The Gladstone Club is a forum which welcomes all those who wish to engage in political discussion and question the ideas and policies of the day. We are radical in the sense that we wish to penetrate the ‘roots’ of issues without the ties of party loyalty and political correctness. Members are drawn from across the political spectrum and are of all ages.
Recent events...
Date:
28th October 2019
Subject:
The New Politics of the People
Speaker:
Jack Shenker
Venue:
National Liberal Club
Time:
7pm
Details:
What is happening to our politics? After decades of institutional stasis, our politics is in flux. Shock election results, constitutional challenges, new parties, new leaders and new governments fill the airwaves. Most commentators continue to fixate on the personalities and parlour-games at Westminster - the earthquakes and volcanoes on the surface - rather than asking how and why the tectonic plates beneath are shifting so dramatically. To understand the roots of our current chaos, and the fierce struggles over what will emerge from it, a different approach is urgently needed.
Jack Shenker’s new released book: 'Now We Have Your Attention: The New Politics of the People’ is an alternative map of the tumult. Shenker travels deep into the lived experiences of individuals and communities right across the country, from Essex to Newcastle and Kensington to Manchester, from a dank club night in Brighton to a shabby shop-front in Glasgow, to uncover the ways in which the old politics is falling apart, and the spaces in which rival futures are being fought for.
Date:
9th September 2019
Subject:
Democratic Right
Speaker:
Chairman
Venue:
National Liberal Club
Time:
7pm
Details:
What powers does a Prime Minister have? And if he has the power does he necessarily have the right?
That monster Brexit which all sense doth eat is angel yet in this … it is educating us in our constitution.
And testing us with question of what is right and how we decide.
Everyone is wanting right – that which is in the best interest of the nation, the express will of the People or the constitutionally hallowed supremacy of Parliament, or that will provide a negotiating platform, make us great, heal divides, save the union …
The constitution is the talk of the bars and breakfast tables round Britain as it may not have been for 300 years and we would certainly neglect our own unwritten constitution if we did not afford the same right to members and friends.
Date:
29th April 2019
Subject:
The Future of Social Policy
Speaker:
Deven Ghelani: Founder Policy in Practice
Venue:
National Liberal Club
Time:
7pm
Details:
What kind of place do we want Britain to be? Ten years into policies launched by a Liberal Coalition what are the conditions now for low income families?
Amid turbulent political crosswinds unemployment is reaching record lows but at the same time poverty is rising
by some measures including what is now being called ‘in work poverty’. Was that inevitable? Did those who planned to ‘make work pay’ expect an emergence of starter jobs at the bottom end of the ladder?
Deven Ghelani is Founder and CEO of Policy In Practice a socially driven data analytics business helping councils deliver social policy. He is also one of the architects of Universal Credit.
Deven will explore the future of social policy focusing on three core themes: what is poverty; universal credit and its impact; how our existing data can help deliver better social policy. He will examine the new social metrics definition that won cross party support last year and what it means for Universal Credit, where UC is at and what can be done to make it work. Deven will explore what is possible in a data driven world. How local authorities are using data to target preventative support and grapple with questions like who we 'should target support to' if we have the ability to be so pinpointed.
Anyone wanting to conceive a fairer better Britain had better not wait for a post-Brexit tomorrow – in case it never comes!
Date:
17th March 2019
Subject:
Brexit
Venue:
National Liberal Club
Details:
Brexit bestrides politics like a colossus.
On the one hand all other issues seem to be crowded out by it - on the other hand everything that can be said has been and continues to be …
Some of us are meeting for a chat on the matters of the hour. Peter in the chair as ususal.
If you would like to join us we would be delighted to see you and the spirit will be in the tradition of the Gladstone Club’s single rule: http://www.gladstoneclub.org/about.php