positive News; formerly editor-in-chief, Green Futures

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Clip from GB News, Monday 20 December 2021.

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Recording of the Academy of Ideas International Salon panel discussion on 23 November 2021.

https://academyofideas.org.uk/international-salon/

INTRODUCTION
From the pandemic to the environment, housing to food supply, politicians and experts often tell us that our choices are limited. When Covid-19 took the world by surprise, governments around the world understandably took a blinkered view – opting to shut down society for fear of the worst. But even before the chaos of the last 19 months, the discussion about how to deal with challenges both political and viral have taken on a fatalistic tone.

The slogan There Is No Alternative might have been coined by Margaret Thatcher to defend the market economy, but a broader reliance on the TINA outlook has come to inform many aspects of modern politics. Politicians and commentators applauded climate activist Greta Thunberg when she accused them of robbing children of their futures. According to climate activists Extinction Rebellion: ‘We are facing an unprecedented global emergency. Life on Earth is in crisis: scientists agree we have entered a period of abrupt climate breakdown, and we are in the midst of a mass extinction of our own making.’ There are some climate activists who shun the idea of any progress at all – believing that it is too late to do anything to stop the damage humans have inflicted on the planet.

This defeatist feeling can be found elsewhere – the Brexit debate descended into banks, industries and politicians telling voters that a rejection of the EU would end in disaster (even world war). Campaigners for fighting racism or sexism argue that life for minorities has gotten worse, despite years of legal and social change. Cynicism among voting populations is common, with scepticism about how much governments do to change politics expressed at every election. Even debate about the end of the pandemic, and how to get back to normal life, has been routinely qualified with assertions that ‘normal’ can never really return. Some people express concerns about this but feel powerless to challenge it in what has become a fatalistic acceptance of the dominant narrative

But despite our penchant for doommongering, some point out that there is proof of what human beings can do when faced with adversity. While global temperatures are rising, this has occurred at a time of rising world population because people are living longer and incomes in most of the world are still expected to rise considerably in coming years. Some commentators point out that, far from a picture of gloom and despair, those of us alive today are the luckiest people in history when it comes to health, wealth, education, culture and more. The success of the vaccine rollout – or the ability for the government to get homeless people off the streets during the pandemic – shows that change can happen when a little bit of pressure is applied.

What happens to politics when we take a fatalistic outlook? Some argue that there is a difference between being doom-laden and telling it like it is – climate activists argue that those who won’t face how bad things have got are simply denying the problem. Where does agency fit into all of this – is action impossible with a modern TINA outlook? Is it right to believe that they are an existential threat to human beings or even life on Earth in general? If not, what explains the popularity of apocalyptic thinking today?

SPEAKERS
Josie Appleton
director, civil liberties group, Manifesto Club; author, Officious: Rise of the Busybody State; blogger, notesonfreedom.com

Alex Cameron
graphic designer; design and cultural critic

Dr Roslyn Fuller
managing director, Solonian Democracy Institute; author, In Defence of Democracy

Matthew Kruger
advocate, Johannesburg Bar

CHAIR
Jacob Reynolds
partnerships manager, Academy of Ideas

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This session was part of Buxton Battle of Ideas festival 2021.


https://www.battleofideas.org.uk/session/should-we-resist-the-new-normal-2/

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This session was part of Buxton Battle of Ideas festival 2021.


https://www.battleofideas.org.uk/session/china-in-a-changing-world/

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This session was part of the Buxton Battle of Ideas festival 2021.


https://www.battleofideas.org.uk/session/electric-dreams-cars-and-the-future-of-transport/

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Claire Fox, director of the Academy of Ideas, talked to Dan Wootton about why face-to-face debate is so important, in the run up to Open for Debate, a special day-long Battle of Ideas festival event in central London on Saturday 31 July.

Find out more about the event here: https://www.battleofideas.org.uk/open-for-debate/

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This debate was organised by the Academy of Ideas in partnership with SATSA, the voice of inbound tourism for South Africa.

The United Kingdom leads much of the world when it comes to getting Covid jabs into arms. But extensive foreign travel bans remain, justified by the government as necessary to keep the UK safe from the ongoing threat of coronavirus. As the British and Irish Lions ready their rugby jerseys to depart on a historic tour to play the world champions, South Africa, they will do so without the legions of fans who have made the tours so famous. The fans, and indeed all UK tourists, will be deprived of the rugby, wildlife and culture for which South Africa is famous.

Many insist such bans are a necessary step to avoid the spread of new variants – especially the ‘South African’ variant, which is said to render some vaccines less effective. Yet the implications of shutting our doors not just to South Africa but to a host of regions across the world have rarely been explored. As well as threatening trade links and international ambitions, such restrictions pose profound questions for international tourism and travel. Aside from the possibility of sand and sunshine, what do those restrictions mean for cultural exchange and the joy of discovery? What do new rules, such as testing and masking, mean for the fluidity, even spontaneity, of international travel?

As well as this, what do the bans mean for the UK’s aspiration of creating a ‘global Britain’ post-Brexit? What about Britain’s role in the Commonwealth? And what does this all mean for the countries affected – countries that had only recently been seen as emerging engines of global economic growth and important centres of cultural dynamism? Are they to be abandoned, excluded from the economic opportunities of trade and development as well as important travel links which support cultural exchange and ecological protection? Are such bans a necessary and reasonable precaution in the face of a still-evolving public-health challenge? Or, as some allege, is there an unsavoury undertone to dismissing many of the emerging economies as ‘unsafe’ or even ‘diseased’?

SPEAKERS
- Alastair Donald
associate director, Academy of Ideas; co-convenor, Battle of Ideas festival; convenor, Living Freedom; co-director, Future Cities Project

- Sherelle Jacobs
columnist, Daily Telegraph

- Virginia Messina
senior vice president, advocacy & comms, World Travel and Tourism Council

- Michael Spicer
chair, Wesgro, the Cape Town tourism, investment and promotion agency

CHAIR
- Mo Lovatt
programme coordinator, Academy of Ideas

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Para Mullan and Hilary Salt introduce a discussion at the Academy of Ideas Economy Forum on what the post-pandemic office means for employers, employees and the wider economy.

Apart from a brief and ill-starred campaign early last autumn to get staff back to the office, for over a year workers have been told that they should work at home if they can. Yet with Covid cases, hospitalisations and deaths now back down to the level we saw at the end of last summer, it seems workers are not exactly rushing to get back to the office.

For some, there may still be the fear of commute or the fear of catching the virus whilst working in the office. For others, there may still be difficulties in getting childcare. But it is also becoming obvious that for some, the comforts of home working are much more attractive than office life. What does this say about the quality of work to date – perhaps just that it is not as great as it is made out to be and that many jobs are not ‘real’ jobs?

Employers like JPMorgan Chase and Goldman Sachs have summoned all US staff back to the office. Others, like HSBC, have adopted a hybrid form of working. Yet other big firms, like Twitter, are allowing their staff to work from home forever if they so wish. For employers, there are multiple different factors at play in encouraging staff to carry on working on the kitchen table or in the spare room: the risk of lawsuits if employees catch the virus; the potential savings on office rents; extracting longer working hours from those who no longer have to commute.

On the other hand, all that extra distance between workers may undermine the idea of pursuing collective goals, workers bouncing ideas off each other or simply picking up on office conservations – finding out things they didn’t know they needed to know. It may also be harder for managers to manage staff at a distance.

For employees, working at home may have its comforts and conveniences, but there is much to be said for a properly thought-out office environment. If the reluctance to get back to the office is driven by disenchantment with the kind of work on offer – something that seems particularly clear with the slow return of those on furlough – will employers use this as an opportunity to reassess the kind of jobs they offer?

Yet for many employees, working from home isn’t working. For all the new buzz about ‘hybrid working’ and a ‘flexible approach’, a survey conducted by the CIPD found that 47 per cent of respondents cited mental well-being as the main challenge of working from home.

In this digital era, can employers ensure that employees do not feel burnt out by work? Is it appropriate to expect employers to adopt a paternalistic approach towards their employees, taking more responsibility for people’s health and well-being? What do these new ways of working mean for the dividing line between work and home?

More broadly, does the focus on returning to work miss the real challenges for UK businesses evident before the pandemic, particularly when it comes to low productivity: a failure to automate processes or make the most of AI, the prevalence of ‘bullshit jobs’ and a stifling aversion to taking risk?

SPEAKERS

Para Mullan fellow, Chartered Institute of Personnel Development

Hilary Salt actuary; founder, First Actuarial

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Jacob Reynolds of the Academy of Ideas debate Geoffrey Robertson QC on whether the British Museum should keep objects like the Parthenon Marbles and the Benin Bronzes.

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The People’s Lockdown Inquiry is a collection of testimonies and insights into the impact of over 15 months of lockdown on different aspects of life in the UK. It is intended to be a contribution to our collective memory and a means of trying to understand what happened during this extraordinary moment in history.

To complement the Inquiry’s written contributions, we interviewed a variety of people around the UK about their personal experiences of lockdown. Here we speak to James, a bus driver.

Filmed by Lobster Films (https://www.lobsterfilms.co.uk)
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The People’s Lockdown Inquiry is an independent report produced by the Academy of Ideas at The University of Buckingham. It was commissioned by The Reclaim Party.

See the full Inquiry at https://peopleslockdowninquiry.co.uk

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The People’s Lockdown Inquiry is a collection of testimonies and insights into the impact of over 15 months of lockdown on different aspects of life in the UK. It is intended to be a contribution to our collective memory and a means of trying to understand what happened during this extraordinary moment in history.

To complement the Inquiry’s written contributions, we interviewed a variety of people around the UK about their personal experiences of lockdown. Here we speak to Graeme, an academic.

Filmed by Lobster Films (https://www.lobsterfilms.co.uk)
----
The People’s Lockdown Inquiry is an independent report produced by the Academy of Ideas at The University of Buckingham. It was commissioned by The Reclaim Party.

See the full Inquiry at https://peopleslockdowninquiry.co.uk

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The People’s Lockdown Inquiry is a collection of testimonies and insights into the impact of over 15 months of lockdown on different aspects of life in the UK. It is intended to be a contribution to our collective memory and a means of trying to understand what happened during this extraordinary moment in history.

To complement the Inquiry’s written contributions, we interviewed a variety of people around the UK about their personal experiences of lockdown. Here we speak to Denis, a builder.

Filmed by Lobster Films (https://www.lobsterfilms.co.uk)
----
The People’s Lockdown Inquiry is an independent report produced by the Academy of Ideas at The University of Buckingham. It was commissioned by The Reclaim Party.

See the full Inquiry at https://peopleslockdowninquiry.co.uk

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