‘We’re sleepwalking into disaster’

David Puttnam on Democracy

‘We’re sleepwalking into disaster’
David Puttnam’s House of Lords leaving speech rang an alarm bell for the UK. We spoke to the film-maker and Labour peer about the mother of all mic drops

Early on in his career, the acclaimed film producer David Puttnam got the chance to interview Hitler’s close ally and former armaments minister, Albert Speer. Puttnam had put in a successful bid for the film rights to ‘Inside the Third Reich’, the book Speer had written about life inside Nazi Germany.

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“I believe we are sleepwalking towards a form of unaccountable power the like of which, in the modern era, the UK has never previously experienced.”
                                                     Lord Puttnam

Shirley Williams Memorial Lecture. October 15th 2021 19:00

POWER AND FEAR – THE TWO TYRANNIES

Before I begin, I’d like to offer my sincere condolences to the whole of the Amess family – what happened today is not just a tragedy for them but for all of us who believe that democracy must operate free of fear at a constituency level. As with Jo Cox five years ago, our MPs, whilst protected within Westminster, remain vulnerable when doing the vital public facing aspect of their role.

It’s for these reasons I want to talk this evening about the multiple dangers faced by Democracy – for me today’s shocking events simply strengthen the case for continual vigilance.
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