Main content

How Big Should the State Be?

David Willetts, Polly Toynbee, Baroness Simone Finn, Julia Black and Adrian Wooldridge join Anne McElvoy for a debate recorded with an audience at the LSE Festival Beveridge 2.0.

As part of the LSE Festival of Ideas, 麻豆官网首页入口 Radio 3's Free Thinking explores the idea of the modern state. What should be the ideal size and role of the state in the 21st century?
Over 75 years ago, the publication of the Beveridge Report heralded the founding of the post-war welfare state, and next year the NHS will celebrate its 70th anniversary. Yet now the state can seem like an outdated concept. Both Right and Left champion localism, empowerment and autonomy. Anne McElvoy is joined by:

David Willetts, former Conservative Minister and Executive Chair of the Resolution Foundation

Polly Toynbee, Guardian columnist and author of several books including Dismembered: How the Attack on the State Harms Us All.

Baroness Simone Finn, a Conservative politician and member of the House of Lords. She is a former government adviser on industrial relations, efficiency and civil service reform.

Julia Black, Professor of Law at LSE, who has advised policy makers and consumer bodies on institutional design and regulatory policy.

Adrian Wooldridge, Politics editor of the Economist and writes the Bagehot column, an analysis of British life and politics, in the tradition of Walter Bagehot, the Economist's 19th century editor.

Producer: Eliane Glaser

Photo L-R: Polly Toynbee, David Willetts, Adrian Wooldridge, Baroness Simone Finn, Julia Black and Anne McElvoy.

Available now

45 minutes

Last on

Tue 27 Feb 2018 22:00

Credits

Role Contributor
Presenter Anne McElvoy
Interviewed Guest David Willetts
Interviewed Guest Polly Toynbee
Interviewed Guest Simone Finn
Interviewed Guest Julia Black
Interviewed Guest Adrian Wooldridge
Producer Eliane Glaser

Broadcast

  • Tue 27 Feb 2018 22:00

Featured in...

The Arts & Ideas Podcast

The Arts & Ideas Podcast

You can download all the past episodes of Radio 3's Free Thinking

Discussions and talks from the Free Thinking Festival 2019

Discussions and talks from the Free Thinking Festival 2019

Angry politics, what we can鈥檛 say, being diplomatic, weeping, emotion in music, film & TV

Click to listen to discussions, talks and music as the Free Thinking Festival 2019 Gets Emotional

Click to listen to discussions, talks and music as the Free Thinking Festival 2019 Gets Emotional

Angry politics, what we can鈥檛 say, being diplomatic, weeping, emotion in music, film & TV

CLICK to LISTEN & SEE programmes from the Free Thinking Festival 2018: The One & the Many

CLICK to LISTEN & SEE programmes from the Free Thinking Festival 2018: The One & the Many

We examine the fast-changing relationship between the individual & the crowd

CLICK to LISTEN & SEE all programmes, images, clips & features from 2017's festival

Free Thinking Festival 2017: The Speed of Life