|
As the Conservative conference rumbles on, away from the scripted main stage, all the best stuff is happening at ThinkTent.
|
|
|
With this in mind, we thought you might like to have a look at all the events we're hosting. If you're attending the conference in Manchester, please come along to these exciting debates and discussions. If not, you can still be part of the action by tuning in online. All of our sessions are live streamed and you can see them here.
|
|
Reckless or revolutionary: Experimentation in local government
09.00am – 10.00am
Speakers:
Elliot Keck, Head of campaigns, TaxPayers’ Alliance (Chair)
Martin Beckford, Policy editor, Daily Mail
Cllr Joanne Laban, Councillor, Enfield council
Lee Rowley MP, Parliamentary Undersecretary of State for Local Government and Building Safety
Cllr Andrew Sheldon, Councillor, Essex county council
Cllr Heather Williams, Leader of the opposition, South Cambridgeshire district council
|
|
|
As council budgets become increasingly stretched, more and more local authorities are looking at new ways to raise funds to fund services and limit the need for council tax rises. But as more and more experiment, more and more are running into trouble. Whether it’s South Cambridgeshire’s failing four-day week trial or Woking’s spectacular bankruptcy, there are serious questions about whether such experimentation should be considered genuinely radical, or simply reckless.
|
|
The great aid debate: Should charity start at home?
11.30am – 12.30pm
Speakers:
John O’Connell, Chief executive, TaxPayers’ Alliance (Chair)
Latika Bourke, Journalist, Sydney Morning Herald
Emily Carver, Presenter, GB News
Ryan Henson, Chief executive officer, Coalition for Global Prosperity
Tom Hunt MP
|
|
|
With government budgets under pressure, should the UK be looking to restore its foreign aid spending to 0.7 per cent of GNI? Does overseas aid and development represent value for money or are there more deserving causes here at home? Join the TPA and Coalition for Global Prosperity as we try to answer these questions and more.
|
|
Blue with envy: Have the Tories turned their backs on success?
2.00pm – 3.00pm
Speakers:
John O’Connell, Chief executive, TaxPayers’ Alliance (Chair)
Paul Barnes, Chief executive officer, Association for International Retail
Emily Fielder, Director of communications, Adam Smith Institute
Lance Forman, Owner, H. Forman & Son
Dr Azeem Ibrahim, Research professor, US Army War College
Ranil Jayawardena MP
|
|
|
With a 70 year high tax burden and sluggish growth, have the Tories turned their backs on wealth creation in favour of state intervention and handouts? Are Brits ashamed of success? Why is profit a dirty word? Should we introduce wealth taxes, or should hard work and success be celebrated?
|
|
Should the Conservatives show spending restraint with an election looming? 4.30pm – 5.30pm
Speakers:
John O’Connell, Chief executive, TaxPayers’ Alliance (Chair)
Alys Denby, Editor, CapX
John Glen MP, Chief secretary to the treasury
Ben Hopkinson, Policy researcher, Britain Remade
Matthew Lynn, Financial columnist, Daily Telegraph
|
|
|
Conventional wisdom has it that reducing public spending is unpopular. But are there lessons from the 2015 election victory? Is polling really in favour of more spending on almost everything? Does ‘the size of the state’ mean anything to voters? How can the government get public spending under control to leave the private sector breathing room?
|
|
Benjamin Elks
Operations Manager
|
|
|
|
|
