POLITICS in PUBS Newcastle

Do you know your left from your right; your City Region from your City Deal; your EU from your EEC? Do you want to know more about local, national, European and world politics, from theory and ideology to practice and influence? Do you want to hear from those you vote for about what you're voting for? And do you want it all in a friendly, relaxed place with plenty of people to discuss and disagree with? Then Politics in Pubs is for you.

You are warmly invited to join us at The Telegraph, Orchard Street, Newcastle Upon Tyne NE1 3NY (behind the Central Station), for the next meeting of POLITICS in PUBS Newcastle on:

Tuesday 4^th May 2024 at 7:00pm
Is Western civilisation under attack?
Introduction by Mo Lovatt

Join us at POLITICS in PUBS at the Telegraph Pub, Newcastle upon Tyne on Tuesday 14^th May and have your say.

Location Map

Previous Discussions

Tuesday 9^th April 2024
Britain's trade problem and why it matters
Introduction by William Clouston, leader of the Social Democratic Party

William explained the roots of our present economic crisis, namely, the UK's huge trade problem. Each year we buy vastly more than we sell and, consequently, we accumulate debt. Yet our persistent negative balance of trade is rarely discussed in political discourse and most of our elected representatives seem ignorant of the basic economics of international trade (imports can be paid for in three ways - by exporting goods, by selling assets we already have or buy issuing debt). Running multi-billion pound trade deficits has filled our homes with imported goods and trinketry but it has beggared the country. It has gutted our manufacturing, shifted production overseas and obliterated the industrial wage which used to be the foundation of family life. The social consequences have been grave. As the factories closed, the drug dealers moved in. To cure the problem, we need a meaningful trade and industrial policy. We need to end our indifference to what is made where and by whom and to who owns what. As the pandemic showed, successful states will increasingly prioritise domestic production and national resilience in food and energy over utopian dreams of global free trade.

Tuesday 12^th March 2024
Education or indoctrination - what is happening in UK schools?

Teaching politics in schools is part of a well-rounded liberal education, but increasingly we hear about the politicisation of education, with teachers acting as activists, promoting only one set of political ideals. Some have gone further, calling this indoctrination, not education.

At the same time, we hear of political debate being closed down in the classroom. Trigger warnings and safe spaces are commonplace in schools and universities with many young people worrying that their freedom to explore concepts and topics is under threat.

On the 12th of March, PiPs Newcastle member Lily Osborne will bring the topic of indoctrination in schools to Politics in Pubs. She will be talking about the increasing tendency among teachers to close down certain viewpoints, particularly those from a right-leaning perspective. Lily will also talk about the extreme push for students to be actively involved in LGBT issues, the "grooming" of students - particularly young girls - into involvement with the trans community, and the push towards espousing Critical Race Theory as fact, unintentionally raising racial tension amongst students. She will argue all of this leads to an environment where debate and free-thinking are stifled and the challenges that growing children ordinarily face are ignored.

Click here for notes from meeting

Tuesday 13^th February 2024
Regional devolution: Greater democracy or more bureaucracy?

Guest speaker: Conservative mayoral candidate, Guy Renner-Thompson.

The North East Mayoral Combined Authority (NEMCA) will hold devolved powers over transport, skills, planning and regeneration, as well as economic development. The mayor will represent almost two million people, reaching across the region from Northumberland, through Tyne and Wear, down to County Durham. Is this "a huge opportunity for the whole region to grow and thrive", as Mr Renner-Thompson says?

Advocates argue that devolution strengthens our democracy, allowing regions to focus on their own priorities and gives people meaningful opportunities to get involved in politics at the local level. They suggest that regional and national inequalities will be partially alleviated by fiscal transfers from central government to regional authorities, and that devolution is the answer to the failure of centralisation which will lead to an increase in democratic accountability.

Critics argue the trend towards regionalism simply reflects the exhaustion of national government. Devoid of big ideas and solutions to our nation's problems, central government is more than happy to outsource its responsibilities to regional administrations. Moreover, they say, devolution will further erode the sovereignty of parliament, and that our two decades' experience of extending devolution (in Scotland and Wales) has led to Britain becoming more unequal and more divided than ever before. Rather than increasing accountability, it creates a gap between the levels of administration, making it more difficult for people to hold their politicians to account.

Click here for notes from meeting

Tuesday 9^th January 2024
Reasons to be Cheerful?

There seems to be plenty of cause for pessimism in the UK today: An increasingly authoritarian state seeks to restrict our mobility and leisure activities, bureaucratising every area of life and even death; We can't trust the media to be impartial or even truthful, and we are exposed to psychological manipulation from myriad sources on a daily basis; Our new King meddles in politics, exacerbating social division and undermining democracy; Free speech is under attack on many fronts, not least from our police and justice system. Our broken political system makes it hard for new parties to break through and deliver positive change.

PiPs Newcastle met for an open discussion on events of the past year and a look ahead to 2024. What has given us cause for hope and which new topics should we discuss at future meetings?

There is one thing we were all be thankful for - at least it isn't 2020 and we were free to get together for a good debate!

Click here for notes from meeting

Tuesday 12^th December 2023
Free Speech and Non-Crime Hate Incidents
Introduction by Dr Kyri Kotsoglou

Is being offensive an offence? PiPs Newcastle met in December to discuss the legality of a peculiar but unexplored phenomenon in policing known as non-crime hate incidents (NCHIs).

Some see NCHIs as a preventative measure to help curtail escalation to more serious crimes; others see them as a waste of valuable resources. More than 120,000 such incidents were recorded by UK police forces between 2014 and 2019. Even the former Home Secretary, Amber Rudd, has had a non-crime hate incident recorded against her - simply for giving a speech about foreign workers at the Tory Party conference.

NCHIs have recently become an area of tension between the College of Policing and defenders of free speech. Former police officer Harry Miller had a non-crime hate incident recorded against him for social media posts containing 'gender critical' views, but later won a legal challenge when the Court of Appeal ruled that the guidance had been wrongly used and had a "chilling effect" on freedom of expression.

The debate will be introduced by Dr Kyri Kotsoglou, Associate Professor at Northumbria Law School. Kyri will outline the development of the Hate Crime Operational Guidance 2014, which authorised the unscrutinised recording of NCHIs, and explore how this has been implemented. The guidance defines a hate incident as "any non-crime incident which is perceived, by the victim or any other person, to be motivated by a hostility or prejudice". Kyri will discuss the implications of perception-based recording and argue that by uncritically recording a complaint on its own terms, police forces allow the complainant not only to report what happened (in his or her opinion), but also to dictate the meaning of important legal terms. Perception-based recording is turning the mere expression of thoughts into an incalculable risk, because citizens cannot foresee the consequences which a given action might entail.

The impact of NCHIs on free speech is therefore not due to the actions of maverick police officers, but the procedural and evidential architecture of the 2014 guidance, which dictates that any expression of opinion must be recorded as a NCHI if it is perceived as hateful. To increase transparency and support decision-making by police officers, a Code of Practice on recording NCHIs was published in June this year. It aims to establish a proportionate and common-sense approach to dealing with reports of non-crime hate incidents - but is it fit for purpose?

Click here for notes from meeting

Tuesday 14^th November 2023
Does the UK need Reform?
Introduction by Steve Alder

We have a broken country, built by broken politicians, supported by a broken establishment and formed using a broken political system. The first step to recovery is the realisation that you have a problem!

PiPs Newcastle met to discuss Reform UK's plans and policies to make Britain great. The introductory talk was given local Reform candidate, Steve Alder, who outlined several critical problems to which Reform UK offers fully costed solutions.

Click here for notes from meeting

Tuesday 10^th October 2023
Nudge Policy - a force for positive change or a threat to freedom?
Introduction by Paula Watson

Psychological manipulation - or 'nudging' - to influence behaviour is not new. We expect to be nudged by advertisers and retailers, and we expect parents to nudge their children. But how did nudge weave its way into the heart of government? And can such tactics ever be justified?

Click here for notes from meeting

Tuesday 19^th September 2023
Can we trust the news media?
Introduction by Phil Miles
Chair: Caspar Hewett, Director, The Great Debate

A 2023 Statista survey found that just 33% of British adults trust news media most of the time. In the US it was a similarly woeful story (32%).

What is going on? Is it simply an issue of media bias, or is it worse than that? Might some news outlets even have made the ominous transition from misinformation (getting it wrong by accident) to disinformation (getting it wrong on purpose)?

To what extent has political activism infiltrated our newsrooms?
Who fact checks the fact checkers?
And if modern journalism really has gone awry, how do we get it back on track?

Click here for notes from meeting

Tuesday 15^th August 2023
The Right To Die: The Ultimate Civil Right?
Introduction by Kevin Yuill
Chair: Caspar Hewett, Director, The Great Debate

In May 2021, Baroness Meacher introduced to the House of Lords a Private Member's bill intended to legalise assisted dying as a choice for terminally ill, mentally competent adults in their final months of life. The bill required two independent doctors and a High Court judge to be satisfied that the individual making a request is over 18, terminally ill with six months or less to live and fully mentally competent before they would be granted life-ending medication that could be taken at a time and place of their choosing.

Despite such legislation being defeated every time it has arisen in Parliament, it is likely to be introduced again in the future.  Moreover, a bill is currently being considered in both the Irish and Scottish Parliaments. If the UK were to pass such a law, it would be joining a clutch of US and Australian states, Canada, Belgium, Luxemburg, Spain and New Zealand in allowing assisted death. Many see this as the 'ultimate civil right'.

Others, including Professor Kevin Yuill, maintain that the focus, especially for medical professionals, should always be to preserve life, which is sacred. They question why there's now a greater acceptance of assisted suicide in liberal societies who tend to view the death penalty as wrong and otherwise defend the sanctity of life.

So, does assisted suicide relieve suffering and give people ultimate control over their own life and death? Or is the acceptance of the premeditated killing of a human being by the state always wrong?

Click here for notes from meeting

Tuesday 11^th July 2023
Risking it all: the freedom to gamble
Introduction by Jon Bryan
Chair: Caspar Hewett, Director, The Great Debate

Jon Bryan tweets and writes about gambling and poker at @JonBryanPoker. He will provide an introduction to the discussion based on his Letter on Liberty which is available to read/download here: Risking it all: the freedom to gamble.

Click here for notes from meeting

Tuesday 6^th June 2023
From Low Traffic Neighbourhoods to 15-minute cities -
A war on the car?
Introduction by Dave O'Toole
Chair: Caspar Hewett, Director, The Great Debate

All of a sudden, and as if from nowhere, anti-car measures are springing up all over the UK. Almost three years ago Greater Manchester Council created the world's largest Clean Air Zone at 500 sq miles. It takes in large swathes of rural areas. Since then, almost 100 councils are planning or have implemented similar schemes. Whether they are LEZs, ULEZs, CAZs, LTNs, 20-minute cities, 15-minute neighbourhoods or ZEZs, they all charge or fine drivers. In addition, the Welsh Government has plans to implement a blank 20 mph speed limit. Most of the schemes are justified on the basis that they are being implemented to combat air pollution. Yet, despite this, all of the schemes have vocal opposition. Locally, in Jesmond, there are regular protests by residents.

So, are these measures making our neighbourhoods and cities safer and less polluted? Or are they an undemocratic imposition on residents? Where do these schemes come from and why the sudden attack on car driving? Newcastle Politics in Pubs will do a deep dive into these questions with an introduction from Dave O'Toole.

Click here for notes from meeting

Dave O'Toole is a former IT systems analyst and FE college lecturer and now retired from UCU where he worked as an organiser. He has worked extensively with The Great Debate a community organisation that has organised over 160 events on a wide range of subjects in Newcastle since 1998. Dave has a keen interest in the politics of the environmental movement and writes on the politics of climate alarmism. He blogs at Dave O'Toole and you can follow him on Twitter @DavidJOToole

Tuesday 9^th May 2023
Is the Monarchy Becoming Too Political?
Introduction by Paula Lightfoot
Chair: Caspar Hewett, Director, The Great Debate

"I'm not that stupid. I do realise that it is a separate exercise being sovereign. The idea somehow that I'm going to go on in exactly the same way, is complete nonsense."

Interviewed on his 70th birthday in 2018, Prince Charles emphatically rejected the suggestion that he would continue to 'meddle' in politics if he succeeded to the throne. Now crowned King of the United Kingdom and head of the Commonwealth, is Charles III keeping that promise?

And if not, does it matter? If we care about free speech, shouldn't everyone have the right to air their opinion? Or does a monarch who is not politically neutral pose a threat to democracy?

Will speaking out on social and cultural issues help the Royal Family to remain relevant to a new generation? Or, given the increasingly polarised nature of society, could this undermine their stated goal of acting as a focus for national identity, unity and pride?

Whether you are a staunch royalist, ardent republican or somewhere in between, come along and join our discussion over a drink - we would love to hear your views.

Tuesday 14^th March 2023
Following the Politics, Not the Science
The first Newcastle POLITICS in PUBS meeting
Introduction by Martin Evison
Chair: Caspar Hewett, Director, The Great Debate

In March 2020, the arrival of Covid in Britain was accompanied by the birth of a new government mantra: 'follow the science'. The phrase was used to justify why the UK pivoted abruptly from existing pandemic guidelines, underpinned by scientific and ethical principles, to unprecedented 'lockdowns' - involving travel bans, stay at home orders, mandatory business closures, and vindictive suppression of scepticism and rational and viable alternative strategies.

What caused the UK to become a 'lockdown autocracy' with one of the worst pandemic outcomes in the world - and were we really following the science? Our guest speaker, Martin Evison, will present his own conclusions on whether it was politics, rather than science, which allowed human rights law and the ethics and principles of evidence-based public health to be disregarded by those in charge of the UK Government's response to Covid. Introduction and group discussion - free speech allowed!

If you find this interesting, consider joining The Great Debate facebook group or visit The Great Debate facebook page.
Follow us on Twitter: @greatdebateuk

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