past events
It started back in 2008 when Henry Porter co-founded the Convention on Modern Liberty with Anthony Barnett. Speakers at then included the writer Philip Pullman, the former Lord Chief Justice, Lord Bingham, the former Director of Public Prosecutions, Lord MacDonald QC and Conservative MP David Davis and the former Attorney General Lord Goldsmith QC. This was the fist of many forums where The Convention take the time to look more in depth at issues effecting us all in today’s society.
the ukraine appeal
An evening for Ukraine’s refugees
30 March 2022
Speakers and musicians: Henry Porter / Katalyst co-founder Valeria Șvarț / Wonder Foundation’s Izzy Cumming-Bruce / Misha Glenny / Greta Bellamacina / Jeremy Irons / The Kiva Cello Quartet, led by Melissa Phelps, plays a new arrangement by Julian Jacobson of the Ukrainian National Anthem and Mussorgsky’s Great Gates of Kiev / Simon Schama and Alan Yentob / Sinead Cusack
Host: Clara Andersson
never again!
How we defend British Democracy and the Rule of Law from dark money and social media
4 June 2019
Speakers: Henry Porter / Dominic Grieve QC MP / Jo Swinson MP / Carole Cadwalladr / Paul Hilder / Jonathan Sabire / Shahmir Sanni / Naomi Smith / Mary Fitzgerald / Adam Ramsay / Manveen Rana / Peter Jukes / Lord Neuberger / Professor Tanja Bueltmann / Joanna Cherry QC MP / Nick Cohen / Ian Dunt / Femi Oluwole / Sonia Purnell / Jessica Simor QC / Stephen Kinnock MP
Host: Naomi Smith
another vote is possible
An emergency Convention on a second EU referendum took place a few days before the Meaningful Vote in the House of Commons.
11 January 2019
Speakers: Henry Porter / Caroline Lucas MP / Tom Baldwin / lan Dunt / Eloise Todd / Amatey Doku / Dominic Grieve QC MP / Joanna Cherry QC MP / Tara Connolly / Seb Dance MEP / Jane Dyball / Bella Frimpong / Laura Shields / Jessica Simor QC / Peter Kellner / Sim Riyat and Emma Knuckey / Femi Oluwole / Lara Spirit / Jarvis Cocker / Stella Creasy MP / Germana Canzi / Neil Carmichael / Mary Fitzgerald / Carole Cadwalladr / Nick Cohen / Adam Ramsay / Peter Jukes / Anthony Barnett / Fintan O'Toole / Lesley Riddoch / Charles Grant / Mary Honeyball MEP / Anatole Kaletsky / Alyn Smith MEP /Laura Shields / Mary Creagh MP / Jason Arthur / Doire Finn / Emily Chapman / Osaro Otobo / Naomi Smith / Jonathan Coe / James O'Brien / Amanda Chetwynd-Cowieson / Lord Andrew Adonis / James McGrory / Paul Hilder / Eloise Todd / Gaby Hinsliff / Tom Brake MP / Will Dry / Femi Oluwole / Madeleina Kay / Mary Fitzgerald
Hosts: Lara Spirit and Mary Fitzgerald
brexit and the political crash
A two day deep dive in how Brexit would affect all aspect of society
12–13 May 2017
With speakers as diverse as Bob Geldof, Michael Gove, Akala, Alastair Campbell, and Jarvis Cocker.
convention on modern liberty
A call to all concerned with attacks on our fundamental rights and freedoms under pressure from counter-terrorism, financial breakdown and the database state
February 2009
The Convention organised the largest civil liberties gathering ever held in the UK, with meetings of journalists, lawyers, politicians, and campaigners. Speakers included Shami Chakrabarti, Marina Warner, Fatima Bhutto, Timothy Garton Ash, Clive Stafford Smith, Helena Kennedy, and Joanne Cash. More than 1,500 people attended the main event which was held in Bloomsbury, and linked by video to parallel events in Glasgow, Belfast, Bristol, Manchester, Cardiff and Cambridge.