The venue: Edelman in Victoria Street, SW1
The topic: The Big Society
The Speakers: Nick Hurd MP, Minister for Civil Society, John Armitt, ODA, Peter Oborne, Daily Telegraph, Kevin Maguire, Daily Mirror and John Sauven of Greenpeace
The Chairman: Robert Phillips, Edelman CEO
The debate:
www.edelman.com
The question from me: I posed the question that just as Bonhoeffer had predicted the church would become the social church after WW2 -viz Oxfam, War on Want, Shelter, Samaritans et al were founded by clergy perhaps now what is needed is the same changes to politics with a new "church" of localism which would tear down the walls of councils where hardly anyone votes for them.
The Conclusion: The Big Society proposals (still green shoots) needs further iterations if it is to resonate locally.