Academy of Ideas

Subscribe to the Academy of Ideas Substack for more information on the next Battle and future events: https://clairefox.substack.com/subscribe SHOULD THERE BE A MENTAL-HEALTH PROFESSIONAL IN EVERY SCHOOL? https://www.battleofideas.org.uk/session/should-there-be-a-mental-health-professional-in-every-school/ There is no doubt that far too many of our children and young people are not thriving mental...

Subscribe to the Academy of Ideas Substack for more information on the next Battle and future events: https://clairefox.substack.com/subscribe WHAT SHOULD SCHOOLS TEACH ABOUT SEX AND RELATIONSHIPS? https://www.battleofideas.org.uk/session/what-should-schools-teach-about-sex-and-relationships/ Successive governments have struggled with Relationships, Sex and Health Education (RSHE). But in July, th...

Subscribe to the Academy of Ideas Substack for more information on the next Battle and future events: https://clairefox.substack.com/subscribe CONTEMPT OF COURT: PROTECTING THE INNOCENT OR STIFLING DEBATE? https://www.battleofideas.org.uk/session/contempt-of-court-is-it-time-for-a-reboot/ Contempt of court has traditionally been respected as crucial to justice and fair trials. Even the most ardent...

Subscribe to the Academy of Ideas Substack for more information on the next Battle and future events: https://clairefox.substack.com/subscribe THE FRAGILE FOUNDATIONS OF CHINA'S RISE https://www.battleofideas.org.uk/session/the-fragile-foundations-of-chinas-rise/ China, as they say, is riddled with contradictions. While the Financial Times recently pointed to a decline in China’s economic momentum...

Subscribe to the Academy of Ideas Substack for more information on the next Battle and future events: https://clairefox.substack.com/subscribe THE BATTLE OVER MONEY: GOLD, BITCOIN AND GEOPOLITICS https://www.battleofideas.org.uk/session/the-battle-over-money-gold-bitcoin-and-geopolitics/ Money is not neutral. We may use it to buy and sell, and to store wealth, but governments can use it as a polit...

Subscribe to the Academy of Ideas Substack for more information on the next Battle and future events: https://clairefox.substack.com/subscribe WHO WILL DETERMINE THE FUTURE OF THE MIDDLE EAST? https://www.battleofideas.org.uk/session/who-will-determine-the-future-of-the-middle-east/ The Middle East is again at the epicentre of the news – though it never really left. War rages in Gaza, unrest flare...

Subscribe to the Academy of Ideas Substack for more information on the next Battle and future events: https://clairefox.substack.com/subscribe CAN TRUMP BRING PEACE TO THE WORLD? https://www.battleofideas.org.uk/session/can-trump-bring-peace-to-the-world/ ‘I want to end it. You know, we’re not losing American lives… we’re losing Russian and Ukrainian mostly soldiers. I want to try and get to heave...

Subscribe to the Academy of Ideas Substack for more information on the next Battle and future events: https://clairefox.substack.com/subscribe ARE HUMAN RIGHTS SCUPPERING DEMOCRACY? https://www.battleofideas.org.uk/session/are-human-rights-scuppering-democracy/ A particular brand of legalism seems to exist at the heart of government today. Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s background is as a human-rig...

Subscribe to the Academy of Ideas Substack for more information on the next Battle and future events: https://clairefox.substack.com/subscribe IS GERMANY READY FOR REVOLT? https://www.battleofideas.org.uk/session/should-the-west-get-ready-for-war/ The past year has seen a flurry of announcements about military investment in Western countries. Following Trump’s re-election, and his blunt demand tha...

Subscribe to the Academy of Ideas Substack for more information on the next Battle and future events: https://clairefox.substack.com/subscribe OUT WITH THE OLD, IN WITH THE NEW WORLD ORDER https://www.battleofideas.org.uk/session/out-with-the-old-in-with-the-new-world-order/ The process of globalisation was supposed to make the world a more uniform place. But that prospect seems to have evaporated...

Subscribe to the Academy of Ideas Substack for more information on the next Battle and future events: https://clairefox.substack.com/subscribe EU IN CRISIS: WILL THE EUROCRATS SURVIVE? https://www.battleofideas.org.uk/session/scrutinising-the-eu-can-the-centre-hold/ In July, Ursula von der Leyen survived a no-confidence vote as president of the European Commission – the first time the so-called ‘n...

Subscribe to the Academy of Ideas Substack for more information on the next Battle and future events: https://clairefox.substack.com/subscribe SHOULD THE WEST GET READY FOR WAR? https://www.battleofideas.org.uk/session/should-the-west-get-ready-for-war/ The past year has seen a flurry of announcements about military investment in Western countries. Following Trump’s re-election, and his blunt dema...

Subscribe to the Academy of Ideas Substack for more information on the next Battle and future events: https://clairefox.substack.com/subscribe WHY DO PROGRESSIVES SEEM TO HATE THE WORKING CLASS? https://www.battleofideas.org.uk/session/why-do-progressives-seem-to-hate-the-working-class/ When the Colston statue in Bristol was replaced with a sculpture of a fat, bald man wedged in a wheelie bin, the...

Subscribe to the Academy of Ideas Substack for more information on the next Battle and future events: https://clairefox.substack.com/subscribe FROM REFORM TO BLUE LABOUR: WILL THE WORKING CLASS FIND A VOICE AT LAST? https://www.battleofideas.org.uk/session/from-reform-to-blue-labour-will-the-working-class-find-a-voice-at-last/ Whichever way you look, the lanyard political classes are under siege....

Subscribe to the Academy of Ideas Substack for more information on the next Battle and future events: https://clairefox.substack.com/subscribe PALESTINE ACTION: TO BAN OR NOT TO BAN? https://www.battleofideas.org.uk/session/palestine-action-to-ban-or-not-to-ban/ The decision to proscribe Palestine Action (PA) as a terrorist organisation has been one of the Labour government’s most contentious deci...

Subscribe to the Academy of Ideas Substack for more information on the next Battle and future events: https://clairefox.substack.com/subscribe WHY IS CIVIL WAR A TALKING POINT? https://www.battleofideas.org.uk/session/why-is-civil-war-a-talking-point/ Civil war in Britain is ‘inevitable’, prophesised Elon Musk after riots broke out following the Southport murders last summer. While we’ve yet to se...

Subscribe to the Academy of Ideas Substack for more information on the next Battle and future events: https://clairefox.substack.com/subscribe FACE TIME? THE PROS AND CONS OF BURQA BANS https://www.battleofideas.org.uk/session/face-time-the-pros-and-cons-of-burqa-bans/ When Sarah Pochin used her first parliamentary question as a new Reform Party MP to ask about banning the burqa, she reignited a l...

Subscribe to the Academy of Ideas Substack for more information on the next Battle and future events: https://clairefox.substack.com/subscribe THE PROBLEM WITH DEFINING ISLAMOPHOBIA https://www.battleofideas.org.uk/session/the-problem-with-defining-islamophobia/ In February 2025, the then deputy prime minister and communities secretary, Angela Rayner, established an independent government working...

Subscribe to the Academy of Ideas Substack for more information on the next Battle and future events: https://clairefox.substack.com/subscribe GB NEWS FREE SPEECH NATION WITH JOSH HOWIE https://www.battleofideas.org.uk/session/free-speech-nation-with-josh-howie-live-tv-recording/ Join this special live edition of Free Speech Nation, Josh Howie’s weekly current affairs show on GB News. The aim of t...

Subscribe to the Academy of Ideas Substack for more information on the next Battle and future events: https://clairefox.substack.com/subscribe FREE SPEECH IN TRUMP'S AMERICA https://www.battleofideas.org.uk/session/free-speech-in-trumps-america/ Speaking at this year’s Munich Security Conference, the US vice president, JD Vance, declared: ‘Free speech, I fear, is in retreat’, vowing that the Trump...

Subscribe to the Academy of Ideas Substack for more information on the next Battle and future events: https://clairefox.substack.com/subscribe ANDRES DOYLE ON THE END OF WOKE https://www.battleofideas.org.uk/session/meet-the-author-andrew-doyle-on-the-end-of-woke/ In The End of Woke, renowned writer and comedian Andrew Doyle traces the rise and fall of the ‘woke’ cultural revolution. Despite the p...

Subscribe to the Academy of Ideas Substack for more information on the next Battle and future events: https://clairefox.substack.com/subscribe DIGITAL ID: PRIVACY VS SAFETY? https://www.battleofideas.org.uk/session/digital-id-privacy-vs-safety/ National ID cards have been a hotly debated issue for decades in Britain. Being able to unambiguously prove who you are can be extremely useful for us all...

Subscribe to the Academy of Ideas Substack for more information on the next Battle and future events: https://clairefox.substack.com/subscribe THINK OF THE CHILDREN: CAN WE HAVE ONLINE SAFETY WITHOUT CENSORSHIP? https://www.battleofideas.org.uk/session/think-of-the-children-can-we-have-online-safety-without-censorship/ Recently, the US government has raised diplomatic concerns about the state of f...

Subscribe to the Academy of Ideas Substack for more information on the next Battle and future events: https://clairefox.substack.com/subscribe POLICING TODAY: TWO-TIER JUSTICE? https://www.battleofideas.org.uk/session/policing-and-two-tier-justice/ From accusations of ‘two-tier’ justice to an inability to tackle everyday criminality, the disarray enveloping British institutions is nowhere more evi...

Subscribe to the Academy of Ideas Substack for more information on the next Battle and future events: https://clairefox.substack.com/subscribe WELCOME ADDRESS https://www.battleofideas.org.uk/session/battle-of-ideas-festival/ The twentieth annual Battle of Ideas festival will open with a Welcome Address. Why we need Battle of Ideas festival 2025 In advance the weekend at Church House Westminster,...