We pride ourselves on the variety of subjects discussed and the following is a chronological list of the events we have hosted. For more information or if you have any ideas for debates and events, please do not hesitate to contact us.
Does Trump have a point?
Monday 24 October at 7.30pm – Keynes Hall, King’s College Cambridge
With the controversial outsider candidate, Donald Trump, presenting a credible chance at winning the upcoming US elections, King’s Politics asks “Does Trump have a point?”
Speakers
Freddy Gray — Deputy Editor of the The Spectator. He was formerly literary editor of The American Conservative.
Dr Paul Sagar — Fellow in Politics at King’s. He is currently writing a book on the theory of the state and the concept of human sociability in the Enlightenment.
Professor Helen Thompson — Professor in Political Economy. She has written on British economic policy, the relationship of democracy to the international economy, and the politics of the economic relationship between the United States and China.
Dr Christopher Brooke — Fellow in Politics at Homerton. He is currently writing a history of distributive political theory since c. 1700.
Viscount Monckton — Journalist and Peer. He is known for his work as a journalist, Conservative political advisor, UKIP political candidate, and for his invention of the mathematical puzzle Eternity.
Is organised religion a force for good?
Monday 25 April at 7.45pm – Keynes Hall, King’s College Cambridge
As ongoing religious and sectarian conflict rages across the globe, King’s Politics asks the question: ‘Is organised religion a force for good?’
Speakers
Peter Hitchens – journalist and commentator
Sarah Coakley – Norris-Hulse Professor of Divinity at the University of Cambridge
Andrew Copson – Chief Executive of the British Humanist Association
Stephen Cherry – Dean of King’s College and author
Is Lad Culture ever ‘just banter’?
Monday 15 February at 7.30pm – Keynes Hall, King’s College Cambridge
Following a government-led inquiry into ‘Lad Culture’ on British university campuses, King’s Politics asks whether, in the immortal words of former Sky Sports presenter Richard Keys, it ever is ‘just banter’.
Speakers
Mimi Turner – Marketing Director of the Lad Bible
Dr Katharine Jenkins – fellow at the University of Cambridge researching the Philosophy of Sex and Gender
Amy Clark – former LGBT+ Officer at King’s College Students’ Union and representative on the Women’s Campaign Executive
Ella Whelan – staff writer at Spiked! magazine and Spectator contributor
Is the West to blame for ISIS?
Monday 25 January 2016 at 7.30pm – Keynes Hall, King’s College Cambridge
With the emergence of ISIS as a major military and political entity in the Syrian Civil War and Iraq, King’s Politics asks whether the legacy of Western intervention and foreign policy is to blame for its rise.
Speakers
Andrew Murray – Chair of the Stop the War Coalition
Adam Deen – head of Outreach and Research at the Quilliam Foundation, and former member of Al-Muhajiroun
James Bloodworth – commentator and former editor of Left Foot Forward
Victoria Stewart-Jolley – PhD candidate at the University of Cambridge and legal and electoral specialist, with experience working with the UN in Afghanistan and Iraq
Allan Hennessy – law student at the University of Cambridge and journalist
Chapel Debate
What are the economic possibilities for our grandchildren?
Monday 16 November at 7.30pm – King’s College Chapel
In 1930, John Maynard Keynes, a King’s alumnus, published a short essay on the “Economic Possibilities for our Grandchildren” in which he spoke about his expectations for the next hundred years. We analyse whether he remains relevant in the modern day and how many of his predictions came true.
Speakers
Lord Robert Skidelsky – economist and author of an award-winning, three-volume Keynes biography
Professor Sir Partha Dasgupta – Emeritus Professor of Economics at the University of Cambridge
Professor Andrew Gamble – professor of Politics at the University of Cambridge
Ann Pettifor – Director of Policy Research in Macroeconomics, fellow at the New Economics Foundation, and economic adviser to Labour leader, Jeremy Corbyn
Is the Euro a failure?
Monday 19 October 2015 at 7.45pm – Keynes Hall, King’s College Cambridge
We have seen the Eurozone crisis evolve over the past few years, bringing many European countries to their knees but having once been seen as a promising initiative. We ask whether the Euro project has ultimately collapsed.
Speakers
Graham Stringer – Labour MP and Vote Leave campaigner
Natalie Nougayrède – political commentator for the Guardian and former Executive Editor of Le Monde
Professor Leila Simona Talani – Professor of International Political Economy at King’s College London
Professor John Ryan – research associate at the Von Hügel Institute of St Edmund’s College Cambridge
The Turing Debate
Can liberty survive in the information age?
Tuesday 16 June 2015 at 7.30pm – King’s College Chapel
Our first Chapel 500th debate took place in the stunning chapel of King’s College on the question, “Can liberty survive in the information age?”
Speakers
BARON REES OF LUDLOW – Emeritus professor of cosmology and astrophysics at Cambridge and the UK’s Astronomer Royal
CHARLES CLARKE – Former Home Secretary and Labour MP
EBEN UPTON – Co-Founder of the Raspberry Pi, which has sold over 5 million units across the world, making the fastest-selling British personal computer
JODIE GINSBERG – Chief Executive of Index on Censorship, former Reuters UK Bureau Chief
Question Time at King’s: EU
Monday 12 May 2015 at 7pm – Keynes Hall, King’s College Cambridge
Press: TCS | Tab | King’s webTwitter feed: #KingsEU
Facebook: http://goo.gl/FX2QI7
UKIP, Labour, the Greens, Liberal Democrats and Tories battled it out to decide who will lead Eastern England on 22 May. Things got heated quickly – the UKIP candidate compared the Greens’ representative to “fascist Germany” after the latter heckled his opening speech, and insults flew back and forth for the rest of the debate.
The hustings followed a ‘Question Time’ format, with audience questions determining the focus of the debate. The discussion was centred around topics of immigration and asylum seekers, overfishing, the EU and employment, clean energy and, of course, the prospect of Britain leaving the EU.
Speakers:
Andrew Duff MEP – lead candidate for the Liberal Democrats
Tom Hunt – 5th candidate for the Conservatives
Mark Hughes – 7th candidate for UKIP
Sandy Martin – 3rd candidate for labour
Rupert Read – lead candidate for the Greens
Question Time at King’s: City Council
Friday 16 May 2015 at 7pm – Keynes Hall, King’s College Cambridge
Press/Blogs: A Dragon’s Best Friend | King’s web | TCSTwitter feed: #KingsQT
Facebook: http://goo.gl/GQMB2F
#KingsQT trending in Cambridge
Speakers:
Rod Cantrill – current City Councillor and candidate for the Liberal Democrat Party (Newnham Ward)
Anthony Carpen (and Puffles) – independent City Councillor candidate (Coleridge Ward)
Nick Clarke – Cambridge City Conservative Party Association Chairman and former leader of the County Council
Matt Hodgkinson – City Councillor candidate for the Green Party (Petersfield Ward)
Sam Wolfe – City Councillor candidate for the Labour Party (Newnham Ward)
Israel/Palestine: How can peace be made?
Monday 9 February 2015 – Keynes Hall, King’s College Cambridge
Atrocities can be attributed to multiple sides, countless diplomatic negotiations have failed and still the conflict continues. King’s Politics asks if and how peace can be made.
Speakers
Professor Alan Johnson – Editor of the Fathom Journal and Co-Founder of Labour Friends of Israel
Paul Charney – Chair of the Zionist Association of Great Britain and Ireland
Professor Kamel Hawwash – Vice Chair of the Palestine Solidarity Campaign
Hannah Weisfeld – founder and director of the ‘pro-Israel, pro-peace’ Yachad
Rachel Shabi – award-winning journalist and commentator
Birju Dattani – teaching fellow at the Centre for Palestine Studies in SOAS
Does Cambridge University fail to protect the welfare of its students?
Monday 23 January 2015 – Keynes Hall, King’s College Cambridge
Is Cambridge in need of a reading week? Does it exacerbate or help mental heath issues? What should be the purpose of a university? King’s Politics brings these questions together in an enthralling and lively debate.
Speakers
Daisy Hughes – founding member of Whose University?
Dr Rosanna Omitowoju – Admissions Tutor at King’s College Cambridge and Director of Studies in Classics
Dr Paul Sagar – fellow in Politics and International Relations and undergraduate supervisor
Does Britain need more positive discrimination?
Monday 24 November 2014 – Keynes Hall, King’s College Cambridge
Across Britain and the rest of the world, top positions in industry and government continue to be dominated by white, middle class men, towards whom the current system remains heavily skewed. We ask if positive discrimination is the only way forward.
Speakers
Sunny Hundal – left-wing commentator and editor of the Liberal Conspiracy
Amelia Womack – Deputy Leader of the Green Party
Ian Dunt – Editor of Politics.co.uk and Political Analyst for Yahoo UK
Ann Francke – CEO of the Chartered Management Institute
Can military intervention be humanitarian?
Monday 3 November 2014 – Lady Mitchell Hall, University of Cambridge
Do we have a responsibility to use military force to save strangers? Do we have the right to be the world’s policemen? Can force succeed in protecting the vulnerable?
Speakers
Peter Hitchens – commentator and journalist
Lindsey German – Convenor of the Stop the War Coalition and organiser of the 2003 Iraq War demonstration
Darren Murphy – former political communications adviser to Tony Blair and political strategist for a number of leaders worldwide
Nigel Biggar – Professor of Moral Theology at Oxford University
Richard Norton-Taylor – journalist and former Security Editor at the Guardian
David Blunt – fellow at Corpus Christi College Cambridge in International Relations
Are faith schools detrimental to society?
Monday 13 October 2014 – Keynes Hall, King’s College Cambridge
Championed by Tony Blair and expanded through the Free School programme of the Cameron Government but damaged in several scandals, King’s Politics questions whether faith schools are of detriment to society.
Speakers
Brendan O’Neill – Editor of Spiked! Online magazine
Keith Porteous Wood – Executive Director of the National Secular Society
Freddy Gray – Managing Editor of the Spectator
Richy Thompson – Campaigns Officer (Faith Schools and Education) of the British Humanist Association
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