24 November 2008
The concept behind Radio Four’s ‘thought for the day’ came to life at this month’s Insight Club breakfast when figures from politics, business, academia and the media met to exchange views on key issues of the day. The possibility of a spring election prompted excited discussion.
The networking event, organised by Editorial Intelligence and Cision, saw 30 of their guests meet at club One Alfred Place in central London on Thursday 20th November, where they had a chance to meet up in an informal setting and engage in rigorous debate over coffee and croissants.
David Ruffley MP, Shadow Minister for Police Reform, kick-started the event with three reasons why Gordon Brown should call an early spring election – and then three reasons why he won’t.
The Tory MP for Bury St Edmunds concluded: ‘If you look at the respectable polls, there’s a kicker for Gordon Brown. When people are asked if they think Gordon is the best person to get us through the recession, they say yes.
‘It’s a fact, I’m not happy about it, but it remains a fact. But when they are asked who they would vote for in an election to lead Britain into the future, David Cameron kills Brown. Brown knows that if he calls an election he risks being kicked out, but he wants to hang on as Prime Minister for as long as possible.’
Following Ruffley’s ‘thought for the day’ the session was opened to the floor, with guests giving their own take on the opinions expressed.
Online magazine publisher John Kelly said he believed Ruffley had been ‘too fair on Gordon Brown’.
He said: ‘I don’t think Brown is testing out a new paradigm. He is using an old paradigm. John Maynard Keynes and Roosevelt had great ideas at the time, and trench warfare probably seemed like a good idea too.
‘However, we are facing unprecedented economic circumstances and we are using old tools to do the job.’
The second, speaker, Yasmin Alibhai-Brown, commentator for The Independent, spoke about how the family in the UK had become ‘fetishised and privatised’ and that this was one of the reasons for the tragedy of Baby P in Haringey.
Under Margaret Thatcher and Tony Blair, the family had become ‘self-sufficient and autonomous bodies, she said, which had become disconnected from the rest of society.
As a result, social workers have been afraid to take children they suspected to be at risk, because there is a fear of falsely accusing parents of abuse, and because ‘the family knows best.’
Alibhai-Brown added: ‘Social workers in Haringey were trying very hard to protect Baby P. Tories are too pro-family and we have to re-think what we do in this situation. It’s far better to have false accusations against a family than it is to have unprotected children.’
Guest John Williams, Chairman of Tomorrow’s Company, praised the event. He said: ‘It’s a great format and it’s great to be opinionated at this time of the morning!’
Guests included Caroel Stone, MD, YouGovStone; Jo Oakes, Head of Media, NESTA and Tony Halmos, Director of PR, City of London Corporation
Afterwards, ei Chief Executive Julia Hobsbawm said: ‘What we have identified is an appetite for live discussion that also connects with the data business that we are in.
‘Our clients not only read and monitor and analyse the world of news and opinion through our services, but increasingly they become part of that live discussion themselves.
‘Despite having 1,000 people who come to our Insight Club events, we make sure each event has an immediacy and intimacy with much smaller numbers so everyone can actively participate.’
Edward Bird, Marketing Director for Cision noted, “These events are a great opportunity for our clients to meet key influencers of the national news agenda and learn more about the thinking driving that agenda.”
To learn more, please contact marketing.uk@cision.com or visit the Editorial Intelligence website
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