Battle of Ideas Festival Audio Archive

From Covid to climate change: challenging the culture of fear

Recorded at the Battle of Ideas festival 2021 on Sunday 10 October at Church House, London.
ORIGINAL 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?
SPEAKERSSherelle Jacobscolumnist, Daily Telegraph
Laurie Laybourn-Langtonresearcher; writer; associate fellow, Institute for Public Policy Research; co-author, Planet on Fire: A manifesto for the age of environmental breakdown
Nikos Sotirakopouloslecturer in sociology, York St John University; author, Identity Politics and Tribalism: The New Culture Wars and The Rise of Lifestyle Activism
Bruno WaterfieldBrussels correspondent, The Times
CHAIRRob Lyonsscience and technology director, Academy of Ideas; convenor, AoI Economy Forum

Disinformation and conspiracy: tackling the crisis of trust

Recorded at the Battle of Ideas festival 2021 on Sunday 10 October at Church House, London.
ORIGINAL INTRODUCTION
From talk of a ‘great reset’ to the resurgence of conspiracy theories about 9/11 on its 20th anniversary, there seems to be a widespread growth of distrust in officialdom and scepticism towards traditional authorities. Likewise, the Covid-19 pandemic has been a magnet for doubt and disbelief – often labelled denial – about everything from statistics of cases and deaths to the official medical advice about drugs such as ivermectin or hydroxychloroquine. Wider fears and suspicions of big tech and powerful individuals have driven conspiracies about technologies like 5G or billionaires like Bill Gates.
But how do you spot a conspiracy theory when people are labelled conspiracists for asking awkward questions – like the possible escape of the virus from a lab in Wuhan? And how do you make non-conspiratorial sense of government decisions when so many seem irrational or beneficial for powerful interests? As much as conspiracies might represent a flight from reality, do they also reflect sense of powerlessness; an attempt at asserting agency by trying to understand what’s really going on? People often note that it might be a be a relief to imagine that there is a plan – global forces pulling strings – but many commentators also note that politicians today seem to actively distrust the public, preferring openly manipulative techniques such as behavioural psychology and nudges rather than winning arguments. In such a context, is it a surprise that some people think there are manipulative forces at work?
To confuse things, critiques of conspiracies are often themselves riddled with misinformation, often expressed in a fascination with finding evidence of brainwashing or Russian bots. A widespread tactic is to accuse political opponents of being shills in receipt of dark money – as happened to the group behind the Great Barrington Declaration, who were accused of being ‘neoliberals in disguise’ for voicing a criticism of covid policies. Whatever the merit of their position, the speed with which criticisms of the declaration became smears against its authors reflects how widespread conspiratorial thinking has become – both for those on the mainstream and on the margin.
What is to be done about this widespread collapse in trust? Mainstream and social media companies are both awash with fact-checkers. In the UK, Ofcom is called upon to judge the authenticity of the news – a role many want to expand under the Online Harms Bill. But some question whether attempts to regain trust via official attempts to control the news could really work – especially when some fact-checkers seem so nakedly ideological. By narrowing the sphere of public debate to what is officially acceptable, might such measures prove counterproductive?
Why have disinformation and conspiracy theories become such mainstream preoccupations? What is a healthy distrust of officialdom, and when does it start to move away from reality? Have we become afraid of ourselves and our own ability to make judgements, and do we need a new series of official authorities to determine what’s real and what’s not? Or is the collapse in trust – and in each other – a matter for us all to take up?
SPEAKERSDr Tim Blackbooks and essays editor, spiked
William Cloustonparty leader, Social Democratic Party
Dr Sean Langsenior lecturer in History, Anglia Ruskin University; author, First World War for Dummies; fellow, Historical Association
Mo Lovattnational coordinator, Debating Matters; programme coordinator, Academy of Ideas
Allison Pearsoncolumnist, Daily Telegraph; bestselling author, I Don’t Know How She Does It; co-presenter, Planet Normal podcast
CHAIRAlastair Donaldco-convenor, Battle of Ideas festival; convenor, Living Freedom; author, Letter on Liberty: The Scottish Question

What's the point of reading novels in an era of Netflix?

Recorded at the Battle of Ideas festival 2021 on Sunday 10 October at Church House, London.
ORIGINAL INTRODUCTION
Readers are ‘easing into extinction as newer and flashier means of grabbing our attention evolve’, declared the US author Steve McEllisten. Compared with 2019, subscribers to streaming services grew by 71 per cent in 2020, yet only half of adults in the UK read at least one book a year. Today, people are more likely to reach for their remote to catch up with the latest blockbuster on Netflix than pick a novel from the bookshelf.
Some argue that using technology has even ‘rewired’ how we read, as we are inclined to read more quickly due to the scrolling action we employ on social-media posts. An English teacher blamed today’s ‘digital culture’ that is ‘all about immediate gratification’ for the decline of reading among teenagers. Others contend that accessing content online has reduced our attention span, and that our hectic modern lifestyle is not conducive to reading something longer like a novel. The acronym ‘tl;dr,’ which stands for ‘too long didn’t read,’ has even started to make an appearance on social-media posts.
Is reading a novel a better experience than watching Netflix? Novelist Diana Wagman argues that ‘the act of physically turning a page creates a momentary pause for understanding to sink in. Our brains work to translate the black squiggles on the page into words and then interpret the meaning and intent of those words…. TV takes all that imagination away’. During the lockdowns of the last 18 months, book clubs flourished as individuals harnessed tech to discuss books via Zoom. Contrasting reading books to watching TV, the Cambridge academic Dr Malachi McIntosh suggests that reading fiction ‘creates a space for us to think about ourselves and our world in novel ways’ as distinct from television or film. He argues that the reader has ‘significant control over the experience and works with the author rather than being worked on by the author’. Others maintain that the act of reading has incidental advantages such as decreasing your heart rate and helping to improve sleep.
If novel readers are becoming an ‘extinct’ species, can we blame Netflix or are there other factors at work? The historian Orlando Figes argues that students are taught to pass exams, but not to ‘read in ways that advance understanding and knowledge’. Some assert that the increasing politicisation of the English literature curriculum in schools has turned students away from a love of literature, as classic texts are routinely seen as problematic. Does the popularity of streaming services and social media signal the end of our love affair with reading novels? Or is there still nothing quite like getting lost in a book?
SPEAKERSElisabetta Gasparoniteacher; founder, Aesthetic Study Group
George Harrisonco-author, Inside Allenwood; writer; journalist
Phil Harrisonwriter; author, The First Day; filmmaker, Even Gods
Michael Nathauthor, The Treatment and La Rochelle; senior lecturer in creative writing and English literature, University of Westminster
Dr Maren Thomlecturer; writer; acting and vocal trainer
CHAIRSimon McKeonarchivist; 20 years experience of working in local authority culture departments; writer

Publish and be damned?

Recorded at the Battle of Ideas festival 2021 on Sunday 10 October at Church House, London.
ORIGINAL INTRODUCTION
Who would be in the books business today? From sensitivity readers to social-media scrutiny, publishing books has become a tricky business.
As well as the quality of the work, publishers now seem to concern themselves with the social-media profiles of their authors. Little, Brown Book Group announced that it was dropping its planned release of Julie Burchill’s book Welcome to the Woke Trials after the author was accused of Islamophobia and involved in a row with fellow commentator Ash Sarkar on Twitter.
More recently, calls to censor certain books have come from inside publishing houses themselves, rather than companies having their arms forced by Twitter mobs. In March 2020, staff at the US publisher Hachette refused to work on Woody Allen’s memoir Apropos of Nothing and JK Rowling’s children’s book The Ickabog because of the former’s alleged sexual abuse of his adopted daughter and the latter’s views on transgender rights. While Rowling’s book survived, Hachette pulped Allen’s work after ‘listening sessions’ with staff members.
Sometimes publishers get into trouble retroactively. Kate Clanchy vowed to re-write her award-winning memoir Some Kids I Taught and What They Taught Me after a handful of comments on Goodreads and Twitter claimed that her descriptions of some students were racist and ableist. When fellow author Phillip Pullman defended Clanchy on social media, the Society of Authors (where he is president) emailed its members to distance the organisation from Pullman, warning authors to ‘be mindful of privilege and of the impact of what they create, do and say’. Journalist and author Monisha Rajesh, who claimed that parts of Clanchy’s book were ‘rooted in eugenics and phrenology’, defended the idea that publishers should think about what books they produce. ‘Cancel culture is a term bounced around by people afraid of accountability’, she wrote in the Guardian.
Publishing houses seem to be getting it in the neck. In response of allegations of a pale, male and stale environment, publishing houses embraced the idea of sensitivity readers to check for racist stereotypes alongside quotas for hiring women and minorities. When Bernardine Evaristo became the first woman of colour to top the UK paperback fiction chart in 2020, many argued that the publishing world was finally changing.
Some argue that ‘cancel culture’ in the world of publishing is little more than an attempt to right the wrongs of years of exclusionary practice. But others worry that organisations feel constrained or limited by worrying about political norms. In a series of essays on censorship, author Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie pointed out the danger in silencing writers for fear of causing offence: ‘We have a generation of young people on social media so terrified of having the wrong opinions that they have robbed themselves of the opportunity to think and to learn and to grow.’
Is it impossible to publish a book without checking it for tropes, stereotypes and anything else that might catch the ire of Twitter activists? Should we welcome a more cautious approach to the kinds of books we put out in the world? Or could a nervous industry make it more difficult for new authors to break through with bold content? Does a more politically conscious approach to writing make for better books? Or have we lost the confidence to publish and be damned?
SPEAKERSTim Abrahamscontributing editor, Architectural Record; publisher, Machine Books
Ben Cobleyauthor, The Tribe: the liberal-left and the system of diversity; public speaker; former Labour Party activist
Masimba Musodzanovelist in ChiShona and English; blogger, The Times of Israel; writer
Emma Webbcommentator; writer; deputy research director, Free Speech Union; co-founder, Save Our Statues
CHAIRPauline Hadawayresearcher; writer; co-founder, The Liverpool Salon; author, Escaping the Panopticon

Is woke politics the death of rock'n'roll?

Recorded at the Battle of Ideas festival 2021 on Sunday 10 October at Church House, London.
ORIGINAL INTRODUCTION
In June last year, Grammy-winning US country band the Dixie Chicks announced they would now simply be The Chicks. Famous for criticising the 2003 invasion of Iraq, the female trio decided to drop ‘Dixie’ from their name because of its ‘controversial’ association with slavery and the American South.
Musicians on this side of the Atlantic are feeling political pressure, too. Earlier this year, indie popsters British Sea Power dropped the ‘British’ from their name, instead now going by the moniker Sea Power. In the past, the six-piece once claimed an apparent obsession with Second World War leader Field Marshal Montgomery, and even appeared on the BBC’s primetime Sunday nature show, Countryfile, to talk about their love of the British countryside. Yet now the combination of ‘British’ and ‘Power’ was too much for the band.
In June this year, banjo player and lead guitarist Winston Marshall felt obliged to quit platinum-selling folk tubthumpers Mumford & Sons after attracting flak for his praise of anti-Antifa journalist Andy Ngo. In a goodbye letter to the band, Marshall wrote: ‘In the mania of the moment I was desperate to protect my bandmates. The hornets’ nest that I had unwittingly hit had unleashed a black-hearted swarm on them and their families.’
But not everyone agrees that popular music should be subject to the political mood of the moment. Aussie legend Nick Cave has argued: ‘Art must be wrestled from the hands of the pious, in whatever form it may come – and they are always coming, knives out, intent on murdering creativity. At this depressing time in rock ‘n’ roll though, perhaps they can serve a purpose, perhaps rock music needs to die for a while, so that something powerful and subversive and truly monumental can rise up out of it.’
Is popular music finally growing up and beginning to acknowledge its hitherto historical amnesia and irresponsibility? Or is this willingness to go along with current political trends the antithesis of convention-defying, free-thinking rock’n’roll?
SPEAKERSDr Philip Kiszelylecturer in performance and cultural histories, University of Leeds; author, Hollywood through Private Eyes
Joel Millssenior music programme manager, British Council
CHAIRDr Carlton Bricklecturer in sociology, The University of the West of Scotland

Is 'Cancel Culture' killing comedy? Really?

Recorded at the Battle of Ideas festival 2021 on Saturday 9 October at Church House, London.
ORIGINAL INTRODUCTION
After 30 years of sell-out performances, Roy ‘Chubby’ Brown’s show at Sheffield City Hall, set for next year, was cancelled by Sheffield City Trust in September. According to Trust chief Andrew Snelling, Brown’s material did not reflect its values of being ‘inclusive for all in Sheffield’. In response, Brown said that those running trusts and councils should not ‘use your position to force your own private views/opinions and decide what people can and can’t do or can and can’t watch’.
The cancellation of Brown’s gig was just the latest in a series of actions against comedians for saying the wrong things. After the Euro football championships in July, Andrew Lawrence was accused of racism after posting a short, satirical video on social media. As a result, his national tour was cancelled and he was dropped by his agent. Scottish left-wing comedian Janey Godley was dropped from a Scottish government advertising campaign around Covid and suffered venue cancellations when some historic tweets ‘resurfaced’ and were deemed to be offensive.
Yet many comics state that ‘cancel culture’ is a myth, or at least overplayed. Writer and comedian Robin Ince believes that ‘cancel culture’ is an ‘illusory bandwagon, based on the idea that the most powerful people in the world are all these woke people who, for some reason, aren’t actually in power’. A Guardian columnist, Rachel Aroesti, recently wrote that the ‘concept of cancel culture destroying comedy makes most sense if viewed as part of a much broader political campaign against progressive politics’.
Are public officials and industry gatekeepers increasingly deciding the boundaries of comedy? Are jokes about people’s race, gender and sexuality a laughing matter or should they be condoned, regardless of their intent? Do complaints against cancellations simply play into the hands of those who want to undermine equality and fairness?
SPEAKERSAlex Daledesigner and writer
Andrew Doylewriter and comedian; author, Free Speech and Why It Matters
Simon Evanscomedian; regular panellist, BBC Radio 4's The News Quiz
Josephine Husseyschool teacher; theatre lover
CHAIRAndy Shawco-founder, Comedy Unleashed

From HGV drivers to bricklayers: how do we solve the skills crisis?

Recorded at the Battle of Ideas festival 2021 on Sunday 10 October at Church House, London.
ORIGINAL INTRODUCTION
The shortage of HGV drivers in the UK has made headlines recently, with concern that supply-chain difficulties will get even worse in the lead-up to Christmas. Supermarkets and restaurants are already experiencing delivery delays due to an estimated 90,000 shortfall in HGV drivers. Despite government measures to increase the number of HGV driving tests available, the fear is that haulage companies will be unable to cope with the demands of the busiest shopping time of the year.
According to the DVLA, the impact of the pandemic and the introduction of Covid safety rules over the past 18 months meant that only 25,000 drivers could take their HGV test, down from the usual 70,000 per year. Many have argued that Brexit has led to a skills shortage, not just in HGV drivers, but among nannies, construction workers, NHS staff and hospitality workers. How much of the skills shortage is due to overseas workers returning home, because of new Brexit-related bureaucracy or the pandemic, is unclear. However, there seems little doubt that there are shortages of trained staff in many key sectors.
Despite the headlines, it is clear that the skills shortage in HGV drivers pre-dates both Covid and Brexit. According to Radio 4’s stats show, More or Less, the Road Haulage Association estimated there was a shortfall of 50,000 HGV drivers in 2015, even before the EU referendum. In 2018, when the unemployment rate was at four per cent, and Britain was as close as it has ever been to full employment, the skills shortage was already an issue, particularly in IT, construction, hospitality, healthcare and leisure.
Explanations range from low wages in hospitality and healthcare to an ageing workforce in construction. Indeed, the UK’s skills shortages seem to be a perennial problem. Employers’ organisations have long complained of a mismatch between supply and demand for skills in key areas of the labour market.
Many commentators argue the government must improve education and skills in order to drive economic growth; others bemoan a low-wage/low-skill economy coupled with high levels of income support, which is disincentivising many capable workers from taking up work. For example, last summer, UK fruit farmers lobbied the government to give them special dispensation to hire workers from Eastern Europe to pick their ripening fruit. They argued that the local workless were too lazy to put in the long hours of hard labour required to bring in the harvest. Indeed, another reason given for the shortfall in HGV drivers is that young workers are likely to shun the long, unsocial hours associated with the job.
Does Britain really have an unsolvable skills shortage? And if not, how can we meet the challenge? Can the skills shortage be linked to one-off events like Brexit and Covid, or are there longer-term trends at play? Is the UK workforce simply too work-shy or are poor wages and working conditions to blame? How might we create more meaningful jobs and create an economy where we can close the gap between supply and demand for skilled workers?
SPEAKERSTom Bewickpresenter, Skills World Live; chief executive, Federation of Awarding Bodies
Victoria Hewsonhead of regulatory affairs, Institute of Economic Affairs
Kelvin Hopkinswriter and campaigner, Rebuild Britain
Rick Moorebusiness owner, InControl; electronic engineer; deputy chair political, Blackburn Conservative Association
Linda Murdochcampaigner for rights and democracy in Scotland; director of careers and global opportunities, University of Glasgow
CHAIRJustine Briandirector, Civitas Schools; commentator on food issues

Letters on Liberty: in defence of teaching history

Recorded at the Battle of Ideas festival 2022 on Sunday 16 October at Church House, London.
ORIGINAL INTRODUCTION
Open debate has been suffocated by today’s censorious climate and there is little cultural support for freedom as a foundational value. What we need is rowdy, good-natured disagreement and people prepared to experiment with what freedom might mean today. Faced with this challenge, the Academy of Ideas decided to launch Letters on Liberty – a radical public pamphleteering campaign aimed at reimagining arguments for freedom in the 21st century.
In his Letter – In Defence of Teaching History – author and history teacher Nicolas Kinloch looks at the ways in which today’s approach to history is often more concerned with modern activism than an appreciation of the past. History is not just about race and victimhood; nor is it a mere collection of simple moral tales, he argues. Instead, it is a maze of conflicting, stories to tell – all of which students should be exposed to.
Join Nicolas and respondents to ask whether the way we understand and engage with history has changed today. When it comes to teaching history, should teachers resist the restraints imposed by new political ideologies like Critical Race Theory? Or is the way we approach history in an educational environment too tied up with old ways of thinking? How can we navigate the strange and different worlds of the past without causing offence in the present? And why is having a relationship with what has happened in human history so important for preparing a young generation for what is to come?
SPEAKERSTarjinder Gillclass teacher; writer, All in Britain; founding member, Don't Divide Us
Nicolas Kinlochhistory teacher; teacher fellow, School of Oriental and African Studies; honorary fellow, Historical Association; author, In Defence of Teaching History
Dr Robert Pyrahhistorian; research fellow, Oxford Brookes University; podcast co-host, Pseudoscience, Fake News – and How to Fight Back
Kevin Rooneyhistory and politics teacher; editor, irishborderpoll.com; convenor, AoI Education Forum; co-author, The Blood Stained Poppy
CHAIRLouise Burtonhistory teacher

Why Bitcoin matters for freedom in a digital age

Recorded at the Battle of Ideas festival 2022 on Sunday 16 October at Church House, London.
ORIGINAL INTRODUCTION
Over the past decade, governments, economists and journalists have regularly presented Bitcoin as dangerous and risky. It’s for criminals, they argue, it’s a ponzi scheme – and it’s destroying the planet.
By contrast, supporters of Bitcoin have argued that the world financial system is a cruel labyrinth – creating a situation where tomorrow is traded for today, where capital is strip-mined without consideration for the future and where our money is devalued by central planners and our liberties eroded and behaviour managed in order to engineer compliance. Bitcoin, they argue, has the potential to help us escape this labyrinth.
In Bitcoin is Venice, Allen Farrington and Sacha Meyers explore the terrain of what they describe as a global, digital, sound, open-source, programmable currency. What might economies look like under a Bitcoin standard? What might this new form of capital do to our current governing bodies? Can Bitcoin bring about a new global Renaissance?
Join Allen Farrington in conversation with Jeremy Hildreth to assess why Bitcoin matters for freedom in a digital age. Do the risks of Bitcoin outweigh its opportunities? Or in adopting it, could we be embarking on a historical transformation on a par with the agricultural and industrial revolutions?
Get your tickets to the 2022 Battle of Ideas festival here.
SPEAKERSAllen Farringtoninvestor; co-author, Bitcoin Is Venice
CHAIRJeremy Hildrethauthor, Unfuckwithable Money and Brand America; travel writer; commentator, Wall Street Journal, Spectator, Monocle, the New York Post and the Washington Times

Trust me, I'm your doctor: are GPs in crisis?

Recorded at the Battle of Ideas festival 2022 on Sunday 16 October at Church House, London.
ORIGINAL INTRODUCTION
In the wake of the pandemic, many people have expressed frustration about waiting times and the lack of face-to-face appointments with GPs. At the same time, doctors have threatened strike action over new contracts stipulating longer opening times to catch up with the backlog. In some areas of the country, there is just one GP for every 2,500 patients, yet in other places, doctors have demanded legal limits on the number of patients they see.
The suspicion in some quarters is that GPs are being lazy, or have lost their sense of vocation. Anecdotes about patients waiting hours to be fobbed off with a hurried telephone call from a GP are commonplace. But the Royal College of General Practitioners has pushed back, claiming that this suggestion is false and is undermining GP morale, which was already low. Several surveys indicate the NHS faces an exodus of experienced GPs, with many taking early retirement or reducing their hours due to workload pressure. Even increases in trainee doctors will not relieve the strain.
It seems that GPs are working harder than ever and yet people still can’t get the appointments they need. Is this predominantly due to the increased pressures caused by the pandemic, or are government critics right to suggest that the NHS has been underfunded for decades? Do we need to do more to incentivise more doctors to become GPs or is the GP as the first port of call for healthcare now outmoded? And is the solution to this perhaps bigger than intermittent injections of cash? Has the pandemic caused a crisis in GP provision or led to patient anxieties being exacerbated – or both? What is causing this crisis in trust for our once-beloved family doctors?
SPEAKERSProfessor Dame Clare GeradaLondon-based GP; president, Royal College of General Practitioners
Sheila Lewisretired management consultant; patient member, Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust
Allison Pearsoncolumnist and chief interviewer, Daily Telegraph; co-presenter, Planet Normal podcast
Jo Phillipsjournalist; co-author, Why Vote? and Why Join a Trade Union?; former political advisor; fellow, Radix
Charlotte Picklesdirector, Reform; former managing editor, UnHerd; member, Social Security Advisory Committee (SSAC) and the NHS Assembly
CHAIRTony Gillandteacher of maths and economics; Associate Fellow, Academy of Ideas

No, Minister! Crisis In The Civil Service

Recorded at the Battle of Ideas festival 2022 on Saturday 15 October at Church House, London.
ORIGINAL INTRODUCTION
The UK’s Civil Service has long been referred to as a well-oiled machine that ranks among the best in the world. More recently, however, the Civil Service has come under intense criticism for its alleged insubordination, embrace of ‘woke’ causes and enthusiasm for working from home at the expense of public service.
Moves to house failed asylum seekers in Rwanda received fierce internal resistance from Home Office civil servants, who questioned the morality of the policy despite its apparent popularity and inclusion in the Conservative Party manifesto. Politicians of all stripes have reported on similar moves by civil servants, but this seems especially true in the aftermath of the vote to leave the EU. Senior civil servants have been accused of caution and groupthink, preventing them from embracing the opportunities presented by Brexit and political realignment.
The attorney general, Suella Braverman, recently spoke up against civil servants undertaking extensive ‘diversity and inclusion’ training during working hours, the allegedly contestable content of such courses, and the ever-expanding HR machine that encourages it. In the same vein, critics point out that gender ideology and radical identity politics are seemingly spread unopposed in the Civil Service, despite polling showing majority opposition to these ideas among the public.
However, in response to an accusation from Liz Truss that Foreign Office officials’ hostility to Israel verges on anti-Semitism, Dave Penman, general secretary of the FDA, which represents senior civil servants, argued that ‘throwing around such unfounded inflammatory accusations illustrates a lack of leadership’. Others have argued that the Civil Service is being scapegoated for politicians’ own failings.
Is the Whitehall machine broken beyond repair or are civil servants being victimised in an unfair blame-game? Have citizens lost control of the public institutions that their taxes pay for? Will moving the Civil Service out of London help address this? Is it even possible to provide impartial advice in highly polarised political climates? And what’s wrong with civil servants using their skills and experience to challenge the decisions of politicians?
Get your tickets to the 2022 Battle of Ideas festival here.
SPEAKERSNick Busvine OBEconsultant; founding partner, Herminius Holdings Ltd; advisory board member, Briefings for Britain; Town Councillor, Sevenoaks; former diplomat, Foreign and Commonwealth Office
Caroline Ffiskeco-founder and spokesperson, Conservatives for Women
Eric Kaufmannprofessor of politics, Birkbeck College, University of London; Advisory Council member, Free Speech Union; author, The Political Culture of Young Britain and The Politics of the Culture Wars in Contemporary Britain
Max Wind-Cowieco-author, A Place for Pride; former head, Progressive Conservatism Project, Demos; commentator
CHAIRAlastair Donaldco-convenor, Battle of Ideas festival; convenor, Living Freedom; author, Letter on Liberty: The Scottish Question

Whose kids are they anyway? Reclaiming parental authority

Recorded at the Battle of Ideas festival 2023 on Saturday 28 October at Church House, London.
ORIGINAL INTRODUCTION
‘Mother knows best’ used to be indisputable. But the idea that parents should have the last word on how their children are raised has become unfashionable.
Perhaps the most obvious way in which parental authority has been challenged is in the relationship breakdown between schools and families. The introduction of transgender ideology into sex-education classes and the adoption of pronouns at school has been protested strongly by parents who oppose such views. Some teachers in the US have supported ‘transition closets’, in which students could change their outfits from home to become their ‘true’ selves. For some, this is a welcome intervention to help children whose families don’t support their identity. For others, such a move risks undermining trust between parents and kids, sending them the message that teachers care more than their parents.
But ‘parenting’ – both a verb and a phenomenon – is something which, for a long time, has involved intervention from a whole range of external experts, rather than just mum and dad. In the early 2000s, professor Frank Furedi coined the term paranoid parenting – which claimed that a safety-obsessed culture had hampered parents’ ability to feel confident to bring up kids. Twenty years later, a more intense scrutiny of how people ‘parent’ has resulted in a proliferation of parenting styles – from helicopter to free-range, attachment to ‘gentle’ parenting.
Earlier this year, the Duchess of Cambridge launched the Centre For Early Childhood to empower what she called the ‘early years workforce’. ‘What we experience in the early years, from conception to the age of five, shapes the developing brain’, the centre claims, ‘which is why positive physical, emotional and cognitive development during this period is so crucial’. Some have argued that this is simply a royal version of New Labour’s Sure Start programme, which aimed to combat poverty by ‘giving children the best possible start in life’. While many welcomed access to childcare, others are sceptical of a more interventionist approach to family life. Rather than freeing up parents to do what they want, many feel pressured by such programmes to tick the boxes of what it means to ‘parent’ well. For some parents, the result can often look like late-night googling, feeling judged at check-ups and a more fraught relationship with their children.
Who knows best how to raise kids? Is parenting a skill – only learned by reading books and listening to experts? Is more information and expertise – not just about nappies and winding, but from psychologists and scientific researchers – a welcome support to help parents ‘parent’ better? Or has the loss of intergenerational involvement – from grandparents to neighbours – been replaced with a more technocratic approach to the motto ‘it takes a village to raise a child’? Should schools and government have the final say when it comes to instilling values in the next generation – on everything from sexuality to social norms? And is there a perfect formula for raising the next generation – if so, who owns our children?
SPEAKERSTom Bewickvisiting professor of skills and workforce policy, Staffordshire University; fellow, Royal Society of Arts
Jo-Anne Nadlerpolitical commentator and writer; campaigner, Don't Divide Us
Allison Pearsoncolumnist and chief interviewer, Daily Telegraph; co-presenter, Planet Normal podcast
Dr Stuart Waitonsenior lecturer, sociology and criminology, Abertay University; author, Scared of the Kids: curfews, crime and the regulation of young people; chair, Scottish Union for Education,
CHAIRJane Sandemanchief operating officer, The Passage; convenor, AoI Parents Forum; contributor, Standing up to Supernanny
 

Square-eyed screenagers: Are phones corrupting our kids?

Recorded at the Battle of Ideas festival 2023 on Saturday 28 October at Church House, London.
ORIGINAL INTRODUCTION
Digital devices are so omnipresent that sociologists call today’s children ‘Generation Glass’. Our pre-teens have never known a world without tablets and apps. The ubiquity of technology during their formative years risks turning them into ‘screenagers’ with high digital literacy but low socialisation and focus.
In education, devices are routinely distributed to pupils and the gamification of learning is well-established. Yet pushback is mounting. The controversial Online Safety Bill proposes reams of radical measures drafted specifically to quell fears over children’s internet safety. Meanwhile increasing numbers of schools are adopting mobile-phone bans, claiming they improve concentration and mental health while reducing cheating and cyberbullying.
Parents’ lobby group UsForThem is even pressing for a total ban on phones for all under-16s and grim tobacco-style health warnings on devices. The campaign is endorsed by Katharine Birbalsingh, headteacher and former social mobility tsar, who has equated the threat to youth of mobile phones to that of heroin addiction.
But is this all merely a re-heat of the ‘square eyes’ moral panic which once beset television? The BBC thinks so: its high-profile Square-Eyed Boy campaign seeks to reassure parents that screens can be a force for good for children. After all, isn’t greater literacy, be it via screens or paper pages, something to be encouraged? Some teachers argue that phones can enhance schoolwork while others insist banning them is draconian, impractical and futile.
Should we take phones away from kids for their own good, or should the very idea be dismissed as screen-shaming?
SPEAKERSElliot Bewickproducer, TRIGGERnometry
Josephine Husseyschool teacher, AoI Education Forum
Molly Kingsleyco-founder, UsForThem; co-author, The Children’s Inquiry
Joe Nuttinternational educational consultant; author, The Point of Poetry, An Introduction to Shakespeare’s Late Plays and A Guidebook to Paradise Lost
Professor Sir Simon Wesselyinterim dean, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neurosciences; regius professor of psychiatry, King’s College London
CHAIRGareth Sturdyphysics adviser, Up Learn; education and science writer

The crisis of childcare: who’s holding the baby?

Recorded at the Battle of Ideas festival 2023 on Saturday 28 October at Church House, London.
ORIGINAL INTRODUCTION
The cost of childcare is a perennial sore spot for families. But in recent years, competition for places and spiralling prices have meant that many are finding nursery fees unaffordable – even when both parents are in full-time employment. While fans of the government have welcomed promises to extend funded childcare hours both in age and quantity, critics have pointed to a blind spot in plans: there simply aren’t enough places to care for more children.
Outside of the numbers debate, the crisis in childcare has posed some more fundamental questions around raising children. Mums are far more likely to take career breaks, or even give up work, to be the primary caregivers for children, leading some to argue that the inability to tackle the childcare question is linked to sexist views of a woman’s place. On the other hand, some argue that governments should be focused on providing tax breaks to incentivise mothers to stay at home. ‘I wish I spent more time in the office instead of with my small children, said no one on their deathbed ever’, said Conservative MP Miriam Cates in response to the government’s budget announcing increased funding for childcare.
Some worry about what influence the institution of childcare might have on children’s upbringing. Many nurseries are no longer interested in the simple acts of feeding, sleeping and playing, with everything from development curriculums to sex education causing some concern among parents about what kids are exposed to. But others argue that returning to the model of ‘a village raising a child’ is good for children’s development, with childcare enabling mums and dads to stay in touch with the adult world, as well as exposing young children to social environments from an early age.
While mums are still expected to pick up the slack, is it possible to talk about childcare without addressing women’s freedom? Should governments be in the business of encouraging parents to make decisions, one way or another, when it comes to the organisation of family and work life? Are we being too narrow by talking about childcare and work – could a different model be imagined where creches offered respite for families on a more informal basis? And what is the conversation doing to the birth rate – are a young generation being put off having kids by the sheer scale of the challenge of holding the baby?
SPEAKERSAnne Fennellchair, Mothers at Home Matter; president, European Federation of Parents and Carers at Home
Naomi Firshtjournalist and commentator; co-author, The Parisians’ Guide to Cafés, Bars and Restaurants
Emma Gillandpolitics student, University of Birmingham; co-author, The Corona Generation: coming of age in a crisis; editor, Redbrick
CHAIRBeverley MarshallAoI Parents Forum; working mum of three teenage children

Feeding babies: Is breast always best?

Recorded at the Battle of Ideas festival 2023 on Saturday 28 October at Church House, London.
ORIGINAL INTRODUCTION
Read any report on how babies are fed in the early months of life, and you will soon come across references to the UK’s ‘dismal’, ‘troubling’, ‘low’ breastfeeding rate. Breastfeeding seems to be constantly in the news. Earlier this year, a study claimed that children who were breastfed were more likely to receive better GCSE results. In previous years, exclusive breastfeeding has been credited for higher IQ, babies who like vegetables more and less hyperactive toddlers.
‘Breast is best’ is not only promoted by the NHS and the government, it is written into law via restrictions on how formula can be marketed. Such is the preference for breastfeeding that many food banks are not allowed to provide infant formula to needy families. Supporters of breastfeeding describe formula as an ‘ultra-processed food’ which is both bad for people and the environment – pointing to previous scandals in developing nations around the marketing and use of formula milk. They argue that it is vital for nutrition and bonding between mother and baby, and that many women stop breastfeeding before they would like to because of lingering stigma around public feeding of babies.
At the moment, women clearly favour the bottle – only one per cent still breastfeed exclusively at six months, despite WHO guidelines. The fact that bottle-feeding can be shared by parents, friends and grandparents, with formula eliminating the need to pump, makes many women consider it a viable choice. When it comes to the claims for breastfeeding benefits, some point to the fact that studies on breastfeeding include confounding factors – things like education, opportunity and wider health issues – that make it impossible to prove the supremacy of breast over bottle.
Some view how to feed a baby as a practical, simple question. For others, it raises wider issues about motherhood and women’s autonomy. Should we care what way babies are fed? Is the fraught nature of the breast-is-best debate putting too much pressure on mothers? Should the formula industry’s eye-watering prices be challenged by a preference for breastfeeding? Or are those who campaign under the slogan ‘fed is best’ right to highlight the need for greater acceptance of formula milk?
SPEAKERSMilli Hillfreelance journalist; founder, Positive Birth Movement; author, Positive Birth Book
Harriet Ruddinfant-feeding specialist; trainee Lactation Consultant
Dr Rebecca Steinfeldindependent policy advisor on infant-feeding policy and reproductive choice; co-founder, Campaign for Equal Civil Partnerships
Dr Erin Williamssenior lecturer in reproductive anatomy and physiology, University of Edinburgh; co-founder and director, Feed
CHAIREllie Leeprofessor of family and parenting research, University of Kent, Canterbury; director, Centre for Parenting Culture Studies