Are the millennials revolting? @worldwrite

worldwrite In June 2016, huge numbers of millennials campaigned on the Remain side in Britain’s EU referendum, and protested when the vote went the other way. From housing to higher education, young people have opinions and are not afraid to express them - often by angrily denouncing Baby Boomers who they think have undermined their economic security. The millennials have been radicalised, or have they? Support for the EU is hardly radical, then there’s the trend for ‘no platforming’ on university campuses, with student unions banning unpopular speakers from their debates, evidence that many millennials are in fact deeply conservative and averse to challenging ideas. So is millennial ‘radicalism’ anything more than a youthful endorsement of the status quo? Filmed at the Battle of ideas, the debate hots up as ‘influential millennials’ are challenged by both panel and audience. A must watch & share.
The speakers are: Richard Brooks, vice-president union development, National Union of Students; Emily Dinsmore, student & Free speech campaigner; Riham Mansour, community and welfare officer, LSE Students' Union; Brendan O'Neill, editor, spiked; columnist, Big Issue; contributor, Spectator; author, A Duty to Offend: Selected Essays and Peter Tatchell, human rights campaigner, director, Peter Tatchell Foundation. The chair is: George Hull, co-founder, Bloc, contributor, the Spectator

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updated 7 years ago

Are the millennials revolting?

worldwrite 2016-11-07 | In June 2016, huge numbers of millennials campaigned on the Remain side in Britain’s EU referendum, and protested when the vote went the other way. From housing to higher education, young people have opinions and are not afraid to express them - often by angrily denouncing Baby Boomers who they think have undermined their economic security. The millennials have been radicalised, or have they? Support for the EU is hardly radical, then there’s the trend for ‘no platforming’ on university campuses, with student unions banning unpopular speakers from their debates, evidence that many millennials are in fact deeply conservative and averse to challenging ideas. So is millennial ‘radicalism’ anything more than a youthful endorsement of the status quo? Filmed at the Battle of ideas, the debate hots up as ‘influential millennials’ are challenged by both panel and audience. A must watch & share.
The speakers are: Richard Brooks, vice-president union development, National Union of Students; Emily Dinsmore, student & Free speech campaigner; Riham Mansour, community and welfare officer, LSE Students' Union; Brendan O'Neill, editor, spiked; columnist, Big Issue; contributor, Spectator; author, A Duty to Offend: Selected Essays and Peter Tatchell, human rights campaigner, director, Peter Tatchell Foundation. The chair is: George Hull, co-founder, Bloc, contributor, the Spectator

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Workers Against Racism: The UK Solidarity Story Chapter 8

worldwrite 2024-10-16 | Chapter 8 of The UK Solidarity Story highlights the campaigns launched by Workers Against Racism in the 1980's. The George Roucou story is salutary. Roucou was a shop steward in the building workers' union UCATT in Manchester. Workers Against Racism helped to organise a campaign culminating in a one-day stoppage and demonstration by his fellow workers on 6 February 1987. The level of support spurred the Home Office appeal panel to reverse Roucou's deportation order. This is a remarkable story because these were white building workers who it would be assumed today are irredeemably racist.

This short film is the latest chapter from the documentary The UK Solidarity Story. The full film reveals the inspiring stories of heroes and heroines who made the struggles of others their own. Crowd filmed by volunteers with first-hand accounts and expert testimony interwoven with archive to reveal the context, this documentary brings to life tales which shine a light upon our common humanity.

The full film - The UK Solidarity Story, will be available on YouTube later in 2024. It has already been selected by seven film festivals and won quite a number of awards. The trailer and press kit are available at worldwrite.org.uk/video/the-uk-solidarity-story-trailer.

Supporting the Grunwick Lions

worldwrite 2024-10-06 | This is the latest chapter from the award winning film The UK Solidarity Story. The full film will be released in late 2024. The documentary interweaves the inspiring stories of heroes and heroines who made the struggles of others
their own with archive to reveal the context. Arranged in ten chapters, the film covers key moments from the past 160 years.
The Grunwick dispute, a two-year strike at a film processing plant in North London in 1976, became a cause célèbre and at its height involved thousands of trade unionists and police in confrontations. The mostly female, immigrant, East African Asian strikers – dubbed "strikers in saris"– were led by Jayaben Desai, whose membership of the union was later suspended following her hunger strike outside the Trades Union Congress (TUC) headquarters in November 1977. This was the first dispute where the majority of strikers were from an ethnic minority and received widespread support from the labour movement.
The trailer for the full film and press kit are available at worldwrite.org.uk/video/the-uk-solidarity-story-trailer

Straight Support for Gay Rights

worldwrite 2024-08-23 | Get ready to be captivated by the latest chapter in WORLDwrite’s award-winning documentary, The UK Solidarity Story. This short film delves into the inspiring fight for gay rights in the UK, before formal equality was achieved.
Step back to 1970, when the UK Gay Liberation Front (GLF) was founded—a time when equality was still a distant dream. It wasn’t until 2001 in England, Scotland, and Wales, and 2009 in Northern Ireland, that age of consent equality was finally won. Yet the struggle raged on. Section 28 of the Local Government Act 1988, enforced by Margaret Thatcher’s Conservative Government, attempted to silence the community by banning local authorities from ‘promoting homosexuality.’ This oppressive law, which prohibited councils from supporting educational materials and projects that were perceived to 'promote homosexuality,' wasn’t repealed until 2003. And, the documentary reveals, support for gay rights transcended political lines—it was by no means the preserve of the radical left.
Slated for online release later this year, The UK Solidarity Story has already garnered five prestigious awards. The film masterfully intertwines personal testimonies of those taking solidarity action alongside historical context and expert analysis from renowned scholars. These stories, from the millworkers who starved in opposition to slavery to young Russians supporting Ukraine today, are woven into an epic narrative spanning 160 years and arranged into ten gripping chapters.
As WORLDwrite celebrates its 30th anniversary in 2024, the charity urgently needs your help to keep its volunteer centre open and continue offering free film training. Every donation makes a difference, and contributing is simple. Visit justgiving.com/campaign/worldwriteis30 to support this vital cause today.

Men for Women’s Right to Choose

worldwrite 2024-07-19 | An overwhelming three quarters of people in Britain, so that includes men, support a woman’s right to make her own abortion decision. Yet, in the UK, abortion is still not legally available at the request of the woman concerned. In this brief history we learn of men who played a decisive role in abortion provision and why our reproductive biology does not determine whose side we are on.

This short film forms Chapter 5 of The UK Solidarity Story filmed and produced by WORLDwrite volunteers. The full film will be released in the autumn of 2024. Chapters 1-4 are available on YouTube.

The full film is currently screening across the UK and has already won 5 awards.
For the trailer and press kit visit worldwrite.org.uk/video/the-uk-solidarity-story-trailer

The Battle of Bamber Bridge

worldwrite 2024-07-09 | In 1943, the 1511 Quartermaster Truck Regiment, a logistics unit for the US Air Force, were based in Bamber Bridge in Lancashire. The British government went along with the racial segregation of the US army stationed in the UK. But residents of Bamber Bridge took sides with black American soldiers against their white military police. With interviews filmed in the Ye Olde Hobbe Inn where opposition to segregation came to a head, this is a lesser-known inspiring story of solidarity which local residents are rightly proud of.

This short film forms chapter four of the feature documentary, The UK Solidarity Story, which will be released later in 2024. The charity WORLDwrite had decided upon an investigative documentary to bring to light the inspiring historical moments when people have taken sides with their peers. Arranged in ten chapters, the full film covers key moments of the past 160 years, from the Millworkers who starved in opposition to slavery to young Russians who side with Ukraine today. It provides a powerful antidote to today’s divisive identity politics. More details, the press kit and the trailer for the full film are available at worldwrite.org.uk/video/the-uk-solidarity-story-trailer The charity can also arrange screenings and accompanying speakers.

For a press only preview of the full film email world.write@btconnect.com

British Volunteers in the Spanish Civil War

worldwrite 2024-06-25 | The civil war in Spain is famously known for the thousands of volunteers it attracted from around the world who put their lives on the line to fight on the side of the republic against Franco’s nationalists. From Britain, 2,550 volunteers went to fight, 540 were killed, the majority of the rest were wounded, many more than once. But what drove and motivated these brave fighters to fight on the side of their peers in another country? Today it is hard to think of a cause people would be prepared to die for. So, who were the British volunteers who took part and what can we learn from their heroic sacrifice?

This short film forms Chapter 3 of WORLDwrite’s feature documentary, The UK Solidarity Story.

With special thanks to:
Michael Crowley, author, dramatist & Artistic director of The British Multitude Theatre Company; Mike Arnott, Scotland secretary, International Brigades Memorial Trust; Ruth Levitas, Emeritus Professor, Department of Sociology, University of Bristol;; Marlene Sidaway, a British television, film and theatre actress & Jim Jump, Chair of the International Brigade Memorial Trust.

The charity is most grateful to the International Brigades Memorial Trust for facilitating volunteer filming of the annual commemoration in Jubilee Gardens and to the skilled musicians of NA-MARA- Paul Mc Namara & Roberto Garcia for their music.

In 2024 the memorial takes place on Saturday 6 July in London– Music, words and wreath-laying from 1pm-2pm to honour the International Brigades at the national International Brigade Memorial on the South Bank in Jubilee Gardens, Belvedere Road, London SE1 7PG.

Suffragettes in Trousers

worldwrite 2024-06-16 | At a time when only men had access to public life and a woman’s place was decidedly in the home, it’s hard to imagine that there were men who supported women’s right to vote. But there were. Key influential figures took sides with the suffragettes and thousands of men joined demonstrations, marches and parades. It’s rarely mentioned, but there they are, in the photos and footage of the day. Indeed, Sylvia Pankhurst understood that the advantages afforded men were minimal compared to the strength and power of fighting together, for universal suffrage and a better life for all.

This short film forms Chapter 2 of the documentary The UK Solidarity Story.

Become a WORLDwrite volunteer visit worldwrite.org.uk/volunteering

British Workers & the US Civil War

worldwrite 2024-06-06 | Although it was well-known at the time, historians since have tried to bury the record of Lancashire cotton weavers’ support for slave emancipation. In 1863 Lancashire weavers stopped the British government from joining the American civil war on the side of the Confederacy-the slave-owners in the US. Fighting for the freedom of the slaves, British workers advanced their own rights too. Their solidarity laid the basis for reforms that gave working men the vote. This is the story, told by author James Heartfield and Lecturer in U.S. Political History Dr Cheryl Hudson.

A shorter version of this film forms Chapter 1 in WORLDwrite's latest film: The UK Solidarity Story. The press kit, trailer and details of the full film are available at worldwrite.org.uk/video/the-uk-solidarity-story-trailer

Vox Pops after the Premiere of The UK Solidarity Story

worldwrite 2024-05-09 | These vox-pops were captured after the London premiere of The UK Solidarity Story. The sound is not great as we had to use ‘audio-ducking’ to remove loud background bar noise which always distorts and leaves audio artefacts, but you get the picture!

The Northern premiere of the film will take place on the evening of Monday 27th May in Leeds. Full details and tickets are available via Eventbrite at eventbrite.co.uk/e/film-screening-the-uk-solidarity-story-tickets-895200487757. We are delighted to have two key contributors to the film, Authors Don Milligan and Michael Crowley attending for the Q&A. Always engaging, they make a trip to Leeds more than worthwhile. Do spread the word to friends and we’d be delighted to see you on the Leeds red carpet.

We now hope to screen the film as widely as possible and if we can raise the funds to do it, (it will cost about £1000) we’ll hold a further screening at a London cinema. We are also looking to get the film reviewed and to enter lots of film festivals. If you are free to help or have ideas for any of these things, do email us at world.write@btconnect.com. The press kit for the film and the trailer is available at
worldwrite.org.uk/video/the-uk-solidarity-story-trailer

The UK Solidarity Story: Trailer

worldwrite 2024-04-14 | This is the trailer for WORLDwrite's new feature documentary which will premiere on the 20th April in London.

The UK Solidarity Story is a compelling visual essay in ten chapters which aims to reveal the inspiring stories of heroes and heroines who made the struggles of others their own.

Crowd filmed by volunteers with first-hand accounts, archive material, expert testimony and interwoven with material to reveal the context, this documentary brings to life lesser-known or forgotten tales which shine a light upon our common humanity.

The film will be available to screen from the end of April and the charity can provide speakers. Do get in touch if you know a college, community centre, local cinema or venue that may be willing and able to screen it. Email world.write@btconnect.com

STOP PRESS - DON'T MISS THE NORTHERN PREMIERE!
We'd be delighted to see you on the Leeds red carpet on the evening of Monday 27th May. Director Ceri Dingle & key contributors authors Michael Crowley & Don Milligan will be attending for a Q&A following the screening. The film has premiered to great acclaim in London and been applauded as a riveting antidote to divisive identity politics. Tickets £5/£3 & full details on Eventbrite: eventbrite.co.uk/e/film-screening-the-uk-solidarity-story-tickets-895200487757

REVIVING ECONOMIES: IS THE STATE A HELP OR A HINDRANCE?

worldwrite 2024-02-28 | Filmed at the Battle of Ideas festival 2023, this engaging panel and a smart audience share their insights, what they agree on and disagreements.
With the Conservatives doing badly in the polls and Labour riding high, the UK could have a new party in government in the year ahead. How will this change the relationship between the state and the private sector – and will it boost economic performance and living standards?
Is the state vs market debate moot – because the ability of the state to change things is becoming exhausted? Increasing state spending even further would have relatively little impact, but government debt is already enormous in any event. ‘Cheap money’ policies of low interest rates and quantitative easing have had to be reversed to tackle inflation.
Whoever wins the next election, what is the best way forward for the UK economy?
The speakers are:
Paul Embery - firefighter; trade unionist; columnist; author, Despised: why the modern Left loathes the working class; broadcaster
Matthew Lesh - director of public policy and communications, Institute of Economic Affairs
Ali Miraj - broadcaster; founder, the Contrarian Prize; infrastructure financier; DJ
Hilary Salt FIA, FPMI, FRSA - actuary; founder, First Actuarial
The chair is: Phil Mullan - writer, lecturer and business manager; author, Beyond Confrontation: globalists, nationalists and their discontents

This debate was filmed by volunteers working with Worldwrite. Please help ensure the charity is able to edit further debates by hitting the THANKS button above and donating whatever you can afford.

WHAT IS ‘THE BLOB’?

worldwrite 2024-02-27 | Filmed at the Battle of Ideas festival 2023 a fascinating panel examine ‘the Blob’.
In the 1950s sci-fi movie, The Blob was a jelly-like creature that landed from space, growing as it consumed every person or town in its path. Seized on by Ronald Reagan’s education secretary, William Bennett, to collectively describe the growth of teachers, public servants, lobbyists and unions who resisted reform, ‘the blob’ was popularised in the UK by Michael Gove and Dominic Cummings, depicting their frustrations at perceived intransigence to reform at the Department for Education.
Is grouping together such a wide range of experts, political actors and civil society institutions either accurate or useful? Has the civil service really been captured or is this just the latest manifestation of conspiratorial thinking? To what extent is the blob just a convenient scapegoat for politicians to deflect from their own failures? And if a notional blob does, in reality, present resistance to change, what steps could be taken to challenge it?
The speakers are:
Professor Ian Acheson - senior advisor, Counter Extremism Project; visiting professor, school of law, policing and forensics, University of Staffordshire
Nick Busvine OBE - consultant; founding partner, Herminius Holdings Ltd; advisory board member, Briefings for Britain; former diplomat, Foreign and Commonwealth Office
Poppy Coburn - assistant comment editor, Daily Telegraph
Professor Bill Durodié - chair of International Relations, department of Politics, Languages and International Studies, University of Bath
The chair is: Alastair Donald - co-convenor, Battle of Ideas festival; convenor, Living Freedom; author, Letter on Liberty: The Scottish Question

This debate was filmed by volunteers working with Worldwrite. Please help ensure the charity is able to fund its volunteer centre costs and edit further debates by hitting the THANKS button above and donating whatever you can afford.

ONLINE CENSORSHIP: AN INTERNATIONAL CLAMPDOWN?

worldwrite 2024-02-26 | Filmed at the Battle of Ideas festival 2023, this inspiring panel was arranged in partnership with the Free Speech Union. Video enhancing AI had to be used to rescue the footage for this debate. The content however has not been changed.

According to this year’s Global Expression Report, since the turn of the century, 6.3 billion people – living in 81 countries and amounting to 80 per cent of the global population – have experienced declines in freedom of expression. This ‘free speech recession’ has been attributed to various developments. Numerous countries – led by the likes of Brazil, France and Germany, but stretching far and wide to Canada and Australia – have developed measures to criminalise speech, often including political speech that is now interpreted as discriminatory or hateful. Closer to home, Ireland and Scotland have enacted online hate legislation and the UK government has pushed its own Online Safety Bill through parliament.
With countries such as Ireland making even private possession of offensive material a crime and the UK’s Online Safety Bill potentially opening the floodgates to banishing private chat by outlawing end-to-end encryption messaging services such as WhatsApp, how worried should we be about the consequences for privacy? Does the new ease of online accessibility justify the new strict regulations and penalties? How should we balance concerns about safety and security with protecting freedom? How best can we make the case for free expression to overcome the international drive towards censorship?
The speakers are:
Silkie Carlo - director, Big Brother Watch; co-author, Information Security for Journalists
Thomas Fazi - journalist and writer; author, The Battle for Europe: how an elite hijacked a continent - and how we can take it back and The Covid Consensus: the global assault on democracy and the poor - a critique from the Left
Konstantin Kisin - satirist; podcaster, TRIGGERnometry; author, An Immigrant's Love Letter to the West
Dr Norman Lewis - visiting research fellow, MCC Brussels; co-author, Big Potatoes: the London manifesto for innovation
The chair is: Toby Young - general secretary, Free Speech Union; author, How to Lose Friends & Alienate People; associate editor, Spectator

This debate was filmed by volunteers working with Worldwrite. Please help ensure the charity is able to edit further debates by hitting the THANKS button above and donating whatever you can afford.

HAVE WE GIVEN UP ON SEXUAL FREEDOM?

worldwrite 2024-02-15 | Filmed at the Battle of Ideas festival 2023, the panel discuss contemporary attitudes to sexual freedom.
Sex has never been so fetishised. We hire experts to portray it ‘consensually’ on TV series, we plan classes on how to talk to our kids about it and we row, constantly, about what is the right way to have it.
Is chastity really the only answer to a fraught sexual landscape, or are we too obsessed with theorising instead of doing? With all its flaws, didn’t the sexual revolution and reproductive technologies give women the ability to choose which and how many sexual partners they have? Does the backlash against sexual freedom risk turning back the clock on women’s freedom?
The speakers are:
Ralph Leonard - author, Unshackling Intimacy: Letters on Liberty; contributor, Areo
Nina Power - philosopher; senior editor, Compact Magazine; author, What Do Men Want? Masculinity and its discontents
Ella Whelan - co-convenor, Battle of Ideas festival; journalist; author, What Women Want
Rosie Wilby - award-winning comedian; broadcaster; author, Is Monogamy Dead? and The Breakup Monologues: the unexpected joy of heartbreak
The chair is: Dr Tiffany Jenkins - writer and broadcaster; author, Strangers and Intimates (forthcoming) and Keeping Their Marbles

This debate was filmed by volunteers working with Worldwrite. Please help ensure the charity is able to edit further debates by hitting the THANKS button above and donating whatever you can afford.

INVENTING THE FUTURE: HOW DO WE UNLEASH INNOVATION?

worldwrite 2024-01-26 | Filmed at the Battle of Ideas festival 2023, this engaging panel share their insights with a highly informed audience who chip in to great effect.

Engineering and technological progress in the modern day feels slow and cumbersome compared to 20, 50 or 100 years ago. It seems the progress we are making today is less impressive, or sometimes even regressive, compared to that of the twentieth century. Perhaps this is inevitable. For example, the leaps forward made by the invention of the transistor and the microprocessor were far more important than the incremental gains in speed and power-saving with the latest wave of five-nanometre chips, impressive though they are.

Maybe the laws of physics are the ultimate barrier we face? We’ve been promised nuclear fusion energy for 50 years but even the latest experimental reactors barely produce more power than gets put in. What is holding innovation back? Have we run out of ideas or are we limited by the laws of physics? Have we pretty much done all the ‘big stuff’? Has government intervention been a help or a hindrance? Do we even believe in technological progress anymore?

The speakers are:
Steve Jordan - director, hyperTunnel Limited
Simon Nash - environmentalist; speaker; activist and founder, Green Oil bicycle lubes
Dr Nikos Sotirakopoulos - visiting fellow, Ayn Rand Institute; instructor, Ayn Rand University; author, Identity Politics and Tribalism: the new culture wars
Sally Taplin - business consultant, Businessfourzero; visiting MBA lecturer, Bayes Business School
James Woudhuysen - visiting professor, forecasting and innovation, London South Bank University
The chair is: Martyn Perks - digital business consultant and writer; former Islington by-election independent candidate; co-author, Big Potatoes: the London manifesto for innovation

BOOKSHOP BARNIE WITH PETER HITCHENS: ‘A REVOLUTION BETRAYED’

worldwrite 2024-01-26 | This popular session filmed at the Battle of Ideas is a bit different as there is no panel, it's Peter Hitchens discussing his book on education with masterful questioning by Austin Williams and an enthusiastic audience.

In his latest book, A Revolution Betrayed: How egalitarians wrecked the British education system, Peter Hitchens describes the misjudgements made by politicians over the years that have led to the increase in class distinction and privilege in our education system, exploring the history of, and contemporary conditions at, independent, grammar and comprehensive schools. He argues that by trying to bring about an educational system which is egalitarian over the years, politicians have created a system which is the exact opposite.
The speaker is:
Peter Hitchens - columnist, The Mail on Sunday; author, A Revolution Betrayed: how egalitarians wrecked the British education system
The chair is: Austin Williams - director, Future Cities Project; honorary research fellow, XJTLU, Suzhou, China; author, China’s Urban Revolution; convenor, Critical Subjects Architecture School
This discussion was filmed by volunteers working with Worldwrite at the Battle of Ideas festival 2023. Please help ensure the charity is able to edit a further 32 debates by hitting the THANKS button above and donating whatever you can afford.

IS AI THE END OF ART?

worldwrite 2024-01-26 | The worlds of art and entertainment are wrestling with, and reeling from, the opportunities and challenges posed by ‘generative’ AI – tools that can generate seemingly unique, bespoke creations in response to ‘prompts’ submitted in plain language. Such technology is now having a dramatic impact on almost every profession or art form that involves static or moving images, written or spoken words, sound, music or programming code.

Some creators insist that their consent should have been sought before their work was included in the vast datasets on which AI has been trained. Some are seeking the removal of their work from such datasets even now, although the path from machine learning to AI creations is so intricate that this may be the practical equivalent of trying to unbake a cake. Others, by contrast, revel in the new creative possibilities arising from AI, and approach the technology as an enormous and exciting artistic toolkit.
Who will prevail? And what will be the consequences?

The speakers are:
Dr JJ Charlesworth - art critic; editor, ArtReview
Vivek Haria - composer, London Symphony Orchestra, Birmingham Contemporary Music Group and Piatti Quartet; writer on art, technology and culture
Rosie Kay - dancer; choreographer; CEO and artistic director, K2CO LTD; founder, Freedom in the Arts
Dr Hamish Todd - mathematician; videogame programmer; creator, Virus, the Beauty of the Beast
The chair is: Sandy Starr - deputy director, Progress Educational Trust; author, AI: Separating Man from Machine

This debate was filmed by volunteers working with Worldwrite at the Battle of Ideas festival 2023. Please help ensure the charity is able to edit a further 32 debates by hitting the THANKS button above and donating whatever you can afford.

WHAT ARE THE LIMITS OF AI?

worldwrite 2024-01-13 | Filmed at the Battle of Ideas festival 2023, this amazing panel explains with great clarity the limits of AI.
The computing pioneer Alan Turing predicted that, by the twenty-first century, ‘one will be able to speak of machines thinking without expecting to be contradicted’. If anything, his prediction now seems rather conservative. One tech entrepreneur – who has been appointed by the UK government to chair the Frontier AI Taskforce, a body established to ‘develop the safe and reliable use’ of AI – has described the AI of the future as potentially not just human-like but God-like (with a capital ‘G’) and ‘capable of infinite self-improvement’.
Is ‘infinite self-improvement’ a genuine possibility with AI, or might a more thorough assessment reveal some fundamental limits? If we delve into the rich history of computing, going all the way back to the nineteenth century, could we find the key to a more rational understanding of today’s fast-evolving technology?
The speakers are:
Dr Stuart Derbyshire - associate professor in psychology, National University of Singapore and the Clinical Imaging Research Centre
Professor Anders C Hansen - professor of mathematics, University of Cambridge; author, Compressive Imaging: structure, sampling, learning
Timandra Harkness - journalist, writer and broadcaster; presenter, Radio 4's FutureProofing and How to Disagree; author, Big Data: does size matter?
Andrew Orlowski - writer and critic; business columnist, Daily Telegraph
Dr Kathleen Stock - columnist, UnHerd; co-director, The Lesbian Project; author, Material Girls: why reality matters for feminism
The chair is: Sandy Starr - deputy director, Progress Educational Trust; author, AI: Separating Man from Machine

This debate was filmed by volunteers working with Worldwrite. Please help ensure the charity is able to edit a further 30 debates by hitting the THANKS button above and donating whatever you can afford.

SHOULD WE LEAVE THE EUROPEAN CONVENTION ON HUMAN RIGHTS?

worldwrite 2024-01-11 | Filmed at the Battle of Ideas festival 2023, this fascinating panel do battle over the ECHR and reveal much along the way.

For many, the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR), and its courts in Strasbourg, has become the focus – either as the bulwark against anti-refugee sentiment, or the block on democratic process.

In the aftermath of the Second World War the European Convention on Human Rights was seen as a protection against the tyranny and oppression that some European nations had recently endured. Nowadays, those who support it stress the importance of human rights as setting a minimum standard which democracies should guarantee. Is the problem therefore simply one of European judicial overreach, or is it essentially about the very notion of ‘human rights’ themselves? Are human rights and democratic, collective action doomed to forever be at loggerheads? With courts in Strasbourg and London ruling to impede government plans to stop small boats crossing the Channel, are human rights making popular government impossible? Or is the ECHR being scapegoated for inadequacies in our own backyard?

The speakers are:
Steven Barrett - barrister, Radcliffe Chambers; writer on law, Spectator
Jamie Burton - founder and chair, Just Fair; barrister (KC), Doughty Street Chambers; author Three Times Failed: why we need enforceable socio-economic rights
Luke Gittos - criminal lawyer; author, Human Rights – Illusory Freedom; director, Freedom Law Clinic
John Oxley - writer, New Statesman, Spectator,and UnHerd; consultant; barrister
Angelica Walker-Werth - writer, editor and programmes manager, Objective Standard Institute
The chair is: Jon Holbrook - barrister; writer, spiked, Critic, Conservative Woman

This debate was filmed by volunteers working with Worldwrite. Please help ensure the charity is able to edit a further 30 debates by hitting the THANKS button above and donating whatever you can afford.

TERMINATOR OR TECH HYPE? AI AND THE APOCALYPSE

worldwrite 2024-01-10 | Filmed by Worldwrite volunteers at the Battle of Ideas Festival, this is a fascinating panel discussion.

An apocalyptic mood surrounds the latest advances in AI. Sci-fi and tech enthusiasts have long murmured about the ‘singularity’ – the point at which technology runs irreversibly away from us. Since the growth in use of OpenAI’s ChatGPT, such digital doomsaying has gone mainstream, going way beyond the usual concerns about AI taking our jobs.
Are these apocalyptic fears of AI warranted? Or are they obscuring and stifling the true potential of this technology? The inscrutability of the way AI works – its ‘black box’ of algorithms – is now seen by many as Pandora’s box, dividing opinion around greater openness versus keeping the technology under wraps.
Who should have access to AI? Is it a liability if it falls into the hands of nefarious actors, or do we need greater transparency, to ensure that the technology aligns with our human values and objectives? Do fears of an existential threat reflect the pessimism of our current moment? Or should we take seriously the warnings from those who are at the forefront of developing this technology?
The speakers are:
Dr Norman Lewis - visiting research fellow, MCC Brussels; co-author, Big Potatoes: the London manifesto for innovation
Dr Elizabeth Seger - AI governance and ethics researcher, Centre for the Governance of AI
Professor Ulrike Tillmann FRS - mathematician; director, Isaac Newton Institute for Mathematical Sciences; fellow, Alan Turing Institute
The chair is: Sandy Starr - deputy director, Progress Educational Trust; author, AI: Separating Man from Machine

This debate was filmed by volunteers working with Worldwrite. Please help ensure the charity is able to edit a further 30 debates by hitting the THANKS button above and donating whatever you can afford.

FROM BBC TO GB NEWS: CAN THE MEDIA BE IMPARTIAL?

worldwrite 2024-01-03 | Filmed at the Battle of Ideas festival 2023, this excellent panel gets to grips with impartiality. Does it still exist, is it worth reclaiming or a dated idea and where does this leave objectivity and truth?

Earlier this year, for the first time ever, Match of The Day aired without a host after Gary Lineker was removed from the airwaves by the BBC’s director general, Tim Davie. Lineker was said to be in breach of the BBC’s impartiality guidelines for tweeting that the language surrounding the government’s new asylum policy was ‘not dissimilar to that used by Germany in the 1930s’.
Others say the problem is not presenters lacking objectivity or young journalists lacking training, but rather the rules themselves. Does it make sense for Ofcom to try to apply a broadcast code written in a different period dominated by the BBC and ITV in an era of new independent channels? Is it sensible or even possible for an individual to insist that organisations show true impartiality? And ultimately, what’s at stake if we ditch the idea of impartiality altogether?

The speakers are:
Liam Deacon- consultant Pagefield communications, former journalist & TV producer
Iain Macwhirter - columnist, The Times and Spectator; author, Disunited Kingdom: how Westminster won a referendum but lost Scotland
Helen Searls - chief operating officer, Feature Story News
Baroness Stowell - chair, Communications & Digital Select Committee
The chair is: Max Sanderson - senior editor, audio, Guardian

This debate was filmed by volunteers working with Worldwrite. Please help ensure the charity is able to edit a further 32 debates by hitting the THANKS button above and donating whatever you can afford.

MISINFORMATION WARS: WHO FACT-CHECKS THE FACT-CHECKERS?

worldwrite 2024-01-03 | Filmed at the Battle of Ideas festival 2023.

Who fact-checks the fact-checkers? Should a society that respects free speech need to prove that all ideas are true before they are aired? Or does encouraging ill-informed debate risk distorting and damaging the public square? Should we tolerate the threat of ‘disinformation’ to avoid censorship of dissent? Or is there something we can do to promote truth and freedom?

The speakers are:
Liam Deacon - communications and campaigns consultant, Pagefield Communications; former journalist; former head of press, Brexit Party
Andrew Lowenthal - writer and researcher; director, liber-net; co-founder and former executive director, EngageMedia
Florence Read - UnHerd producer; presenter, UnHerd TV
The chair is: Tessa Clarke - journalist; author; documentary reporter; deputy director, Academics for Academic Freedom (AFAF)
This debate was filmed by volunteers working with the charity WORLDwrite. Please help ensure the charity is able to edit a further 30 debates by hitting the THANKS button above and donating whatever you can afford.

ANDREW TATE AND THE LOST BOYS

worldwrite 2024-01-02 | Filmed at the Battle of Ideas festival 2023 by WORLDwrite volunteers.
From bad influences to rebels without a cause, society has always worried about young men. But the recent popularity of the influencer and self-titled ‘king of toxic masculinity’, Andrew Tate, among young men – and even pre-teen boys – has left schools and parents in a panic. Such is the fear of Tate’s influence that headteachers have reached out to the Department for Education for guidance on how to talk to their lads about his misogynistic views on women.
Has our nervousness about masculinity left us unable to talk to boys about what it means to be a man? Does the popularity of Tate and other influencers prove that sexism is still a problem, or should we be more concerned that large numbers of boys are turning to strangers online for life guidance? Are boys in fact lost?
The speakers are:
Nick Dixon - comedian; presenter, GB News; host, The Current Thing; host, The Weekly Sceptic
Dr Ashley Frawley - sociologist; author, Significant Emotions and Semiotics of Happiness
Matilda Gosling - social researcher; author, Evidence-Based Parenting and Teenagers – The Evidence Base (forthcoming)
Dennis Kavanagh - director, Gay Men’s Network
The chair is: Toby Marshall - film studies teacher; member, AoI Education Forum

BANNING CONVERSION THERAPY: A THREAT TO FREEDOM AND CONSCIENCE?

worldwrite 2023-12-30 | Filmed at the Battle of Ideas festival 2023, this excellent panel and audience question contemporary trends.

A mounting number of countries across the world have introduced some form of national ban on conversion therapy. The UK government is under pressure to proceed with some form of Conversion Therapy Bill. The chair of the Labour Party, Anneliese Dodds, has committed to bringing in ‘a full, no loopholes, trans-inclusive ban on conversion therapy’. The panel argue this would be a disaster.

The speakers are:
Dolan Cummings - author, Taking Conscience Seriously and The Pictish Princess.. and other stories from before there was a Scotland
Stephanie Davies-Arai - director, Transgender Trend; author, Communicating with Kids
Lord Stewart Jackson - Conservative peer, House of Lords
Bev Jackson - co-founder and trustee, LGB Alliance
Katy Jon Went - diversity and inclusion facilitator and educator, Human Library, Pick My Brain, GenderAgenda, Fifty Shades of Gender
The chair is: Ann Furedi - author, The Moral Case for Abortion; former chief executive, BPAS

This debate was filmed by volunteers working with Worldwrite. Please help ensure the charity is able to edit a further 32 debates by hitting the THANKS button above and donating whatever you can afford.

WAR ON THE PAST: A WAR ON THE PUBLIC?

worldwrite 2023-12-08 | Filmed at the Battle of Ideas festival 2023, this impressive panel discuss what's going on.

Today, historical figures and the intellectual legacy of the past are presented as ‘problematic’. Towering figures such as David Hume and Immanuel Kant are casually dismissed from the curriculum as racists; buildings or streets renamed because scientists such as Thomas Henry Huxley failed to live up to modern values; galleries rearranged or even shuttered because an Athenian figure or Victorian explorer exhibited racist, sexist and ableist behaviour.
Is there anything intrinsically wrong in updating backward attitudes of the past? Is our only hope of looking to the future in regaining some clarity about how to draw the line between the then and the now? Without a knowledge of the past, can we know ourselves?

The speakers are:
Dr Ashley Frawley - sociologist; author, Significant Emotions and Semiotics of Happiness

Ivan Hewett - writer and broadcaster; chief music critic, Telegraph; professor, Royal College of Music; author, Music: healing the rift

Ivan Krastev - political analyst; permanent fellow, Institute for Human Sciences, IWM Vienna; chairman, Centre for Liberal Strategies; author, Is it Tomorrow, Yet? How the Pandemic Changes Europe

Dr Sean Lang - senior lecturer in History, Anglia Ruskin University; author, First World War for Dummies and What History Do We Need?; fellow, Historical Association

Professor Robert Tombs - emeritus professor of French history, Cambridge University; co-editor, History Reclaimed

The chair is: Jacob Reynolds - head of policy, MCC Brussels; associate fellow, Academy of Ideas

This debate was filmed by volunteers working with Worldwrite. Please help ensure the charity is able to edit a further 32 debates by hitting the THANKS button above and donating whatever you can afford.

WHO’S AFRAID OF POPULISM?

worldwrite 2023-12-08 | Filmed at the Battle of Ideas festival 2023, this engaging panel discusses contemporary trends.
Plato argued that excessive freedom leads to mass ignorance, hysteria and, ultimately, tyranny, but it has been Western cultural and political elites themselves that have often been driven by a sense of mistrust or even hostility towards democracy and the people. No doubt such fears are accentuated by populist parties being voted into power in Finland, Italy, Hungary, Sweden and more. The latest anxieties centre on the right-wing populist party, Alternative für Deutschland (AfD) in Germany. In the UK Liberal opinion frets that ‘green policies are the new Brexit’ and suspiciously eyes new rural-metropolitan divides, for example, as expressed by the Dutch Farmer Citizen Movement.
It can be convenient for mainstream politicians, especially on the left, to use the populist label to discredit grassroots opposition by denouncing the likes of protesters against London’s ultra-low emissions zone (ULEZ) as alt-right conspiracy-mongers. But mainstream free-market conservatives can be equally ill at ease, for example with popular hostility to migration or globalism and can wince at expressions of old-fashioned socially conservative attitudes to family and working-class community norms.
Is populism an ally of conservatism, or the force of revenge against nominally conservative parties that bought into a liberal, elitist agenda? Does this reactive aspect to populism limit its ability to forge a new political movement?
If populism is worth embracing as offering a voice for people, can it provide a genuine alternative to the politics of technocratic governance? How can we move beyond populism being defined in the public eye by its detractors?
The speakers are:
Sabine Beppler-Spahl - chair, Freiblickinstitut e.V; CEO, Sprachkunst36; author, Off-centre: how party consensus undermines our democracy; Germany correspondent, spiked
Lord David Frost - member of the House of Lords
Tim Montgomerie - conservative journalist; founder, ConservativeHome, UnHerd and Centre for Social Justice
Jacob Reynolds - head of policy, MCC Brussels; associate fellow, Academy of Ideas
Freddie Sayers - editor-in-chief, UnHerd; former editor-in-chief, YouGov; founder, PoliticsHome
The chair is: Alastair Donald - co-convenor, Battle of Ideas festival; convenor, Living Freedom; author, Letter on Liberty: The Scottish Question
This debate was filmed by volunteers working with Worldwrite. Please help ensure the charity is able to edit further debates by hitting the THANKS button above and donating whatever you can afford.

DEIFYING DIVERSITY: A VALUE FOR OUR TIMES?

worldwrite 2023-12-04 | Has the d-word taken over as our new deity? Variety is certainly the spice of life, but is our love of diversity at risk of creating its opposite? And how do we talk about shared social values in a world where difference is king?

The speakers are:
Simon Fanshawe OBE - consultant and writer; author The Power of Difference ; co-founder, Diversity by Design
Maya Forstater - executive director, Sex Matters
Mercy Muroki - policy fellow to minister for women and equalities and business and trade secretary
Tomiwa Owolade - writer and critic; contributing writer, New Statesman; author, This is Not America: Why Black Lives in Britain Matter
Dr Joanna Williams - founder and director, Cieo; author, How Woke Won and Women vs Feminism
The chair is: Alastair Donald - co-convenor, Battle of Ideas festival; convenor, Living Freedom; author, Letter on Liberty: The Scottish Question

This debate was filmed by volunteers working with Worldwrite. Please help ensure the charity is able to edit a further 30 debates by hitting the THANKS button above and donating whatever you can afford.

ARE THE CULTURE WARS A DISTRACTION?

worldwrite 2023-12-01 | Filmed at the Battle of Ideas festival 2023, this inspiring panel sets the record straight.

Are the culture wars simply a Twitter sideshow to the more serious concerns of everyday life? Or is the way we relate to each other, and to our shared values, fundamental to how we plan for a future together? Given that dissent from so-called ‘woke’ ideas – whether on race, gender or culture itself – has become impossible without being demonised as stirring up toxic, divisive and dangerous trends, is there any choice but to engage in the culture wars? Will it have to be reckoned with if we are to have a serious discussion about anything else? And if, as some argue, today’s culture war is a continuation of the age-old conflict between liberty and authoritarianism, does the claim that the culture war is a ‘distraction’ not in itself become a distraction from the issues that matter?

The speakers are:
Professor Aaqil Ahmed - director, Amplify Consulting Ltd; professor of media, University of Bolton; former head of religion, Channel 4 and BBC
Andrew Doyle - presenter, Free Speech Nation, GB News; writer and comedian; author, The New Puritans: how the religion of social justice captured the Western world and Free Speech and Why It Matters
Professor Frank Furedi - sociologist and social commentator; executive director, MCC Brussels; author, 100 Years of Identity Crisis: culture war over socialisation
Lord Ken Macdonald KC - barrister, Matrix Chambers; crossbench peer
Nina Power - philosopher; senior editor, Compact Magazine; author, What Do Men Want? Masculinity and its discontents
The chair is: Claire Fox - director, Academy of Ideas; independent peer, House of Lords; author, I STILL Find That Offensive!

This debate was filmed by volunteers working with Worldwrite. Please help ensure the charity is able to edit a further 30 debates by hitting the THANKS button above and donating whatever you can afford. Thank you.

IS THERE A ‘WAR ON THE MOTORIST’ ?

worldwrite 2023-11-23 | This lively lunch-time debate was filmed at the Battle of Ideas festival 2023.

The furore over the widening of London’s ultra-low emissions zone (ULEZ) to include all London boroughs has been identified by many as the latest battleground in a ‘war on the motorist’. Low-traffic neighbourhoods (LTNs) have proliferated across the UK, making getting from A to B more difficult and increasing traffic jams on main roads nearby. All that on top of high taxes on fuel – in September 2023, around half the ‘pump price’ was made up of tax.
When so many people rely on cars for personal transport and the whole country relies on vans and trucks to move goods around, why has government at local and national level made driving harder? Is there really a ‘war on the motorist’ when driving is relatively cheaper and more popular than ever before? What’s wrong with encouraging people to cycle, walk or use public transport?

The speakers are:
Mary Dejevsky - former foreign correspondent in Moscow, Paris and Washington; special correspondent in China; writer and broadcaster
Alan Miller - co-founder and chair, Together Association;
Simon Nash - environmentalist; speaker; activist and founder, Green Oil bicycle lubes
The chair is: Dr Paul Reeves - developer of manufacturing simulation technology

This debate was filmed by volunteers working with Worldwrite. Please help ensure the charity is able to edit a further 30 debates by hitting the THANKS button above and donating whatever you can afford.

RISING TENSIONS, FALLING GROWTH: PROSPECTS FOR THE GLOBAL ECONOMY?

worldwrite 2023-11-17 | Filmed at the Battle of Ideas festival 2023, this fascinating panel helps us understand what’s going on!

What are the prospects for the global economy? How will the changing global order affect the international response to an economic slowdown?

The speakers are:
Liam Halligan - columnist, Sunday Telegraph; presenter, On the Money, GB News; author, Home Truths: the UK's chronic housing shortage
Ivan Krastev - political analyst; permanent fellow, Institute for Human Sciences, IWM Vienna; chairman, Centre for Liberal Strategies; author, Is it Tomorrow, Yet? How the Pandemic Changes Europe
Helen Searls - chief operating officer, Feature Story News
The chair is: Phil Mullan - writer, lecturer and business manager; author, Beyond Confrontation: globalists, nationalists and their discontents

This debate was filmed by volunteers working with Worldwrite. Please help ensure the charity is able to edit a further 32 debates by hitting the THANKS button above and donating whatever you can afford.

CAN RENEWABLES POWER THE WORLD?

worldwrite 2023-11-17 | Filmed at the Battle of Ideas festival 2023, this engaging panel heats up! It soon becomes clear there are definitely opposing sides in this informative debate.

There is wide agreement across politics, business and academia that climate change is a threat to humanity and that fossil fuels must be phased out. The most popular solution, it would seem, is to power society using renewable energy. BUT are renewables the answer to our energy needs? Can we solve the issues with storage? Should we pursue nuclear as well – or even instead? Are the costs of ditching fossil fuels simply too high? After opening remarks, this panel gets stuck in and so do the audience.

The speakers are:
Prof Dr Michaela Kendall - CEO, Adelan; UK Hydrogen Champion for Mission Innovation, UK Government
Simon Nash - environmentalist; speaker; activist and founder, Green Oil bicycle lubes
Dr Ralph Schoellhammer - commentator and podcaster; lecturer, Webster University Vienna and MCC Brussels
James Woudhuysen - visiting professor, forecasting and innovation, London South Bank University
The chair is: Rob Lyons - science and technology director, Academy of Ideas; convenor, AoI Economy Forum

This debate was filmed by volunteers working with Worldwrite. Please help ensure the charity is able to edit a further 32 debates by hitting the THANKS button above and donating whatever you can afford.

WHY DO COMEDIANS KEEP SIDING WITH THE ESTABLISHMENT?

worldwrite 2023-11-11 | A terrific panel of free speech lovers brought together by Comedy Unleashed discuss what's going on.

At this year’s Edinburgh Festival Fringe, Comedy Unleashed’s show, featuring Graham Linehan, was cancelled because the venue did not ‘support his views’ and his presence would ‘violate their space’. The edgy spirit that used to characterise the Edinburgh Festival Fringe specifically, and stand-up comedy more generally, seems to have evaporated. There was no outcry from comedians attending the festival and very few publicly expressed even the mildest of support for free expression in the arts.
Why do comedians increasingly side with the Establishment? How can comics say that they are ‘punching up’ when they support the people being ‘cancelled’ by corporations? As society becomes more authoritarian, where is the satirical response and creative backlash?

On this panel, filmed by WORLDwrite volunteers at the Battle of Ideas Festival 2023, the speakers are:

Miriam Elia: satirical conceptual artist; author, We See the Sights, We Go To The Gallery and We Do Lockdown; creator, A Series Of Psychotic Episodes

Dominic Frisby: writer; comedian; author, Bitcoin: the future of money?

Graham Linehan: creator and co-creator, Father Ted, Black Books and The IT Crowd; comedy writer, Count Arthur Strong, Brass Eye and The Fast Show; author, Tough Crowd: How I Made and Lost a Career in Comedy

Andy Shaw: co-founder, Comedy Unleashed

WHATS HAPPENED TO PRIVACY?

worldwrite 2023-11-04 | An excellent ‘Keynote Controversy’ panel, filmed by WORLDwrite volunteers at the Battle of Ideas Festival 2023. It's official title is appropriately 'WHATSAPPENED TO PRIVACY?' but search engines may find that tricky!

From intimate selfies to leaking of personal messages, the digital age seems to relentlessly blur the boundaries between private and public. Not only are we encouraged to bare it all for social media, but the idea of private or secret communication is increasingly seen as a cover for all kinds of ‘online harms’.

But it is not just social media or new laws that seem to threaten privacy. Indeed, official bodies are subject to endless leaks, baring the details of this or that supposedly private meeting or conversation. But perhaps this is no bad thing: debate about crucial issues has been widely informed by the leak of previously private correspondence, such as the over 100,000 messages between former health secretary Matt Hancock and others at the height of the Covid-19 pandemic.

So, what is so valuable about privacy – and what is at risk if we lose too much of it? Should we welcome the tendency to make everything public, especially if it roots out backward attitudes or exposes those who misuse power? What’s the relationship between the public and private, and where does the balance lie?

The speakers on the panel are:

Josie Appleton: Director, civil liberties group, Manifesto Club; author, Officious: Rise of the Busybody State; writer, Notes on Freedom

David Davis: Member of parliament, Conservative Party

Dr Tiffany Jenkins: Writer and broadcaster; author, Strangers and Intimates (forthcoming) and Keeping Their Marbles

Tim Stanley: Columnist and leader writer, Daily Telegraph; author, Whatever Happened to Tradition? History, Belonging and the Future of the West

The chair is: Ella Whelan
co-convenor, Battle of Ideas festival; journalist; author, What Women Want

Please make a donation by hitting the Thanks button here on YouTube, to enable the charity to keep its volunteer centre open and edit and share a further 36 debates from the festival.

POWER PLAY: WHO REALLY RULES TODAY?

worldwrite 2023-11-02 | In his recent book, Values, Voice and Virtue, British political scientist Matthew Goodwin argues that the ‘people who really run Britain’ are ‘a new dominant class’, that imposes its ‘radically progressive cultural values’ on the rest of the nation. Goodwin’s thesis has caused international controversy, with many labelled as the ‘new elite’ denying they have any power.
So, who is directing society in 2023, and what binds them together? Why do our elected politicians lack authority today, or are they simply unwilling to exercise their authority? Is it possible to reclaim power for The People?
On this ‘Keynote Controversy’ panel, filmed by WORLDwrite volunteers at the Battle of Ideas Festival 2023, the speakers are:

Pamela Dow: Chief operating officer, Civic Future

Professor Frank Furedi: Sociologist and social commentator; executive director, MCC Brussels; author, 100 Years of Identity Crisis: culture war over socialisation

Matthew Goodwin: Professor of politics, University of Kent; author, Values Voice and Virtue: The New British Politics , National Populism: the revolt against liberal democracy and Revolt on the Right

Harry Lambert: Staff writer, New Statesman; editor, New Statesman Saturday Read

Professor Anand Menon: Director, UK in a Changing Europe
The chair is Claire Fox: Director, Academy of Ideas; independent peer, House of Lords; author, I STILL Find That Offensive!

Please could you donate by hitting the THANKS button under the video to enable the charity to keep its volunteer centre open and edit a further 36 debates from the festival.

Sylvia Pankhurst: Everything is Possible

worldwrite 2023-08-18 | This film originally released in 2011 became the much acclaimed go to resource for understanding the life and works of this extraordinary heroine. The film features the exclusive testimony of her son Richard Pankhurst, before he sadly passed away in 2017, numerous scholars and original sources. Researched for and produced by over 100 volunteers, we are delighted to now share the film freely on YouTube. We hope a new generation will find her story inspiring and understand her great achievement in creating a working-class movement in support of votes for women and universal suffrage. For more details and for the security files kept on Sylvia visit worldwrite.org.uk/sylviapankhurst

ARE SCHOOLS INDOCTRINATING OUR KIDS?

worldwrite 2023-01-18 | Filmed by WORLDwrite volunteers at the Battle of Ideas Festival in October 2022 an engaging panel discuss what's going on in the classroom and what should be done about it.

Can contested political ideas be dealt with in classrooms via viewpoint diversity or should schools steer clear of tackling political controversies altogether? Are pupils to be viewed as a captive audience, too young to challenge what they’re hearing, or young people who need to be engaged with contemporary social trends?

The speakers are:

Dr Deborah Hayton
Teacher; trade unionist; contributor, Spectator, Unherd and other publications

Dr Sean Lang
Senior lecturer in History, Anglia Ruskin University; author, First World War for Dummies and What History Do We Need?; fellow, Historical Association

Dr Alka Sehgal Cuthbert
Director, Don't Divide Us; author, What should schools teach? Disciplines, subjects and the pursuit of truth

Emma Webb
Director, Common Sense Society, UK branch; host, Newspeak; commentator; writer; co-founder, Save Our Statues

The Chair is

Gareth Sturdy
Physics advisor, Up Learn; education and science writer

REVOLTING PARENTS: LESSONS FROM THE SCHOOLGATES

worldwrite 2023-01-13 | When American children began remote learning during the pandemic, many parents received the shock of their lives. Rather than a focus on proficiency in reading, maths, and history, many found that lesson content was geared towards issues of race, gender, climate change and other political issues.

In response, groups of protesting parents began raising their concerns in school meetings. They have since been smeared as ‘dangerous authoritarians’ and ‘white supremacists’ by the media – even characterised as ‘domestic terrorists’ by the Biden administration. Despite this backlash, these parents are swinging elections, and forcing schools to change tack on everything from mask mandates to decolonisation.

Is this movement likely to be replicated in the UK? Certainly, groups of parents are now demanding to see the material used in, for example, sex-education lessons, fearful about the promotion of gender ideology. This push led the Department for Education to publicly back parental access to course materials. But are all parental curriculum protests positive? What about those parents who took over the gates at Batley Grammar School forcing a teacher into hiding for showing an image of the Prophet Mohammed in class?

The parent-teacher relationship is clearly under strain. Parents from Boston to Bolton are starting to question how schools are educating their children. But is there a danger that pushy parents, with their own agendas, could determine curriculum content? Or is the lesson from the US that parents should be trusted to safeguard children’s education?

The speakers are:

Yaron Brook
Chairman of the board, Ayn Rand Institute; host, The Yaron Brook Show; co-author, In Pursuit of Wealth: the moral case for finance

Christina Jordan
Commentator on diversity policies; former Brexit Party MEP

Toby Marshall
Film studies teacher; member, AOI Education Forum

Nancy McDermott
Author, The Problem with Parenting: how raising children is changing across America; chapter leader, Foundation Against Intolerance and Racism (FAIR)

Jo-Anne Nadler
Political commentator; campaigner, Don't Divide Us

The Chair is

Christopher Beckett
Religious education teacher, Holy Family Catholic School; writer; educationalist

BEYOND THE BIRDS AND THE BEES: MODERN SEX ED

worldwrite 2023-01-11 | This panel discussion was filmed by Worldwrite volunteers at the Battle of Ideas Festival in October 2022.

If once sex education meant ensuring pupils were given access to basic biology and the mechanical details of reproduction, today it has become mired in the non-biological Culture Wars.

In September 2020, sex education was made compulsory across secondary schools. Pupils from primary onwards are asked to grapple with sensitive and often controversial topics such as sexuality, intimate interpersonal relationships, consent and, most controversially, gender identity as quite distinct from biology. Many head teachers have sought outside help from external agencies to provide teaching materials, staff training and workshops to pupils, providing what some see as a trojan horse for gender activism into schools.

Shocking stories have emerged from classrooms: discussions on masturbation with children as young as five, LGBTQ+ concepts – from queer to kink – normalised on the curriculum, key words introduced to children as young as eight, including cisgender, pansexual, asexual, intersex, non-binary and gender fluid. The fear that children are being exposed to over-sexualised concepts has been stoked-up by schools introducing Drag Queen Story Hour, in which men dressed as women read stories and perform to children aged from three to 12.

But are all these concerns just a moral panic, driven by conservative – even prejudiced – parents and right-wing culture warriors? In a world in which increasing numbers of young people are exploring their gender identity, won’t new RSE lessons help new generations negotiate modern sexual norms? Or is the safeguarding of children being compromised in the enthusiasm to promote equality, diversity and inclusion ideology?

The speakers are:

Nancy McDermott
Author, The Problem with Parenting: how raising children is changing across America; chapter leader, Foundation Against Intolerance and Racism (FAIR)

Stephanie Davies-Arai
Director, Transgender Trend; author, Communicating with Kids

Milli Hill
Freelance journalist; founder, Positive Birth Movement; author, Positive Birth Book

Josephine Hussey
School teacher

The Chair is
Ann Furedi
Author, The Moral Case for Abortion; former chief executive, BPAS

CLIMATE CHANGE ON THE CURRICULUM: TEACHING OR PREACHING?

worldwrite 2023-01-10 | This short panel discussion was filmed by WORLDwrite volunteers at the Battle of Idseas festival in October 2022.

Education is one of our key weapons in the fight against climate change’, declared former education secretary Nadhim Zahawi while launching a brace of environmental initiatives in April this year. The new programme included a Natural History GCSE, which will ‘offer young people a chance to develop a deeper knowledge and understanding of this amazing planet, its environment and how we can come together to conserve it’.

Whatever your views on environmentalism, this interventionist approach seems at odds with the government’s own concerns that politics be kept out of the classroom. Zahawi himself warned against political bias causing problems for the curriculum, arguing that ‘clearer guidance on political impartiality is just one part of my wider work to give children the best possible education’. The Department for Education’s policy paper recognises there are ‘different views and opinions’ about how to address climate change, and others have raised concerns over pupils being pressured into thinking a certain way during the School Strike protests.

Is teaching environmental initiatives an overdue curriculum innovation, or an attempt to recruit young children to a political viewpoint? Will pupils be allowed to question the policies that an environmentalist GCSE takes as a given, such as sustainability and Net Zero policies? Or during what many have described as an urgent global crisis, should teaching environmentalist practices become even more central to a future curriculum?

The speakers are:

Berry D’Arcy
Parent; home educator; environmental entrepreneur

Clare Page
Parent and researcher

Dr Alex Standish
Associate professor of geography education, University College London; co-author, What Should Schools Teach? Disciplines, Subjects and the Pursuit of Truth

The Chair is

Harley Richardson
Blogger, historyofeducation.net; organising committee, AoI Education Forum; author, The Liberating Power of Education

TRADE UNIONS: THROWBACK, COMEBACK OR FIGHTBACK?

worldwrite 2023-01-09 | The recent wave of strikes makes this debate very timely. It was filmed by WORLDwrite volunteers at the Battle of Ideas Festival in October 2022.

Until recently, many thought unions were toothless, bureaucratic bodies, their glory days behind them. The number of days lost to strikes has long been in decline. Is this really, as media and politicians claim, a return to the militant Seventies?

Some suggest that a renaissance in trade unions is being hyped up, pointing out that those not in trade unions have been more effective in organising spontaneous, larger-scale national resistance around specific issues affecting their livelihoods, such as this year’s protests by Canadian truckers and European farmers. Could such ‘populist revolts’ be channelled into organised union resistance?

Unions were also at the forefront of demanding lockdown restrictions, which had a devastating impact on many people’s lives. Can trade unions now lead the struggle against the crisis of living standards – or are they a barrier to fighting back?

The speakers are:

Paul Embery
Firefighter; trade unionist; columnist; author, Despised: why the modern Left loathes the working class; broadcaster

Lisa Mckenzie
Working-class academic; author, Getting By: estates class and culture in austerity Britain and Working Class Lockdown Diaries

Lord Moylan
Conservative peer

Jo Phillips
Journalist; co-author, Why Vote? and Why Join a Trade Union?; former political advisor; fellow, Radix

Denis Russell
Building contractor; former trade-union activist and union representative, National Union of Railwaymen

The Chair is

Rosamund Cuckston
Senior HR professional; co-organiser, Birmingham Salon

THE ROOTS OF CRITICAL RACE THEORY

worldwrite 2023-01-06 | So, what are we to make of CRT? What exactly is it, and what are its intellectual roots? How did this once-fringe academic sub-discipline manage to occupy a central stage in the culture wars? Does it indicate a revival of radical politics, or is it a corporate- and celebrity-sponsored trend that will soon be forgotten?

Filmed by WORLDwrite volunteers at the Battle of Ideas Festival in October 2022.
The speakers are:
Kunle Olulode
Director, Voice4Change England
Dr Nikos Sotirakopoulos
Visiting fellow, Ayn Rand Institute; instructor, Ayn Rand University; author, Identity Politics and Tribalism: the new culture wars
The Chair is:
Dr Pauline Hadaway
Researcher; writer; co-founder, The Liverpool Salon; author, Escaping the Panopticon

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THE FUTURE OF ABORTION RIGHTS

worldwrite 2023-01-03 | This important panel debate was filmed by WORLDwrite volunteers at the Battle of Ideas Festival in October 2022.

Abortion rights have always been a thorny political issue, but recent events have propelled the question of women’s reproductive choice to the fore. The overturning of the 1973 Roe vs Wade ruling in the US means a woman’s right to abortion is no longer protected by the constitution, allowing states to set their own laws.
The abortion debate is also far from over in the UK. Rows and divisions opened afresh over the distribution of abortion pills via telemedicine, which was permanently legalised earlier this year.

National polls consistently show greater support for choice than restriction when it comes to abortion, but pro-life organisations have also seen an upsurge of support from both socially conservative politicians and campaigners alike.

How should the battle for abortion rights be fought? Is a woman’s freedom of choice best won by democratic change in the form of referendums and elections, or is it a matter for the courts? Do both sides need to get better at engaging with one another to prevent abortion rights becoming yet another culture war? And with national campaigns for abortion rights mounting everywhere, from Poland to Portland, what is next for the global pro-choice movement?

The speakers are:

Dr Piers Benn
Philosopher, author and lecturer

Mary Kenny
Journalist; playwright; author, The Way We Were: Catholic Ireland since 1922 and Something of Myself - and Others; columnist, Irish Independent Magazine

Margo Martin
Student, Aberystwyth University

Dervla Murphy
Student and researcher interested in abortion and reproductive health, generation, free speech and gender, University of Kent; alumni, Debating Matters

The Chair is:
Bríd Hehir
Writer, researcher and blogger; retired nurse and fundraiser

Is cancel culture killing the arts?

worldwrite 2023-01-03 | Almost everywhere you look, the arts are beset by controversies and cancellations.
Cancel culture has come for the arts – but can the arts survive it? Do bans and cancellations wound artistic expression, or act as a means for audiences and art lovers to hold artists to account? Will a climate of sensitivity readers and diversity box-ticking allow more socially conscious art to grow, or kill off the more unorthodox works that have always pushed at the boundaries of artistic freedom? And why, of all areas of life, does the arts seem to be the focal point in which these culture wars keep playing out?

Speakers:
Dr Tiffany Jenkins - writer and broadcaster; author, Strangers and Intimates: the rise and fall of private life and Keeping Their Marbles: how treasures of the past ended up in museums and why they should stay there
Rosie Kay - dancer; choreographer; CEO and artistic director, K2CO LTD
Winston Marshall - musician; writer; podcast host, Marshall Matters; founding member, Mumford & Sons
Emma Webb - director, Common Sense Society, UK branch; host, Newspeak; commentator; writer; co-founder, Save Our Statues
Chaired by Claire Fox - Director, Academy of Ideas; independent peer, House of Lords; author, I STILL Find That Offensive

The New Puritans: How the religion of social justice captured the western world

worldwrite 2022-12-22 | In this excellent discussion, filmed by WORLDwrite volunteers at the Battle of Ideas festival in October 2022, Andrew Doyle introduces us to his insightful new book and discusses it with Professor Frank Furedi.

The Puritans of the seventeenth century sought to refashion society in accordance with their own beliefs, but they were deep thinkers who were aware of their own fallibility. In The New Puritans: how the religion of social justice captured the Western world, Andrew Doyle examines the underlying belief-systems of this ideology. How has it risen so rapidly to dominate all major political, cultural and corporate institutions? Do we need a better understanding of where these new puritans came from and what they hope to achieve? Can we – as Doyle urges – develop a spirit of optimism in making the case for the reinstatement of liberal values?

Speakers:
Andrew Doyle -presenter, Free Speech Nation, GB News; writer and comedian; author, The New Puritans: how the religion of social justice captured the Western world and Free Speech and Why It Matters
Professor Frank Furedi - sociologist and social commentator; author, The Road to Ukraine: how the West lost its way and 100 Years of Identity Crisis: culture war over socialisation

Help the charity WORLDwrite film further vital debates by hitting the THANKS button on YouTube or donate to the charity's latest project via our JustGiving page at justgiving.com/campaign/solidarityfilm. Thank you.

Fake news? the misinformation wars

worldwrite 2022-12-22 | The most controversial legislation of this parliament is the Online Safety Bill.
A central aim is to tackle misinformation – whether in politicking and elections, war-related propaganda or global pandemics. Platforms such as Facebook, Twitter or YouTube are already increasingly censorious in cracking down on, for example, alleged Covid ‘misinformation’ and ‘fake’ reports such as Hunter Biden’s emails or on academics questioning the official line over Russia’s war with Ukraine. Now those services are to be further encouraged to cleanse their platforms of dissenting views or questionable information. Along with an unelected regulator, Ofcom, they’ll have powers to control what we can view, hear or read.

How can we solve the problem of misinformation? Does the online world of anonymity, falsehoods and harms now justify new controls? Where do the boundaries lie between disinformation and genuine disagreement? At a time when even fact checkers are thought to be biased, how do we create a basis for genuine debate when the quest for truth is disfigured by an atmosphere of mistrust?

Speakers
Jessica Butcher MBE - tech entrepreneur; co-founder, Tick.; co-founder, Blippar; commissioner, Equality and Human Rights Commission
Laura Dodsworth - writer; photographer; author, A State of Fear: How the UK government weaponised fear during the Covid-19 pandemic
Professor Bill Durodié - chair of International Relations, department of politics, languages and international studies, University of Bath
Mark Johnson - legal and policy officer, Big Brother Watch

Chair
Bruno Waterfield - Brussels correspondent, The Times

This debate was filmed and edited by the charity WORLDwrite's volunteers at the Battle of Ideas Festival in October 2022. Please help us keep going by supporting our film appeal. For details visit justgiving.com/campaign/solidarityfilm

The trans teen trend: a case of social contagion?

worldwrite 2022-12-22 | An increasing number of children, particularly teenage girls, are coming out as ‘trans’. There are those who argue that this increase in young people seeking to change their identity is simply demonstrative of the fact that we are living in a more open and tolerant society. They argue that stigma within the medical profession and in wider society had previously prevented trans individuals from accessing the help they needed, and that medical interventions simply enable children to embrace who they feel they really are on the inside.

On the other hand, increasing numbers of professionals hold deep concerns over this sharp rise. They point to the fact that large numbers of these patients are being affirmed down a medical pathway, often culminating in irreversible medication or surgery. They also argue that gender dysphoria is a mental-health condition, prone to social contagion (much like OCD or anorexia), and should be treated as such. Rather than pills or surgery, they argue that therapy, investigation and psychological help is the best course of action for the vast majority of patients. Indeed, the Cass Review, headed up by Dr Hilary Cass, argued that a ‘lack of consensus and open discussion about the nature of gender dysphoria’ had meant that there was a similar failing in an ‘appropriate clinical response’. As a result of the review, the NHS was forced to close the Tavistock Centre – the largest provider of transgender services in England – which had become a focus for criticism.

Whatever your views on the issue of transitioning, is there a bigger question as to why so many young people suddenly seem to want to change their identity? Has an increase in discussion about gender encouraged a faddish approach to trans ideology, or merely liberated children who previously felt trapped? Should we celebrate the fact that our children can be whoever they want to be? And perhaps more importantly, does enabling this freedom have to entail such drastic change?

Speakers
Jennie Bristow - senior lecturer in sociology, Canterbury Christ Church University; author, The Corona Generation: coming of age in a crisis and Growing up in Lockdown
James Esses - barrister; social commentator; co-founder, Thoughtful Therapists
Katy Jon Went - diversity and inclusion facilitator and educator, Human Library, Pick My Brain, GenderAgenda, Fifty Shades of Gender
Helen Joyce - director of advocacy, Sex Matters; author, TRANS: when ideology meets reality

Chair
Claire Fox - director, Academy of Ideas; independent peer, House of Lords; author, I STILL Find That Offensive!

This debate was filmed by WORLDwrite volunteers at the Battle of Ideas Festival 2022. Please subscribe to our YouTube Channel and consider hitting the THANKS button to help us film and edit further debates.

Lawfare: the use and abuse of law to fight for freedom

worldwrite 2022-12-21 | ‘Something’s wrong, change the law’ epitomises the approach of many to social change. And few can doubt that social change has often walked in step with legal reform. Maya Forstater, Harry Miller and Allison Bailey have all won court cases recently that have clarified the law against illiberal and censorious trends relating to free speech and equalities legislation. But is there a danger that today’s social reformers are focused on Lawfare, the use of law to change society, as a short cut to taking the public with them?

Should the law reflect a popular consensus, or can it be used to ‘improve’ the consensus? Is seeking legal protection against egregious examples of, for instance, workplace cancel culture, a remedy or an evasion? What are the pros and cons of using the law courts as allies of liberty?

Speakers
Maya Forstater - executive director, Sex Matters
Luke Gittos - criminal lawyer; author, Human Rights – Illusory Freedom
Jeremiah Igunnubole - barrister; legal counsel, ADF International; former senior crown prosecutor, Crown Prosecution Service
Sarah Phillimore - barrister; campaigner, Fair Cop; member, Bad Law Project
James Tooley - vice chancellor, University of Buckingham; author, The Beautiful Tree

Chair
Jacob Reynolds - partnerships manager, Academy of Ideas

This debate was filmed and edited by WORLDwrite volunteers at the Battle of Ideas Festival in October 2022. Please subscribe to our YouTube channel and hit the THANKS button to help us film and edit further imp[ortant debates.

ARE YOUNG PEOPLE REALLY GETTING SHAFTED?

worldwrite 2022-12-19 | The war between the generations has never felt stronger. Your age supposedly determines how you vote, your views on the world and your prospects for the future. Older people decry younger citizens as ‘woke snowflakes’, while the young in turn dismiss their parents as stealing their future via Brexit, climate change and house prices. As 50 per cent of young people – for now – attend university, generational attitudes towards free speech and pluralism have also come under strain.

When it comes to financial matters, it’s easy to see the insecure employment and housing market as proof that young people’s prospects are bleak. On the other hand, many argue that young people have never had it so good, enjoying more opportunities and innovation than any previous generation. Today’s young generation are more likely to own cars, go on foreign holidays and eat in restaurants than their parents or grandparents.

So is this really a generation war? Or does class still create a greater dividing line? After all, economic struggle is not unique to today’s youngsters. And whether it’s owning a home or being able to afford avocado on toast, what are the prospects, hopes and dreams for young people in the 2020s?

The speakers are:

Emily Carver
Acting director of communications and head of media, Institute of Economic Affairs

Ceri Dingle
Director, WORLDwrite and WORLDbytes

Kunle Olulode
Director, Voice4Change England

Sam Parker
European financial regulation specialist; former parliamentary assistant, European Parliament and House of Lords

Freddie Poser
Director, PricedOut

The Chair is

Noah Keate
Journalist and writer

Filmed and erdited by WORLDwrite volunteers at the Battle of Ideas Festival in October 2022.
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FROM INDYREF2 TO A BORDER POLL: ARE WE AFRAID OF DEMOCRACY?

worldwrite 2022-12-13 | While calls for border polls and referendums in Northern Ireland and Scotland differ in historical and political context, they share one similarity: Westminster seems desperate to prevent them. In both cases, a vote would require the agreement of the UK government – which is currently implacably opposed. Are attempts to block independence referendums a sign of the weakness of the Union? When opinion polls suggest voters are, at best, ambivalent about constitutional change, should these issues take a back seat in favour of more immediate matters, like the cost-of-living crisis? Or is denying an Irish border poll, or a Scottish Indyref2 the kind of retreat from democracy that should worry all democrats?

The speakers are:
Ben Collins
Writer; communications consultant; former chief executive, The Northern Ireland Federation of Housing Associations; author, Irish Unity: time to prepare
Dolan Cummings
Author, Gehenna: a novel of Hell and Earth; associate fellow, Academy of Ideas; co-founder, Manifesto Club
Ewan Gurr
Charity pioneer; consultant; columnist, Dundee Evening Telegraph; co-founder, Sovereignty
Lord Moylan
Conservative peer

The Chair is
Kevin Rooney
History and politics teacher; editor, irishborderpoll.com; convenor, AoI Education Forum; co-author, The Blood Stained Poppy

INTERNET VS THE NATION STATE: A NEW WILD WEST?

worldwrite 2022-11-24 | In this engaging Battle of Ideas Festival debate an impressive panel discuss with an insightful audience the state of play and what's to come.

For decades, there has been concern about how individual states can control the forces of the world market – particularly against multinational corporations that have bigger revenues than many countries. This debate is especially acute when it comes to the internet, where the world’s most valuable companies (like Apple, Facebook, Amazon and Netflix) operate on a global scale. One area of concern is the regulation of content. But many argue that the tech giants are simply too big to be regulated by any one country. Another bugbear has been tax, with big companies able to arrange their affairs to avoid paying their fair share by booking their profits in low-tax jurisdictions.

Is the nation state now redundant? With customer helplines and personalised interaction, do we relate more to online services than our own governments? How can big companies be held accountable if they operate beyond the rules of any particular country? Or are these fears overblown, with tech giants as dependent as any other company on national laws to defend their property and other rights?

The speakers are:
Timandra Harkness - Journalist, writer and broadcaster; presenter, Radio 4's FutureProofing and How to Disagree; author, Big Data: does size matter?
Andrew Orlowski - Business columnist, Daily Telegraph; founder, Think of X; assistant producer, All Watched Over By Machines Of Loving Grace
Graham Smith - Tech and internet lawyer; of counsel, Bird & Bird LLP; author, Internet Law and Regulation; blogger, Cyberleagle
Dr Keith Teare - CEO, Signalrank Corporation; Silicon-Valley-based serial entrepreneur
The Chair is Sally Taplin - Business consultant, Businessfourzero; visiting MBA lecturer, Bayes Business School; board member, Lewes FC