Saturday, 1 April 2023 Contact us
Thomas-simpson
Thomas Simpson
Alice-sherwood
Alice Sherwood
Stephenlaw
Stephen Law

Oxford Debate. Trust, Corruption, and Politicians

Thomas Simpson, Alice Sherwood and Marina Purkiss Chaired by Stephen Law

Saturday, 1 April 2023

4:00pm

1 hour 15 minutes

Randolph Hotel: Ballroom

£7 - £12.50

Public policy expert Professor Thomas Simpson, former BBC producer Alice Sherwood and political commentator Marina Purkiss debate the declining reputation of our politicians and ask whether it is corroding our democracy.

Recent polling suggests that 63% believe our politicians are mainly in it for themselves. Only one in 20 think politicians are in it for their country’s best interests. The Tory Party has been immersed in accusations of sleaze and corruption, with huge sums of public money being awarded in contracts to friends and supporters. The Labour leader has broken all ten of the pledges he made to the membership to get himself elected. Could the reputation of our politicians as untrustworthy corrode the foundations of our democracy?

Simpson is associate professor of philosophy and public policy at the Blavatnik School of Government, University of Oxford, and a senior research fellow at Wadham College. He works on trust and issues at the intersection of technology and security. Sherwood is senior visiting research fellow at the Policy Institute at King’s College London. She has worked in business, in television documentary production, and as an education and multimedia producer at the BBC. Authenticity: Reclaiming Reality in a Counterfeit Culture is Sherwood’s first book. Purkiss a political commentator and campaigner. She features on Channel 5’s Jeremy Vine Show, Good Morning Britain, BBC radio, and Piers Morgan’s Uncensored, and has also written for Fortune Magazine and has her own politically charged (but fun) podcast, The Trawl.

Discussions are chaired by Dr Stephen Law, a philosopher and academic, author of bestselling introductions to philosophy for adults and children, editor of the Royal Institute of Philosophy Journal Think, and the festival’s major projects director.

The Feathers Hotel Woodstock festival hotel The Randolph Hotel by Graduate Hotels Sponsor of the festival crime fiction programme Blackwell’s Festival on-site and online bookseller International Literary Properties Supporters of the festival green room The Dorchester Hotels Collection Festival London hotel partner Italian Embassy Supporter of Italian programme Republic of Panama Event generously supported by Republic of Panama Cervantes Institute, London Spanish Embassy Event generously supported by the Spanish Embassy Oxford Martin School Festival ideas partner Bodleian Libraries Festival cultural partner Owen Mumford Supporter of programme of science and medicine and annual science and innovation award BBC World Service International radio partner Cultural Relations Platform Supporter of the festival's Voices of Europe programme European Union Delegation of the European Union to the United Kingdom Netflix University of Oxford FT Weekend Title partner Marlene Hauser Mary and Cecil Quillen Supporters of the programme of American literature and culture Jill Dunsmore David Isaac Carole and John Allen Lucian Hudson Pank Koria CEO of Project People Masumi and Jonathan Dobson Miles Young Emily Rose and James Marrow Supporters of the programme of American literature and culture George Warren Lady Hatch Patron donor for the programme of Irish literature and culture John Roberts Trinity College Trinity College St Cross College St Cross College Lincoln College Lincoln College Worcester College Worcester College New College Exeter College Exeter College: college home of the festival Oxford Centre for Hebrew and Jewish Studies British Academy Royal Academy of Arts Project People Institute of Hospitality Thje Menu Partners Foodbuy Jewish Book Week Partner of Jewish programme Bantam Doubleday Doubleday Transworld TORVA Books which change you, your mind, your world Princeton University Press Prestige publishing partner Symington Wines of the Douro Valley Compassion in World Farming Pasture to Plate Oxford Brookes University Oxford University Images Oxford University Images The Sheldonian Theatre Critchleys Accountants to the festival CAV Oxford Felicity Bryan Associates Conference Oxford Oxford Centre for Islamic Studies University of Oxford Alumni Office Alumni Office Paul Bloomfield Ltd Bear Ram Elk Festival Digital Strategy & Web Design BBC Radio Oxford Local radio partner The Oxford Times Regional media partner Racalia Olive Oil Olive oil from Sicily Schoolreaders The Litmus Partnership K T Bruce Photography K T Bruce Photography Ox in a Box OX magazine Siren Communications Siren Communications - corporate consultants Chêne Bleu Wines of Provence The Wild Geese James Currey Society Pusey House Confucius Institute Literature Ireland Flip through Flanders La Leccia
 

FT Weekend Oxford Literary Festival sponsors, donors & partners

The Feathers Hotel Woodstock festival hotel The Randolph Hotel by Graduate Hotels Sponsor of the festival crime fiction programme Blackwell’s Festival on-site and online bookseller International Literary Properties Supporters of the festival green room The Dorchester Hotels Collection Festival London hotel partner Italian Embassy Supporter of Italian programme Republic of Panama Event generously supported by Republic of Panama Cervantes Institute, London Spanish Embassy Event generously supported by the Spanish Embassy Oxford Martin School Festival ideas partner Bodleian Libraries Festival cultural partner Owen Mumford Supporter of programme of science and medicine and annual science and innovation award BBC World Service International radio partner Cultural Relations Platform Supporter of the festival's Voices of Europe programme European Union Delegation of the European Union to the United Kingdom Netflix University of Oxford FT Weekend Title partner Marlene Hauser Mary and Cecil Quillen Supporters of the programme of American literature and culture Jill Dunsmore David Isaac Carole and John Allen Lucian Hudson Pank Koria CEO of Project People Masumi and Jonathan Dobson Miles Young Emily Rose and James Marrow Supporters of the programme of American literature and culture George Warren Lady Hatch Patron donor for the programme of Irish literature and culture John Roberts Trinity College Trinity College St Cross College St Cross College Lincoln College Lincoln College Worcester College Worcester College New College Exeter College Exeter College: college home of the festival Oxford Centre for Hebrew and Jewish Studies British Academy Royal Academy of Arts Project People Institute of Hospitality Thje Menu Partners Foodbuy Jewish Book Week Partner of Jewish programme Bantam Doubleday Doubleday Transworld TORVA Books which change you, your mind, your world Princeton University Press Prestige publishing partner Symington Wines of the Douro Valley Compassion in World Farming Pasture to Plate Oxford Brookes University Oxford University Images Oxford University Images The Sheldonian Theatre Critchleys Accountants to the festival CAV Oxford Felicity Bryan Associates Conference Oxford Oxford Centre for Islamic Studies University of Oxford Alumni Office Alumni Office Paul Bloomfield Ltd Bear Ram Elk Festival Digital Strategy & Web Design BBC Radio Oxford Local radio partner The Oxford Times Regional media partner Racalia Olive Oil Olive oil from Sicily Schoolreaders The Litmus Partnership K T Bruce Photography K T Bruce Photography Ox in a Box OX magazine Siren Communications Siren Communications - corporate consultants Chêne Bleu Wines of Provence The Wild Geese James Currey Society Pusey House Confucius Institute Literature Ireland Flip through Flanders La Leccia