MORE SPEAKERS ANNOUNCED FOR NEWCASTLE CONFERENCE

In the ongoing debate about the UK’s constitutional future, the stories that people tell and believe about the country will have a crucial part to play. In recent years, nationalists have tended to be better at forging a narrative than those who believe that more unites the people of the United Kingdom than divides them.

History, however, and the shared ideals and interests that have long bound the constituent nations of the UK together, suggest that there is nothing inevitable about this. Recognising that narratives win referendums and elections, this conference aims to develop a shared understanding of a narrative for the UK that people can emotionally connect with: what is our story and how do we best tell it?

Tickets are now available via Eventbrite.

The updated programme is below, and individual session timings will follow soon.

These Islands: Our Past, Present, and Future

Day 1: Friday 21st February 12:00 - 18:30

The United Kingdom; The Case For Cooperation

Gordon Brown (Former Prime Minister)

The English Regional Perspective

Andy Burnham (Mayor of Greater Manchester)
Daniel Robinson (Policy Advisor and Historian, Magdalen College, Oxford)
Chi Onwurah (MP for Newcastle Central)
Rosie Duffield (MP for Canterbury)
Frances Weetman (Independent Councillor and Author)

The Historical Perspective

Jane Ohlmeyer (Erasmus Smith's Professor of Modern History, Trinity College Dublin)
Clare Jackson (Historian, Author, and Broadcaster. Senior Tutor, Trinity Hall, Cambridge)
Chris Whatley (Professor of Scottish History, University of Dundee)
Neil McLennan (Senior Lecturer and Education Specialist, University of Aberdeen)

The Language of Debate

Willie Rennie (MSP, Leader of Scottish Liberal Democrats)
Blair McDougall (Former Campaign Director, Better Together)
Eddie Barnes (Former Director of Strategy, Scottish Conservative Party)
Fiona Hill (Former Chief of Staff to PM Theresa May)
Alan Roden (Political Consultant, Former Communications Director, Scottish Labour Party)
Pamela Nash (Chief Executive, Scotland in Union)

Ethics and Unions

Nigel Biggar (Regius Professor of Moral and Pastoral Theology, University of Oxford)
Angus Armstrong (Director of ESRC’s Rebuilding Macroeconomics, NIESR)
Ruth Dudley Edwards (Journalist and Author)
John Lloyd (Author and FT Columnist)
Katy Shaw (Professor of Contemporary Writings, Northumbria University)

The Northumbrians

Dan Jackson (Author)

Moderators

Tom Holland (Historian and Author)
Ali Ansari (Professor of Modern History, University of St Andrews)
Kevin Hague (Chairman, These Islands)
Iain Martin (Editor of Reaction, Columnist for The Times)
Martin Kettle (The Guardian)

Day 2: Saturday 22nd February 10:00 - 18:30

British Identity and Multiculturalism

James Kanagasooriam (Pollster and Strategist)
Baroness Joyce Quin (Former Minister of State for Europe)
Sughra Ahmed (Interfaith Specialist. Former Associate Dean for Religious Life, Stanford University)
Chandrika Kaul (Reader in Modern History, University of St Andrews)
Simon Evans (Comedian, writer, and host of Radio 4’s Simon Evans Goes to Market)

The Economics of Union

Kevin Hague (Chairman, These Islands)
Ronald MacDonald (Professor of Macroeconomics and International Finance, University of Glasgow)
Frances Coppola (Economist, Journalist, and Author)
Chi Onwurah (MP for Newcastle Central)
Angus Armstrong (Director of ESRC’s Rebuilding Macroeconomics, NIESR)
Paul Jourdan (CEO, Amati Global Investors)

Brexit and its Aftershocks

Sir John Curtice (Professor of Politics at the University of Strathclyde)
Rachael Hamilton (MSP for Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire)
Philippe Auclair (Journalist, Author, and Broadcaster)
Struan Stevenson (Chief Executive of SBUK)
Mark Reckless (Member of the National Assembly for Wales for South Wales East)

Britain on the World Stage

Douglas Alexander (Former Cabinet Minister)
Michael Jary (Chair of itad)
Sophia Gaston (Managing Director of British Foreign Policy Group)
Lord Jeremy Purvis (Member of the Executive Committee of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association)

The Constitution Reform Group

Lord Salisbury (Constitution Reform Group)
Carwyn Jones (Former First Minister of Wales and Constitution Reform Group)
Jim Gallagher (Gwilym Gibbon Research Fellow, Nuffield College, Oxford)
Henry Hill (Assistant Editor, ConservativeHome)
Wendy Chamberlain (MP for North East Fife and Lib Dem Constitutional Affairs Spokesperson)

Two Narratives for a Future Referendum Campaign

Colin Kidd (Professor of Modern History, University of St Andrews)
Gerry Hassan (Author and Senior Research Fellow, University of Dundee)
Chris Whatley (Professor of Scottish History, University of Dundee)
Ramsay Jones (Former Special Advisor on Scotland to PM David Cameron)
Blair McDougall (Former Campaign Director, Better Together)

A Conservative Perspective

Sir David Lidington (Former Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster)

Moderators

Ali Ansari (Professor of Modern History, University of St Andrews)
Ayesha Hazarika​ (Evening Standard)
Baroness Joyce Quin (Former Minister of State for Europe)
Iain Martin (Editor of Reaction, Columnist for The Times)
Martin Kettle (The Guardian)
Philip Rycroft (Former Permanent Secretary at the Department for Exiting the European Union, and UK Governance Group)
Sebastian Payne (FT)

Tickets are now available via Eventbrite.