Category: Uncategorized
FRIDAY, 22nd SEPTEMBER: STEPHEN EVANS: TIME TO SEPARATE CHURCH AND STATE?
About the talk:
The latest census revealed that England is no longer a majority-Christian country. Meanwhile, our head of state retains the title of Defender of the Faith; laws requiring Christian worship in schools remain in place; and Church of England bishops retain seats as of right in the legislature. Stephen Evans explores the relationship between religion and state and asks whether time has come to disestablish the Church of England.
About the speaker:
Stephen Evans is the chief executive of the National Secular Society – a campaigning organisation that advocates for a secular democracy where everyone is treated equally, regardless of religion or belief. Stephen is a regular media commentator on religion’s role in public life.
HEADSTRONG CLUB, WEDNESDAY, 14 JUNE: MARK HUTTON: MUST WE KEEP THE HOUSE OF LORDS?
FRIDAY, 14 APRIL 2023: IS THE ISRAEL/PALESTINIAN CONFLICT RESOLVABLE?
About the talk:
The Israel/Palestinian conflict is complex with much emotion and spilling of blood over the years. In this talk Harvey Gordon will outline the issues of the conflict based on 4000 years of history through the lens of forensic psychiatry, covering the role of the three major monotheistic religions – Judaism, Christianity and Islam through six historical phases: 1) Old Testament 2) New Testament 3) post-Biblical 4) Enlightenment 5) Mandate Palestine 6) State of Israel.
About the speaker:
Harvey Gordon is a retired Consultant Forensic Psychiatrist who worked at Broadmoor, the Maudsley and Bethlem hospitals, and in Oxford. He has managed the care of patients who have committed serious criminal offences. He is a frequent visitor to Israel and has also visited several Arab countries, He has been a visiting lecturer in forensic psychiatry in Israel and is an honorary member of the Israel Forensic Psychiatric Association. He has also lectured to Arab hospitals on the West Bank and Gaza. He has co-authored a number of published articles with both Israeli and Palestinian colleagues.
The venue:
The Elephant And Castle
White Hill
Lewes
BN7 2DJ
Tickets:
They are £3 and you can purchase them on the door or about a week before at the venue. Please note that the capacity of the venue is limited, we recommend buying the ticket in advance to avoid disappointment.
Why does the Church of England matter? – Friday 10th of March 2023
About the talk:
Many people think the Church is out of touch and out of date. Why might an established Church matter? What does it bring to people and to the national debate? Reverend Ben Brown will give some personal answers to some of these questions.
The Reverend Ben Brown
Ben is Rector of St Anne’s, St Michael’s and St Thomas, Lewes. He has only been in Lewes for just over a year but already he loves the place with all its creativity and history. Ben is married to Rachael and has two daughters, Rowan and Martha. Ben’s interests are Christian mysticism, reading, music, film and politics. He was an actor and has worked in publishing.

Friday, 17 February: Naomi Cunningham: “Telling it how it is: language and power in the row about gender”
Naomi Cunningham will consider why language has become such a bitterly contested front in the raging gender wars, and propose a plan of action. Naomi is a barrister specialising in discrimination law, chair of the human rights organisation Sex Matters, and a member of the Legal Feminist collective. She has become interested in the interaction between the Equality Act and the Gender Recognition Act, and particularly in the defence of women-only spaces, and has given evidence to both the Westminster and Holyrood parliaments on these questions. She has been or is instructed in a number of significant cases in the ongoing “gender wars”, including locally a claim against Brighton Survivors’ Network for its refusal to provide the option of a women-only peer support group.
The venue:
The Elephant And Castle
White Hill
Lewes
BN7 2DJ
Tickets:
They are £3 and you can purchase them on the door or about a week before at the venue. Please note that the capacity of the venue is limited, we recommend buying the ticket in advance to avoid disappointment.
FRIDAY, 11 NOVEMBER: MIKE ELLICOCK: MAKING NUMBERS COUNT
The venue:
The Elephant And Castle
White Hill
Lewes
BN7 2DJ
Tickets:
They are £3 and you can purchase them on the door or about a week before at the venue. Please note that the capacity of the venue is limited, we recommend buying the ticket in advance to avoid disappointment.
Friday, 9 September it is: Paul Myles on ‘The Rise of Thomas Paine’
The venue:
The Elephant And Castle
White Hill
Lewes
BN7 2DJ
Tickets:
They are £3 and you can purchase them on the door or about a week before at the venue. Please note that the capacity of the venue is limited, we recommend buying the ticket in advance to avoid disappointment.
An introduction to cryptocurrency
Update! Due to COVID, the speaker will no longer be available on the 17th June. A new date will be posted asap
About the talk
Dave will talk about crypto. What it is, a brief history, a look at today’s landscape and some of the key trends. He’ll offer opinion only, no financial advice, and will aim to provide you with a foundational understanding with which to proceed on your own journey of exploration into this exciting and challenging technology.
About the speaker
Dave Lockie’s interests lie in WordPress, open source and technology trends, especially web3. He founded Pragmatic in 2012 which merged in 2020 with Angry Creative where he worked as CMO until early 2022.
Dave is a deep thinker about how technology can help us to create a better world and loves to share his research and thoughts. He is an advisor to Adnode and WordProof and is just finishing up a role as WordPress ambassador for Grant for the Web.
Outside of work, Dave currently lives in Brighton, UK and loves mountain biking, cooking, reading (Goodreads profile, don’t judge me), photography and travel. I hang out on social media @divydovy (mainly Twitter but also a bit of Insta).
The venue:
The Elephant And Castle
White Hill
Lewes
BN7 2DJ
Tickets:
They are £3 and you can purchase them on the door or about a week before at the venue. Please note that the capacity of the venue is limited, we recommend buying the ticket in advance to avoid disappointment.
Does the Monarchy have a future?-13th May 2022
About the talk
Norman Baker will be discussing the future of the British monarchy.
About the speaker
Norman Baker was the Lib Dem MP for Lewes for 18 years from 1997-2015, and a government minister from 2010 to 2014. For three and a half years he served at the Department for Transport with a portfolio that covered public transport and active travel. He was then promoted to be a deputy to Theresa May in the Home Office as Crime Prevention Minister.
Prior to his parliamentary service, he was the first ever Lib Dem leader of Lewes District Council from 1991 until 1997 and also served as a county councillor for 8 years, and for 16 years as a Glynde and Beddingham parish councillor.
In 2014 he was inducted into the Privy Council.
After leaving Parliament, Norman became managing director of The Big Lemon, an environmentally friendly bus and coach company in Brighton where he won many new contracts for the company and updated the fleet. He is a qualified transport manager. He now acts as advisor to the Campaign for Better Transport, is a regular columnist and broadcaster, and undertakes a wide range of consultancy and lecturing work.
He is a published author of three books, the most recent being the well received And What Do You Do? – What The Royal Family Don’t Want You To Know.
He is also a singer-songwriter and has released three albums and an EP. He hosts three weekly music shows on the local FM radio station, Seahaven FM.
He has a degree in German from Royal Holloway College.
The venue:
The Elephant And Castle
White Hill
Lewes
BN7 2DJ
Tickets:
They are £3 and you can purchase them on the door or about a week before at the venue. Please note that the capacity of the venue is limited, we recommend buying the ticket in advance to avoid disappointment.