Filmed at the Battle of Ideas festival 2023 a fascinating panel examine ‘the Blob’.
In the 1950s sci-fi movie, The Blob was a jelly-like creature that landed from space, growing as it consumed every person or town in its path. Seized on by Ronald Reagan’s education secretary, William Bennett, to collectively describe the growth of teachers, public servants, lobbyists and unions who resisted reform, ‘the blob’ was popularised in the UK by Michael Gove and Dominic Cummings, depicting their frustrations at perceived intransigence to reform at the Department for Education.
Is grouping together such a wide range of experts, political actors and civil society institutions either accurate or useful? Has the civil service really been captured or is this just the latest manifestation of conspiratorial thinking? To what extent is the blob just a convenient scapegoat for politicians to deflect from their own failures? And if a notional blob does, in reality, present resistance to change, what steps could be taken to challenge it?
The speakers are:
Professor Ian Acheson - senior advisor, Counter Extremism Project; visiting professor, school of law, policing and forensics, University of Staffordshire
Nick Busvine OBE - consultant; founding partner, Herminius Holdings Ltd; advisory board member, Briefings for Britain; former diplomat, Foreign and Commonwealth Office
Poppy Coburn - assistant comment editor, Daily Telegraph
Professor Bill Durodié - chair of International Relations, department of Politics, Languages and International Studies, University of Bath
The chair is: Alastair Donald - co-convenor, Battle of Ideas festival; convenor, Living Freedom; author, Letter on Liberty: The Scottish Question
This debate was filmed by volunteers working with Worldwrite. Please help ensure the charity is able to fund its volunteer centre costs and edit further debates by hitting the THANKS button above and donating whatever you can afford.