I am pleased to report that the New Deal of the Mind Think Tank Clash at the Soutbank Centre on Tuesday went down a storm. The event sold out the Purcell Room, which suggests that there is an audience for ideas out there.
We wanted to have a series of quickfire debates (two minutes per speaker) on the pressing issues of the between the directors of Britain’s think tanks. Each think tank was then asked to produce a star witness to bank up its argument. So the bouts were as follows: Progress v ResPublica on Red Toryism; Fabians v Reform on Equality; Demos v RSA on Character and IPPR v Policy Exchange on The Role of the State.
Rory Bremner was the perfect master of ceremonies, shifting seamlessly from impressions, to serious political interrogation without pausing for breath.
I was worried that we would be accused of dumbing down, but if anything the two minutes added a rigour that helped refine the arguments.
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