For years the issue of the EU has had a major presence in British political life. In 2016 the issue will finally come to a head with a long anticipated referendum.
Too often British debates on Europe have focused exclusively on technical issues and assumed that the single real measure on which to measure Europe is economic. The debate becomes mired in technical and economic models which are ill-understood but more relevantly, also fail to get to the root of the issue; what should Europe look like?
To examine that question more fully Theos invited a panel of speakers with very different idealistic models of what the future of Europe ought to look like to present their ideal future for Europe. The event, to be held at Europe House in London will be an opportunity to examine the fundamental question about how continent ought to be governed in the future. It will also launch a new report from Theos entitled 'A Soul for the Union'.
Speakers included:
Rt Hon Sir Simon Hughes. Simon Hughes is one of Britain’s best known Liberal Democrat politicians, having served as an MP in South London from 1983-2015. He was Deputy Leader of the Liberal Democrats from 2010-2014 and a former Minister of State for Justice and Civil Liberties. He is a human rights lawyer and community activist.
Dr Helen Szamuely. Dr Szamuely is Head of Research for the Bruges Group, the Eurosceptic British think-tank inspired by Margaret Thatcher’s 1988 Bruges speech. She is a blogger, editor of the Conservative History journal and contributor to publications such as the New Statesman and Standpoint.
Professor Brendan Simms. Professor Simms is an expert on geopolitics and diplomatic and military history. A Fellow of Peterhouse, Cambridge, he founded the Project for Democratic Union (a political think-tank which makes the case for a full political union of the Eurozone).
Ben Ryan. Ben Ryan is Researcher at Theos and author of the forthcoming Theos report 'A Soul for the Union'.
Johannes de Jong. Mr de Jong is the secretary of the Christian Political Foundation for Europe, an association that acts as the political foundation for the European Christian Political Movement (ECPM). The CPFE supports and underpins the ECPM especially in terms of political content by European co-operation and the introduction of analysis, ideas and policy options.
This event was organised in cooperation with the Christian Political Foundation for Europe.
From 2011 on, the activities of the CPFE are financially supported by the European Parliament. The liability for any communication or publication by the CPFE, in any form and any medium, rests with the CPFE. The European Parliament is not responsible for any use that may be made of the information contained therein.
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