Events, Easter 2004
Chairman: Alex Wright
Geoffrey Howe
The Rt. Hon The Lord Howe of Aberavon CH QC
Peterhouse Parlour, Wednesday 28th April, 8:45PM
Wine will be served.
By kind invitation of the Peterhouse Politics Society, CUCA will be addressed by one of the most significant figures in recent Conservative history. Lord Howe entered Parliament in 1964, was knighted in 1970 and served as Solicitor-General under Ted Heath. During the Conservative Opposition to the Wilson-Callaghan government he served as Shadow Chancellor and Labour Chancellor Denis Healey described being attacked by him as “like being savaged by a dead sheep”.
Under Margaret Thatcher’s leadership, Lord Howe served as Chancellor of the Exchequer from 1979-83, Foreign Secretary from 1983-9 and Deputy Prime Minister from 1989-90, before famously resigning in November 1990 claiming that negotiating in Europe under Thatcher was like batting in cricket when the “bats had been broken before the game by the team captain”. He is now one of the leading Tory advocates of both the EU constitution and entry into the single currency, and sits on the Advisory Board of Britain in Europe.
There will be a small charge of £2 to those attending who are not members of the Peterhouse Politics Society to cover the cost of the wine.
I hope that many of you will be able to attend.
Sir Alan Haselhurst
Tuesday 4th May 2004, 8pm, Peterhouse Music Room
Free for members, £1 for guests
I am very pleased to announce that Sir Alan Haselhurst will be addressing CUCA this Tuesday in the Peterhouse Music Room at 8pm. Sir Alan has served in Parliament for over thirty years, first entering the House in 1970, and has held numerous ministerial positions over his long Parliamentary career. Knighted in 1995, he was made Deputy Speaker of the House in 2001, and comes to CUCA to talk to us about this role in particular, and Parliament in general. As one of the finest Parliamentarians of our age, this is an event not to be missed.
Sir Alan will be having dinner at Browns prior to the event. If you are interested in dining with him, please email me as soon as possible as places are limited- this should be a fantastic opportunity to meet him close-up.
Professor Philip Booth and Dr John Meadowcroft
Leading economists from the Institute of Economic Affairs
With globalisation being one of the most pressing issues worldwide today, CUCA warmly welcomes two of Britain’s experts on this subject. Leading economists Professor Booth and Dr Meadowcroft will be talking about how the four ‘myths’ about globalisation spread by anti-globalisers must be exposed and confronted - and why the modern Conservative party can and must pursue a free-market agenda.
Prof Booth is Editorial Director at the IEA and the editor of Economic Affairs. He is also a member of the Shadow Monetary Policy Committee, an influential organisation that recommends interest rate fluctuations.
Dr Meadowcroft is Research Fellow at the IEA and has published in a number of leading journals. One of his particular interests in the campaigning style of the Liberal Democrats, and he has helped to push the idea of ‘community politics’ which has been so successful.
Prof Booth and Dr Meadowcroft will be dining at Loch Fyne prior to the meeting. If you would like to take this opportunity to meet them, please email me as soon as possible.
May 10, 8pm, Peterhouse Music Room
John Bercow MP
In 1998 John Bercow was awarded the prestigious Backbencher to Watch award from The Spectator. It was not wrong. Since his entry to Parliament as MP for Buckingham in 1997, Mr Bercow has had a rapid rise, entering the Shadow Cabinet after 2001, before resigning as Shadow Minister for Work and Pensions over Iain Duncan Smith’s infamous three-line whip over gay adoption. Mr Bercow was invited back to the front benches by Michael Howard, and now serves as Shadow Secretary of State for International Development. With the charge of ‘nasty party’ still hanging round the Conservative Party’s neck like a millstone, Mr Bercow comes to CUCA to explain why the Conservative solution to international development is the best way to ensure lasting prosperity in the developing world.
May 18, 2pm, Peterhouse Music Room *** FREE FOR ALL ***
The IEA First Annual Political Economy Conference
The Institute of Economic Affair’s first annual political economy conference is a must-see to all interested in economics and public policy. Speakers will include the notable Labour public service reformer The Rt. Hon Frank Field MP, economist Professor patrick Minford and Shadow Chancellor The Rt. Hon Oliver Letwin MP. Places are free to students so this is a great opportunity to hear some of the most distinguised speakers in the field of economics. If you would like to reserve a place, please contact Philip Booth at the IEA.
May 19, 8.45am, 29 Great Peter Street, London SW1
The Rt. Hon Dr Liam Fox
Co-Chairman of the Conservative Party
A former GP, Dr Fox was promoted from Shadow Secretary of State for Health to Co-Chairman of the Conservative Party in Michael Howard’s reshuffle. Entering Parliament in 1992, Dr Fox proved to be one of the most talented backbenchers in the Government and was appointed PPS to Michael Howard within just a year of his election. He rose rapidly through the ministerial ranks and was Parliamentary Under-Secretary at the Foreign Office by the time of the 1997 election defeat. In Opposition, he became Shadow Secretary of State for Constitutional Affairs in 1997, and later moved to Shadow Health Secretary, for which his background as a GP equipped him perfectly. He recently became Co-Chairman of the party with a particular focus on campaigning.
As an ‘assiduous, articulate, displaced partisan’, Dr Fox is widely regarded as the new poster boy of the traditional Right of the party, and is tipped as a future leader…he has also been thanked on the sleeve notes of an album by Natalie Imbruglia, something of which few politicians can claim!
CUCA is very pleased to welcome Dr Fox, who will address the Association on the way forward for the modern Conservative party. This should be a fascinating event, and is the final speaker meeting before the exams, so I hope to see many of you there.
May 21, 1:30pm, Peterhouse Music Room
Free for members, £1 for guests.
The Chairman’s Dinner
The highlight of the term, the Chairman’s dinner is a sumptuous feast to send off the outgoing Chairman and welcome his successor in style. Email the Chairman to reserve your ticket now - this is sure to be a popular event and will doubtless sell out.
June 7, 7pm for 7:30, Wordsworth Room, St John’s College
May Week with CUCA
Annual garden party and croquet match against OUCA
The annual garden party is CUCA’s way of rounding off the year in style. Relax in the picturesque surroundings of the Peterhouse scholar’s garden and enjoy the champagne, Pimm’s and strawberries. Please email the Chairman to reserve a place. Tickets will cost £8 for members and £10 for guests.
Stanley Baldwin once famously quipped that politicians were like Alice in Wonderland, playing croquet with flamingos. We invite our opposites at the Oxford University Conservative Association to see to whom his claim is more pertinent.
June 12, 2pm, Peterhouse Scholar’s Garden