Events
Events Calendar 2026-2027
Department of Social Policy Annual Lecture
The Unelectable Budget: What Britain really needs
Thursday 22 October 2026 6.30pm - 8.00pm, in-person and online (Sheikh Zayed Theatre, CKK Building, followed by a reception).
The U.K. finds itself in very difficult waters: a long term decline in growth, a need to spend much more on defence, very high taxes and multiple demands to increase public spending e g on social care while borrowing so much that debt interest is one of our largest spending programmes. And the world is in turmoil as a result of climate change and “ forever wars”.
Meanwhile our children have the lowest wellbeing in Europe and are near the bottom of Pisa’s list of all OECD countries. And we are struggling with over a million neets.
Can democracies solve these problems?
In our 2026 Annual Lecture, Gus O’Donnell will answer a slightly different question: even if we had a benevolent dictator, can we agree on what needs to be done and how to do it? We might then consider what changes are needed to allow us to preserve a working democracy while pursuing a policy path that solves our multiple problems.
Details of further events taking place in the 2026-2027 academic year will be added here in due course.
Missed one of our events? Catch up here!
