People Talk... Politics The Pinsker Centre

In this episode of People Talk...Politics, our Policy Fellow Matthew Brooker interviewed Rt Hon Sir David Lidington CBE, UK's longest serving Minister for European Affairs, Leader of the House of Commons, Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice, and Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Minister for the Cabinet Office in Theresa May’s government and MP for Aylesbury and Buckinghamshire for over 27 years. They discussed how internal divisions in the Conservative Party may affect their electability and what issues and policies the Tories should emphasise in their campaign. Sir David also shared his insights on the relationship between government, the civil service and local government, outlining potential reforms that could increase efficiency, transparency and decentralisation.

As Britain's involvement in a war does not seem like an outrageous fantasy anymore, our Policy Fellows Lucas, Baran and Orla discuss whether the UK defence spending is sufficient, explore the role defence may play in the upcoming general election, consider the UK's role in NATO and European defence and debate whether the current British "small high tech army" approach is sustainable.

Is an AI revolution upon us? In this episode of People Talk...Politics, Policy Fellows Calista Toner and Jonathan Gibson delve into the debate about opportunities and dangers associated with AI. They discuss how AI is revolutionising the defence industry and the character of warfare and argue that there is a threat of interference of malign actors in democratic practices and misinformation, including the use of deep fakes and bots on social media, which points to the proliferation of digital technologies and cyber warfare. They also debate whether AI should be regulated on the national or international level.

With the looming general election, Policy Fellows Matthew and Ellie discuss why Conservatives are polling so poorly and argue that Labour and Kier Starmer aren't particularly popular with voters but are less unpopular than Sunak and the Tories. They discuss both parties' election strategies and outline the issues that are likely to dominate the campaign. Check out this episode of People Talk...Politics!

In this episode of People Talk...Politics, our policy fellows Blerton, Jack and Alex debate at what point free speech becomes hate speech, particularly in the context of anti-Israel protests and instances of antisemitism on university campuses, examine the existing legal framework for the protection of free speech in British universities and discuss how these policies may be improved.

Pinsker Policy Fellows Felix, Samantha and Max discuss Iran’s attempts to undermine the liberal international order as it collaborates with autocratic regimes in Latin America and Russia, uses its proxies to intervene in regional conflicts in Yemen and Syria and finances terrorist organisations including Hamas and Hezbollah.