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Battle Book Club: 'Flesh' by David Szalay
The Book Club returns in April, in partnership with The Booking Club podcast, to discuss the 2025 Booker Prize winner.
 • Emma Gilland
Why politics never produces great schools
This guest essay by educationalist and author Joe Nutt offers some serious suggestions to politicians about how we can start to deliver better education…
 • Claire Fox
Marco Rubio: different tone, same message
The US secretary of state was more diplomatic than JD Vance, but the truth is that the Trump administration just doesn't trust Europe.
 • Rob Lyons
Never mind the ballots: here's Battle of Ideas North
Our one-day event on Saturday 7 March in Manchester is a fantastic opportunity to debate the state of the nation away from the concerns of the…
 • Claire Fox
Chagossians fight back
Tessa Clarke argues that it's not too late to support the demands of Chagossians for self-determination – whether the treaty deal handing sovereignty to…
 • Tessa Clarke
The graduate job market is broken – thanks to HR
Eye-watering student loans and a lack of graduate jobs are hurting young people. The way that companies hire – or not – is an insult. No wonder so many…
 • Jake Weston
Inside the Lords: Mandelson furore, threats to parliamentary democracy, decriminalising abortion
In her first Inside the Lords of 2026, Claire Fox argues that Labour should be under far more pressure over its numerous failings in government than the…
 • Claire Fox
Abortion: understanding new approaches to women's freedom
What can rising numbers of early abortions tell us about the birthrate, women's autonomy and family planning?
 • Ellie Lee and Ella Whelan
The battle for free speech comes to Manchester
In advance of Battle of Ideas North on Saturday 7 March, Claire Fox explains how the authorities are increasingly stifling our ability to express our…
 • Claire Fox
Against the social-media ban for under 16s
Claire Fox spoke in the House of Lords about the rush to clamp down, the very mixed evidence that a ban would protect children and the impacts of a ban…
 • Claire Fox
The ‘Old World Order’ is over, but a new one is not inevitable
As Western leaders debate Donald Trump’s demands over Greenland, read Phil Mullan’s speech from last year’s Battle of Ideas festival.
 • Claire Fox
Announcing Battle of Ideas North 2026
We're bringing the festival's spirit of frank and open debate to Manchester on Saturday 7 March. Join us!
 • Claire Fox
47:16
China's Trump card? Rare earths and geopolitics
This recording from the Battle of Ideas festival explains why the drive to secure new supplies of these crucial elements, to counter China's near…
 • Rob Lyons
Battle Book Club: 'Drive Your Plow Over the Bones of the Dead' by Olga Tokarczuk
Emma Gilland introduces our next book club discussion, which takes place next Tuesday evening, online via Zoom.
 • Emma Gilland
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