21st April, 7:30pm - Adrian Wooldridge, Centrists of the World Unite

Backstory, 71 Balham High Rd, SW12 9AP

Adrian Wooldridge, global business columnist at Bloomberg and author or co-author of 11 other books including The Aristocracy of Talent: How Meritocracy Made The Modern World is joining us to discuss his new book Centrists of the World Unite.  The book is a powerful call to action showing us how liberals of all parties, and none, can come together in defending the values of liberal civilization from enemies without and within.

About the book:

We live in an age of extremes: populist leaders are setting the agenda, autocracies are on the march, and the liberal establishment is a bewildered blob, devoid of new ideas or fresh solutions.  Having once powered progress in the form of democracy, mass welfare and defeating totalitarianism, liberals have the power to save the world again – but only if they rediscover the lost genius of their creed.

Guiding us skilfully and entertainingly through the intellectual, cultural and political histories of liberalism, this book lays out a centrist agenda for today’s problems. It reminds us of the dynamism and fixed principles that have shaped the successes of liberalism and warns us against splitting into sub-groups that fail to grapple with the common good.

Wooldridge proposes that, as well as reviving social mobility, liberals today need to be much more critical of big business – particularly if it makes money by manipulating choices and spreading misinformation – and rethink the laissez-faire approach to immigration, social disorder, and substance abuse.

Tickets Available:

Ticket only - £15 (This ticket does not include a copy of the book. You can decide to buy a copy on the night, but this will be charged in addition, at the full price of the book.)

Ticket & book  (RRP £25) - £30 (To collect on the night.)