With Sue Gray and Simon Case in the news amid long-running complaints about the effectiveness and impartiality of the government machine, this Battle of Ideas festival 2022 debate seems very topical.

SPEAKERS

Nick Busvine OBE

consultant; founding partner, Herminius Holdings Ltd; advisory board member, Briefings for Britain; Town Councillor, Sevenoaks; former diplomat, Foreign and Commonwealth Office

Caroline Ffiske

co-founder and spokesperson, Conservatives for Women

Eric Kaufmann

professor of politics, Birkbeck College, University of London; Advisory Council member, Free Speech Union; author, The Political Culture of Young Britain and The Politics of the Culture Wars in Contemporary Britain

Max Wind-Cowie

co-author, A Place for Pride; former head, Progressive Conservatism Project, Demos; commentator