2021 Events

We are delighted to invite you to join an online Bright Blue public panel event.

This discussion will focus on how virtual measures in Parliament allowed for more inclusive participation of MPs in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic. Yet as we return to normality, should the option of remote participation in Parliament be retained? Doing so may better support MPs who suffer from ill health, have caring or childcare responsibilities, or simply want to spend more time in their constituencies. Our panellists will discuss the advantages, disadvantages, and effects of virtual measures in Parliament, and what we could lose if virtual measures are removed.

Speakers:

• The Rt Hon Karen Bradley MP, Chair, Procedure Select Committee
• The Rt Hon Lord Anderson of Ipswich, Former Independent Reviewer of Terrorism Legislation
• Resham Kotecha, Head of Engagement, Women2Win
• Dr Jessica C. Smith, Lecturer in Politics, Southampton University, and co-author of the Hybrid Parliament report.
• Phoebe Arslanagić-Wakefield, Researcher at Bright Blue (Chair)

Key questions:

• What impact would a hybrid Parliament system have on the range and type of candidates who stand to become MPs?
• Which social groups would particularly benefit from a hybrid Parliament system?
• Would the option of virtual participation in Parliament see MPs spend more time in their constituencies?
• Could a hybrid Parliament system be part of eroding the concept that MPs are detached, Westminster elites?
• Given that the public support the option of virtual participation by MPs in Parliament after the pandemic, what barriers prevent adoption of this policy?

Date: Tuesday 15 June 2021, 12:00 – 13:00

Venue: Online on our YouTube channel here.

RSVP: Sign up for updates via Eventbrite here

Q&A: Submit a question on Slido here.

For our Spring Drink Tank, we have invited Laura Farris MP to discuss women’s safety.

Laura is a Member of Parliament for Newbury since December 2019. Prior to that she worked as a barrister specialising in employment and public law. In the House of Commons she sits on the Home Affairs Select Committee.

We are delighted to invite you to a Bright Blue and British Future half-day online conference entitled What next for immigration?, which will be held on Monday 24th May 2021 from 11:00am. This conference will open with a keynote speech from the Home Secretary, The Rt Hon Priti Patel MP.

The Home Secretary will set out the next stage of the Government’s end-to-end reform of the asylum, borders and visas system as part of the New Plan for Immigration, including:

• Plans for the asylum system
• The digitisation of the UK border system
• The points-based immigration system

If you would like to submit a question to the Home Secretary, please send it by 12pm on Sunday 23rd May 2021 to Weronika Patyk, our Events and Operations Manager, on weronika@brightblue.org.uk. Please state your name and organisation when you submit your question.

Agenda:

11.00am Welcome remarks by Ryan Shorthouse, Chief Executive of Bright Blue
11.05am Keynote speech by The Rt Hon Priti Patel MP, Home Secretary
11.25am Q&A with audience
11.45am Closing remarks

12.00pm – 13.15pm Migration for work: beyond Brexit and COVID-19

• Madeleine Sumption, Director, Migration Observatory, University of Oxford
• Salma Shah, Former Special Adviser to the Home Secretary, Sajid Javid
• Martin McTague, Policy and Advocacy Chairman, Federation of Small Business
• Brendan Ryan, Chief Executive, Nomadic
• Heather Rolfe, Head of Research and Relationships, British Future
• CHAIR: Nikita Malik, Deputy Director, Bright Blue

13.30pm – 14.45pm Refugees and asylum protection: challenges ahead

• David Simmonds MP, Member, Education Select Committee
• Dame Sara Thornton, Independent Anti-Slavery Commissioner
• Enver Solomon, Chief Executive, The Refugee Council
• Arten Llazari, CEO, Refugee and Migrant Centre, Black Country and Birmingham
• Professor Alex Betts, Leopold Muller Professor of Forced Migration and International Affairs, University of Oxford
• CHAIR: Sunder Katwala, Director, British Future

Date:

Monday 24th May 2021, 11:00am – 14:45pm

RSVP:

This event is free and open to all, but pre-registration is required via Eventbrite. Details of how to join the conference will be confirmed with guests nearer the date.

Join Bright Blue for our next Ludgate Lecture, which is on the future of journalism with the Editor-in-Chief of Bloomberg, John Micklethwait.

We are delighted to invite you to join our next event in our new Ludgate Lectures series where we will hear from prominent thinkers and decision makers on the biggest issues of our time.

In our next event, we will host John Micklethwait, the Editor-in-Chief of Bloomberg and former Editor-in-Chief of The Economist. He will speak to the Chair of Bright Blue, Sarah Sands, about the future of journalism and will answer questions from attendees.

This event is free and open to all. You can watch it via the link above, but you can register for updates and reminders on Eventbrite here. Contact Weronika Patyk at weronika@brightblue.org.uk if you have any queries.

Please note the start time has been updated from an 11:00 start to a 10:30 start.

We are delighted to invite you to join our next event of our new series entitled Looking ahead to the 2021 COPs. This panel event is entitled ‘Cleaner waters: protecting our rivers and oceans‘.

This panel event series from Bright Blue is an opportunity to discuss and debate new ideas and policies to tackle the interrelated crises of climate change and biodiversity decline ahead of the two COPs in 2021: the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change COP26 in Glasgow and the UN Biodiversity Conference COP15 in China.

Speakers:

• Sir Oliver Heald MP, Vice Chair, APPG on Chalk Streams
• Hugo Tagholm, CEO, Surfers Against Sewage
• Deborah Leach, Chief Executive, Thames21
• Richard Parry, CEO, Canal and River Trust
• Andrew Leming, Researcher, Bright Blue (Chair)

Key questions:

• How critical are marine carbon sinks in the fight against climate change?
• What impact is sewage and other pollutants having on our waterways, and how can this be addressed?
• Are further policies needed to safeguard marine biodiversity in UK territorial waters?
• Does the Fisheries Act adequately protect the UK’s marine environment?

Date:

Friday 14th May 2021, 11:00am – 12:15pm

RSVP:

This event is free and open to all on our YouTube channel here, but you can also register through Eventbrite here and we will send you the joining instructions.

Q&A:

Attendees can submit questions, before or during the event, via Slido here or by using the code: #brightblue.

We are delighted to invite you to join our second event of our new series entitled Looking ahead to the 2021 COPs. This panel event is entitled ‘Green habits: Nudging consumers towards sustainable lifestyles.‘

This panel event series from Bright Blue is an opportunity to discuss and debate new ideas and policies to tackle the interrelated crises of climate change and biodiversity decline ahead of the two COPs in 2021: the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change COP26 in Glasgow and the UN Biodiversity Conference COP15 in China.

Speakers:

• Anthony Browne MP, Chair, All Party Parliamentary Environment Group
• Louise Davies, Chief Executive, Vegan Society
• Professor David Halpern, Chief Executive, Behavioural Insights Team
• Andrew Leming, Researcher, Bright Blue (Chair)

Key questions:

• How can consumers be made more aware of the environmental impact of goods and services, as well as their carbon impact?
• How can social norms around carbon-intensive consumption be changed?
• Should a minimum sustainability standard be placed on consumer products to stop the sale of products which greatly exploit the natural environment?
• How can consumer participation in carbon-offsetting be increased?

Date:

Friday 23rd April 2021, 16:30 – 17:45

Join Bright Blue for the ‘Ludgate Lectures: Female leadership’.

We are delighted to invite you to join our next event in our new lecture series where we will hear from prominent thinkers and decision makers on the biggest issues of our time.

This April we will host The Honourable Julia Gillard AC, former Prime Minister of Australia, to speak about ‘Female leadership’. She will speak to the Chair of Bright Blue, Sarah Sands, and will answer questions from attendees.

The Honourable Julia Gillard AC serves as the Chairwoman of Global Partnership for Education. Julia was the Prime Minister of Australia and Leader of the Australian Labour Party from 2010 to 2013. Previously, she was the Deputy Prime Minister of Australia from 2007 to 2010, and held cabinet positions across education, employment and workplace relations and social inclusion from 2007 to 2010.