It has been a fantastic year for Politics in Pubs, hosting a huge number of public discussions across the UK in pubs throughout 2024. Our events covered a wide range of political issues, including devolution, climate change, national service, immigration, free speech, the education system, and the impact of new media. Discussions also explored historical themes such as the legacy of empire and the nature of patriotism. We had some fantastic guest speakers as well as talks led by our own members. Overall, free speech and open debate were the clear winners.

We now have very active groups in Manchester, Newcastle and Sheffield. We also joined up with free speech partners in Purley (Croydon Constitutionalists), Manchester (Cancelling Cancel Culture), as well as Salons in Leeds, Liverpool, Nottingham and Birmingham. We supported the Academy of Ideas and went on the road to host a stand at their Battle of Ideas Festival in London in August. We also expanded the website to link to and support other great free speech organisations including The Free Speech Union, The Together Declaration, Academics for Academic Freedom and The New Culture Forum.

Our members have also enjoyed the opportunities to socialise with a wide range of people, and on this theme, we have also been supporting the expansion of Comedy Unleashed. This is a fantastic venture showcasing comedians who have been cancelled by the mainstream clubs. It started out with one club in London and now has clubs in Manchester and Leeds. We have tried to attend as many of their monthly events as possible and cannot recommend them enough.

One of the really encouraging features of 2024 has been the growth in membership. In particular, many younger people got involved, demonstrating that they absolutely do want to take part in the debate and work actively to shape the country. Interestingly, younger people seem even more dissatisfied with the state of our politics and the lack of opportunities in the labour and housing markets. There is strong support for the new parties, in particular the SDP (Social Democratic Party) and Reform UK. Meetings hosted by members of these parties were particularly well attended. Other parties are of interest, for example, one of our meetings was entitled “Why I am a Communist”. We would be very pleased to host party members from any party (as we are not politically aligned as a group) – so if you fancy defending Keir Starmer for example, please let us know!

We already have a number of sessions organised for the New Year, including a discussion on the appropriate role of government, exactly what should it do and not do? If you have strong opinions about subjects that we aren’t covering please let us know. And if you feel strongly enough and would like to be a guest speaker, do get in touch.

We are still keen to expand across the UK so if you like the sound of what we do, but don’t have a group near you, why not start one? It’s very easy to get an informal group growing and then adopt a more structured approach as the group grows.

Finally, thanks goes to all our pubs who have supported us throughout the year. Many do not charge us for use of their rooms and we want them to know that their support for free speech is very much appreciated. Cheers!