Institute of Ideas

This month several enticing public events featuring IoI staff are taking place (see below), before the Debating Matters Competition’s showpiece event kicks off on the last weekend of the month. The National Final, on 29 June - 1 July at King’s College London and the National Portrait Gallery, will feature the eight regional winners in what is surely the most challenging debating competition in the country. As part of the National Final weekend, there will be a public IoI ‘Question Time’ on Saturday discussing ‘Politics after Blair’ featuring, amongst others, spiked editor Brendan O’Neill and RSA chief executive Matthew Taylor.

Meanwhile, the Battle of Ideas 2007 programme is taking shape, with strands on Music, Science, Africa and New Technologies. We can also announce an impressive roster of speakers, including Bjørn Lomborg, Matthew Taylor, Peter Horrocks, Esther Rantzen, Simon Conway Morris, David Runciman, Frank Furedi, Sir Bernard Crick, Paul Mason, Mike Carr, Sue Palmer, Ivan Hewett, Barb Jungr, Mick Hume, Steve Fuller, Nicholas Kenyon, Dominic Lawson, Simon Wessely and Jeffrey Rosen. If you’re not convinced yet, Fora.TV has videos of previous IoI events to get you in the mood, and discounted tickets are available for this year’s festival until 31 August. For further discounts, don’t forget to join the Institute of Ideas – we rely on support from our associates to keep on expanding the boundaries of political debate.

DEBATING MATTERS NATIONAL FINAL
The Debating Matters National Final 2007 will be held at King's College London and the National Portrait Gallery on 29 June - 1 July. A public IoI 'Question Time', Politics after Blair will take place at King's Strand campus on 30 June. To attend this event or the whole competition, contact justinebrian@instituteofideas.com

IOI PARENTS FORUM
The IoI Parents Forum has a new comment section featuring opinion pieces from Forum contributors.

*LATE AT TATE*:
FREE EXPRESSION: BOUNDARIES OR NOT
Friday 1 June, 6.30pm @ Tate Britain, SW1
Claire Fox will speak in a panel debate, co-programmed by Mark Wallinger, on the right to protest and the limits of free expression. Other speakers include Hari Kunzru, Lisa Appignanesi and Helena Kennedy QC.

Event information

*MANIFESTO CLUB* EVENT:
BOXED IN
Saturday 2 June, 2pm @ Camden Arts Centre, NW3
The Manifesto Club has published a provocation essay, Boxed In, by artist Sonya Dyer, arguing that diversity schemes and targets are pigeonholing black and Asian artists. A public event will discuss the issues raised in the report.

Event and speaker details

*SPIKED* EVENT:
WHAT'S THE GREATEST INNOVATION?
Wednesday 6 June, 7pm @ King's College London, WC2
The launch event of the spiked and Pfizer survey, ‘What’s the greatest innovation?’ to which over 100 experts, including half-a-dozen Nobel laureates, responded.

Tickets and speaker details

*BRIGHTON SALON*:
‘NOW YOU'VE STOPPED SMOKING, SIT DOWN, SHUT UP AND BEHAVE!'
Tuesday 12 June, 7pm @ Brighthelm Centre, Brighton BN1
Claire Fox will discuss ‘Freedom: What is it, what’s it for and how much of it have we got left?’
RSVP to dan.travis@thebrightonsalonarena.com

Event information

*SPIKED* EVENT:
LIVING IN A 'SURVEILLANCE SOCIETY'
Wednesday 20 June, 6.30pm @ The Commonwealth Club, WC2
Dolan Cummings will debate what implications living in a ‘surveillance society’ has for our public and private lives.

Tickets and speaker details

*FOREST* EVENT:
REVOLT IN STYLE: A FREEDOM DINNER
Monday 25 June @ Savoy Hotel, WC2
From July 2007 smoking will be banned in all enclosed public places throughout the UK. FOREST has chosen to mark this illiberal, draconian development with a special public dinner-event with guest speakers Andrew Neil and Claire Fox.

Tickets: £95/£750 for table of ten or £75/£650 if booked before 11 June.

Tickets and event information

*IN TRANSIT* EVENT:
DEBATABLE! THE ROLE OF THE ARTS IN PUBLIC SPACE
Tuesday 24 July, 6.30pm @ Westbourne Studios, W10
Tiffany Jenkins will lead a discussion focusing on the purpose and value of permanent and temporary works of art in public space. Topics for debate will include the use of the arts as a back door consultation tool; funding of the arts to deliver community development or social work priorities; and the arts as a kind of quick fix community cohesion exercise.

Event information

Claire Fox will be speaking at the debate Climate Change and You at the Cheltenham Science Festival alongside James Goodman, Kevin Anderson and Jonathon Porritt on 7 June. She will also be chairing the debate Surveillance Britain on the same day

Claire Fox will be speaking at an Unlock Democracy session at the Compass National & Robin Cook Memorial Conference alongside David Aaronovitch on 9 June

Claire Fox will take part in a ‘Question Time’ style debate at the National Academy for Gifted and Talented Youth at Warwick University on 11 June

VIDEO / AUDIO

Visit the IoI Media Archive for audio recordings of forums and events.

Claire Fox News will next be on internet TV channel 18 Doughty Street on 4 June at 8pm with a discussion on eco-cities, Home Information Packs and urban regeneration. Guests are Austin Williams (Future Cities Project), Tim Abrahams (Blueprint magazine) and Alan Farlie (architect). The following shows will be on 11 and 25 June. The previous Claire Fox News was on Museums and Galleries Month and the arts.

Claire Fox will be on the new series of the Moral Maze at 8pm on 13 June and 27 June, BBC Radio 4

Tony Gilland was on BBC Radio Five Live on 21 May discussing the Panorama programme on Wi-Fi in schools and the dangers of scaremongering

Keeping art in the picture, Claire Fox, MJ, 21 May

The 'disorganised apartheid' of cultural diversity, Tiffany Jenkins, spiked, 17 May

Don’t let them spoil your fun at the bargain fashion stores, Tiffany Jenkins, The Scotsman, 4 May

Shirley Dent writes regularly for The Guardian Arts & Entertainment Blog. See her most recent article, Literature matters to ordinary people, too, 22 May. Shirley’s articles are archived here

A tale of two murals, Shirley Dent, spiked, 1 May

Stop the press: Scientologists are creepy!, Dolan Cummings, spiked, 15 May

Scotland: almost afraid to know itself, Dolan Cummings, spiked, 10 May
The article was chosen as ‘Best of the Web’ by Guardian-Unlimited

This month's highlights:

More Orange Prize for Fiction reviews (downloadable as a pdf here) and Dolan Cummings on 'What's left of Christianity?', plus reviews of current films and theatre.

NATIONAL FINAL
The National Final of the 2006/7 competition is fast approaching and we have an exciting programme lined up for each of the participating teams. We are delighted that this year King’s College London and the National Portrait Gallery have agreed to jointly host the final. The Debating Matters team would like to thank both venues for supporting us. The Debating Matters team are also delighted to have a number of high profile judges at the National Final, including writer and comedian, Hardeep Singh Kholi; writer and journalist, Nicolette Jones; director of the National Academy for Gifted and Talented Youth (NAGTY), Deborah Eyre; Wellcome Trust director, Mark Walport; and barrister, Nicholas Blake QC.

In the spirit of the competition we would like to see a lively audience taking part over the weekend and would be especially pleased to see IoI associates joining in the debates from the floor. Alongside the seven debates taking place over the course of the weekend there will also be expert briefings, inspiration lectures and an Institute of Ideas debate on ‘Politics after Blair’, featuring Matthew Taylor and Brendan O’Neill, to be held at Kings College London, Strand campus on Saturday 30 June. Those who are interested in attending either the Saturday or the Sunday of the National Final weekend should contact Justine Brian by emailing justinebrian@instituteofideas.com

Finally, the Debating Matters team would like to wish all of the teams competing in the National Final the very best of luck- we look forward to an exciting weekend of debate and discussion.