Gavin Esler and Grace Blakeley Stephen Law

Journalists and authors Gavin Esler and Grace Blakely discuss whether the British political system is broken or operating as designed and what can be done to improve it.

It is widely commented that the British and other political systems are ‘broken’. Citizens increasingly feel disempowered, frustrated, and without hope. Corporations increasingly seem to have a chokehold on our political leadership. Record profits are made, yet wages stagnate. Governments, elected by a minority of voters, line the pockets of their donors, while whittling away at our individual rights. Corruption is rife. Lying and distrust are endemic. Are these signs of a broken political system, or is the system actually operating exactly as designed? How can we achieve significant and lasting improvement, and build a better future for us all?

Gavin Esler is a journalist, television presenter and author. He was a main presenter on the BBC’s flagship political analysis programme Newsnight from 2003 until 2014 and has also presented BBC News at Five on the BBC News TV Channel. Esler also stood as a candidate for Change UK in London at the 2019 European Parliament election. His latest book is Britain is Better Than This.

Blakeley is a staff writer at Tribune Magazine and author of books including Vulture Capitalism: Corporate Crimes, Backdoor Bailouts and the Death of Freedom. She is former economics commentator for the New Statesman and a former research fellow at the Institute for Public Policy Research. Blakeley appears frequently in the media, including on BBC Question Time, ITV’s Good Morning Britain, and Talk TV’s Piers Morgan Uncensored.

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.