{"id":684,"date":"2023-10-26T13:35:32","date_gmt":"2023-10-26T13:35:32","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/computing.ashville.co.uk\/iaintest1\/?p=684"},"modified":"2023-10-26T13:35:32","modified_gmt":"2023-10-26T13:35:32","slug":"review-gavin-esler","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/computing.ashville.co.uk\/iaintest1\/uncategorized\/review-gavin-esler\/","title":{"rendered":"Review: Gavin Esler"},"content":{"rendered":"

Last week, the town of Ilkley held its annual literature festival, hosted by the Arts Council. A wide variety of speakers were invited from across the country to discuss their latest works on a plethora of topics. It is a fascinating event with a variety of subjects to listen too \u2013 one subject being politics. Having an interest in British politics, I went along to see journalist, and former BBC presenter, Gavin Esler, as he discussed his latest book: \u2018Britain is Better than this.\u2019\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

I have attended a few lectures, but I feel confident in saying this was one of the most powerful I have attended. Esler expressed a wide range of ideas, and some unique suggestions about how we can improve the governance of our country. I went expecting the generic critique of Conservative policies but came out with a much more advanced knowledge of the British political system than when I went in! Esler began his talk with a question he had been asked by an older, well spoken, lady regarding the current situation in Britain \u2013 \u2018Why is everything so sh*t?\u2019\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

This comedic opening led Esler into an in depth, yet accessible, discussion about why he believed Britain\u2019s political system was failing its people. He cited the surprising statistic that 35% of our prime ministers had come from Eton College. He went on to highlight how upper-class privilege has shaped our political system and how the North has largely been neglected by a government whose values come from London-centric culture and identity.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

A more common, yet relevant, aspect of political discussion was the House of Lords. Esler pointed out how this institution works \u2013 with unelected clergy men and nobles who had inherited titles passed down from centuries of ancient relatives and were responsible for the laws that affect us all. He asserted that this strange, backward, and harmful tradition was keeping our country stuck in the past.\u00a0 Esler went on to say that the past can in fact be used by Politicians to help incline us to vote one way or another \u2013 portraying an idealised version of the past that can be used to manipulate the minds of voters – \u2018weaponised nostalgia\u2019 as he termed it.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

When questioned on the British Constitution, Esler argued that a constitution is necessary as it allows us to demand basic rights and freedoms \u2013 but argued that the British constitution is far from clear. He read a short extract from the British constitution, an amalgamation of complex and ambiguous vocabulary revolving around the rights of the Crown (a strange entity with no clear definition itself). This pointed to a real issue in British politics \u2013 that without a clear constitution it is hard to hold politicians accountable to a set of values.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Question time was the most action-filled part of the session, with the room clearly divided across the political spectrum. Esler was asked whether we needed to scrap the monarchy. He responded with a rational and reasonable argument as to how the monarchy gives us a sense of unity as a people, helping to heal divides between north and south, and rich and poor as well as promoting a positive international reputation.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

One of the later questions was met with jeering and booing from across the room as an audience member suggested the NHS had become a religion and whether cutting government funding across the board would benefit the economy. Once again, remaining professional and as objective as possible, Esler argued the case for more effective state funding into the right sectors of work to provide a fully functioning National Health service as well as a reliable transport system.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Of course, the festival is certainly not just an event relating to history and politics. There were talks on Cooking, Gardening, Philosophy and Science just to name a few! Whatever your passionate about there is likely to be something at the Ilkley literature festival for you. It proves an engaging, well organised, professional, and superb experience \u2013 so make a note in your diary to check what is on the programme in October 2024. You can find a link to the website here (https:\/\/www.ilkleyliteraturefestival.org.uk\/), and I highly recommend giving it a visit next time it is on.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Current affairs correspondent Ed reviews Gavin Esler’s recent politics lecture <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":688,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/computing.ashville.co.uk\/iaintest1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/684"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/computing.ashville.co.uk\/iaintest1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/computing.ashville.co.uk\/iaintest1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/computing.ashville.co.uk\/iaintest1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/computing.ashville.co.uk\/iaintest1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=684"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/computing.ashville.co.uk\/iaintest1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/684\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":686,"href":"https:\/\/computing.ashville.co.uk\/iaintest1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/684\/revisions\/686"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/computing.ashville.co.uk\/iaintest1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/688"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/computing.ashville.co.uk\/iaintest1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=684"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/computing.ashville.co.uk\/iaintest1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=684"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/computing.ashville.co.uk\/iaintest1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=684"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}