Labour party conference, Manchester
Policy Commission II fringe event: ‘Is nuclear energy the answer?’
Lord Hunt, Professor Freer, and Stephen Tindale participated in a fringe debate at the Labour Party Conference on 1st October 2012 titled “Is Nuclear Energy the Answer?” which produced lively debate over whether expansion of the nuclear energy sector would provide significant new jobs, as well as meeting the energy gap left by renewables, and discussed, following labour’s plans to scrap the regulator, the future of Ofgem.
The full debate panel consisted of:
- Phillip Hunt, Baron Hunt of Kings Heath (chairman)
- Prof Martin Freer, director, Birmingham Centre for Nuclear Energy and Research
- Tom Greatrex MP, shadow energy minister
- Geoffrey Lean, environmental correspondent, Daily Telegraph
- Stephen Tindale, co founder, Climate Answers
Conservative party conference, Birmingham
Policy Commission IV fringe event: ‘Wealth: are we all in it together?’
This debate was organised to launch the fourth Birmingham Policy Commission on the ‘Distribution of Wealth in the UK’. Panel members debated what the most effective and ethical levels of taxation should be for Britain. Bishop David Urquhart, Chair of the Commission, also chaired the debate during which panellists debated the most effective and ethical levels of taxation for both the richest and poorest in British society.
The full debate panel consisted of:
- David Urquhart - Bishop of Birmingham and Chair of the Birmingham Policy Commission (Chair)
- Mark Florman - Director, Centre for Social Justice
- Robert Hutton - UK Political Correspondent, Bloomberg
- Fraser Nelson - Editor, The Spectator
- Professor Karen Rowlingson - University of Birmingham
- Matthew Sinclair - Chief Executive, Taxpayers’ Alliance