On November 24th at 7 pm at the Holborn Union, Melissa will be talking at the LSE’s Holborn Union about Politics, Education and the Media.
The event will take place at Houghton Street, London, WC2A 2AE. Details to follow.
Author Archives: clemattlee
Feminism For A World on Fire
November 21st, 12-1pm, at the Cambridge Union: Melissa will be talking to Natasha Walter about Walter’s new book Feminism For A World on Fire. Continue Reading
Caroline Benn Memorial Lecture
On November 17th at 6-8 pm Melissa will be chairing the Caroline Benn Memorial Lecture to be held in the Betty Boothroyd Room, Portcullis House, London SW1A 2LW Continue Reading
Labour’s attacks on civil liberties
On November 3rd, 2026, Melissa will be chairing a Kensal and Kilburn 2026 event, How do we stop Labour’s attacks on civil liberties? at St Luke’s Church, Fernhead Road, West Kilburn London W9 3EH. Further details to follow…. Continue Reading
Alex Bloom
On Thursday October 8th at 6-8 pm Melissa will be one of the speakers at How Alex Bloom Built Radical Democratic Secondary Education in Post-war London to be held at University College London/ Institute of Education Event at 20 Bedford Way London WC1H OAL. Continue Reading
THE CRISIS OF THE MERITOCRACY
The crisis of the meritocracy: Britain’s transition to mass education since the Second World War PETER MANDLER, 2020 Oxford: Oxford University Press 361pp, hardback, £25, ISBN 9780198840145 Cambridge historian Peter Mandler has a fundamentally optimistic story to tell about the growth of universal education in Britain over the last seventy years and one can sense… Continue Reading
How politics lost touch with everyday life
Early on in his elegiac study of how our literary and aesthetic past might animate our political future, Marc Stears singles out DH Lawrence’s “wonderful essay” Insouciance, written in 1928, which he believes embodies “the vision that animates this book”. In the essay, Lawrence describes a meeting with two elderly ladies who try to draw… Continue Reading
Melissa makes guest appearance on Thelma & Tom Look Left…
Listen to Thelma & Tom Look Left – episode Five, with Melissa Benn, in which is discussed all manner of subjects and people – including Clement Attlee, Frank Ocean, Marvin Gaye, Keir Starmer…… oh, and why the left so often get wooden under media scrutiny. Continue Reading
Rachel Holmes: Sylvia Pankhurst: Natural Born Rebel
Click here to watch Melissa Benn’s interview, recorded in London last autumn, with biographer and campaigner Rachel Holmes about her new book Sylvia Pankhurst: Natural Born Rebel. The discussion was filmed as part of the 2020 winter Cambridge Literary Festival programme. Continue Reading
Mass Covid testing in England’s schools
Mass Covid testing at the drop of a hat is the latest bad idea for England’s schools After the exams fiasco, a plan to turn schools into test centres shows politicians have still not learned to listen to teachers Schools returning in January must provide for mass testing of pupils. Photograph: Christopher Thomond/The Guardian Mon… Continue Reading
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THE CRISIS OF THE MERITOCRACY
The crisis of the meritocracy: Britain’s transition to mass education since the Second World War PETER MANDLER, 2020 Oxford: Oxford University Press 361pp, hardback, £25, ISBN 9780198840145 Cambridge historian Peter Mandler has a fundamentally optimistic story to tell about the growth of universal education in Britain over the last seventy years and one can sense… Continue reading…
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Politics, Education and the Media
On November 24th at 7 pm at the Holborn Union, Melissa will be talking at the LSE’s Holborn Union about Politics, Education and the Media. The event will take place at Houghton Street, London, WC2A 2AE. Details to follow. Continue reading…
