Saturday 8th November, 10am to 4pm

The Fabian Society will hold a one day public conference in light of the US Presidential election results on 4 November. The event will be the first opportunity leading European politicians, academics and journalists will convene to discuss the implications of a Obama or McCain victory and key policy issues at the forefront of transatlantic relations including, climate change, trade, international development and security.   

Sunday 14th - Wednesday 17th September 2008

The Fabian society will be holding two public fringe events and one policy roundtable at this year's Liberal Democrat Party Conference in Bournemouth. The public events provide a forum for debate and a chance for delegates to hear MPs and other high-profile speakers discuss today's most pressing issues.

The public events will cover the problem of social mobility in Britain and the prospects for a Liberal Democrat and Labour coalition, while the policy roundtable focuses upon the link between social housing policy and unemployment.  

Tuesday 30th September 2008, 6pm

The Fabian Society will hold a public debate at Conservative Party Conference in partnership with the Centre for Social Justice and The Webb Memorial Trust. The debate is part of our Fabian Child Poverty Challenge series and confirmed panelists include, Polly Toynbee, The Guardian; Martin Narey, Barnardos; Rt Hon Ian Duncan Smith MP, former leader of the Conservative Party; Dr. Samantha Callan, CSJ Working Family Group; and many more tbc.

Saturday 20th - Wednesday 24th September 2008 

Our policy roundtables are the format in which we undertake most of our substantive policy discussions at party conferences. Expert participants debate emerging policy trends and ideas and interrogate key players in an invited forum of their peers.

In 2008 we will be exploring a range of key current and emerging areas of policy, from tackling health inequalities and overcoming worklessness, to improving the supply of skills and encouraging higher standards of corporate accountability.

Saturday 20th - Wednesday 24th September 2008 

Our headline public events at Labour Party Conference are among the most prominent events of the conference fringe, providing a forum for the political debates that delegates want to have, and a chance to hear A-list speakers discussing the most pressing issues of the moment.

In 2008 the Fabians will be holding debates on the key electoral questions for Labour as it shapes the next manifesto and develops the strategy needed to win a fourth term.

"A New Language for Old Age" - Tuesday 15th July, Grand Committe Room, House of Commons, 4.30pm

Age must be recast in terms of opportunity and contribution, not stagnation and decline. Minister of State for Pensions Reform, Mike O'Brien MP, will explain that the challenges posed by an ageing society require action from old and young to shed outdated stereotypes and change mindsets about retirement and the process of growing older.

Saturday 14th June 2008, 11:15am

The Fabian Society held a breakout session at Compass Conference 2008. The session provided conference participants with an informative and invigorating debate on some of the electoral challenges around the equality and poverty agenda. 

The World After Bush: The Strange Death of Republican America 

Tuesday 27th May 2008, 6.30pm for a 7pm start - 8.30pm 

Continuing the Fabian's World After Bush series, former Guardian columnist and Clinton White House advisor Sidney Blumenthal was joined by the Guardian's Jonathan Freedland as he launched his new book, The Strange Death of Republican America: Chronicles of a Collapsing Party, published in June. 

Thursday 29th May 2008, 10am
Attlee Suite, Portcullis House

Given the tenth anniversary of the Royal Assent of the Minimum Wage legislation this year, this lecture will consider the advances made over the past ten years  and initiate a debate on what new approaches can be adopted to further advance  fairness at work when sustaining jobs and prosperity in a difficult economic environment.

Tuesday 20th May 2008, 6:30pm

In this lecture, Peter Townsend, LSE Professor of International Social Policy, discussed the origins of the UK welfare state, including Beatrice Webb's 1909 Minority Report and early Fabian campaigning, and trace the political debates that accompanied the evolution of the welfare state throughout the 20th Century. Townsend also assessed Labour's progress since 1997 in dealing with poverty and discuss future directions for the welfare state.

The event was chaired by Nick Timmins, Financial Times.

 Thursday 8th May, at 6:30pm

John Denham is the only Cabinet Member representing a southern English seat.  He has consistently argued that the key to Labour’s success in all parts of the country lies in its ability to meet the needs of the south. He will set out how the priority Labour is giving to skills, research and innovation form part of a convincing case for southern Labour comfort.

Tuesday 6th May 2008, 1pm 

The recently appointed Secretary of State for Work and Pensions outlined how the Government can sustain progress towards meeting their twin targets of halving child poverty by 2010/11 and eradicating it by 2020.

Tuesday 29th April 2008, 6pm

Inheritance tax is under attack, and not just from the political right. For too long the debate about this tax has been dominated by its critics. But, as the authors of the Fabian Society’s new pamphlet How to defend inheritance tax argue, there are very strong arguments for inheritance tax that need to be made if it is to survive.

Friday, 14th March 2008

The Fabian Society held a major series of seminars on narrowing health inequalities between November 2007 and March 2008, including sessions led by health ministers Dawn Primarolo MP, Ben Bradshaw MP and Ivan Lewis MP, and eminent academics Julian Le Grand and Sir Michael Marmot. Continuing the work of the Fabian Commission on Life Chances and Child Poverty, the Fabian Health Inequalities Forum explored the major barriers to narrowing inequalities across a range of key health policy areas, and sought to suggest directions for the future strategy on health inequality that we need.

Saturday March 1 2008 

The Fabian Society held two fringe events at Labour Party Spring Conference in Birmingham, on Saturday 1st March 2008. The venue was Bryne-Jones Room, Novotel Birmingham Centre, 70 Broad Street, Birmingham (outside the secure zone)

The Fringe event focused on NHS reforms and the challange for Labour of tackling child poverty. Speaking at the event Work and Pensions Secretary James Purnell said that the target for ending child poverty by 2010 was "non-negotiable".

February 5 2008

Breaking the link between social housing and worklessness will be a priority for government, Caroline Flint told the Fabian Society in her first speech as Housing Minister, but Adam Sampson of Shelter and Dave Prentis of Unison warned of the danger of stigmatising social housing.

Social housing must act as a springboard, not just a safety net, new Housing Minister Caroline Flint told a Fabian conference in her first major speech in the role.

Wednesday 30 January 2008

Ed Miliband launched a new two-year research project "Fighting Poverty and Inequality in an Age of Affluence;100 years on from the Poor Law Minority Report" to be run by the Fabian Society and the Webb Memorial Trust .

Saturday 19 January 2008

David Miliband predicts that 'civilian surge' will reshape global politics as over 700 people debate ideas to change the world at the Fabian new year conference.

Britain must become a 'global hub' to deal with fundamental shifts in power from west to east, and from governments to civilians, David Miliband told the Fabian New Year Conference 'Change the World'.

Tuesday 11th December 2007

Breaking the cycle of disadvantage in Britain will require a cross-party and public consensus on equality as deep as that which backs the NHS, Fabian General Secretary Sunder Katwala told the Guardian/CEHR Diverse Britain conference.

Tuesday, 20th November 2007

Saturday, 10th November 2007

Monday, 5th November 2007

Thursday, 1st November 2007

Monday 24th to Thursday 27th September 2007

Our policy roundtables are the format in which we undertake most of our substantive policy discussions. Expert participants debate emerging policy trends and ideas and interrogate key players in an invited forum of their peers.

This year we have our strongest programme of policy roundtables ever, tackling the key issues on the political agenda from housing and the Respect agenda to the environment and energy policy.

Sunday 23rd to Thursday 27th September 2007

Our headline public events at Labour Party Conference are among the most prominent events of the conference fringe, providing a forum for the political debates that delegates want to have, and a chance to hear A-list speakers discussing the most pressing issues of the moment.

This year the Fabians will be holding debates on topics ranging from the future of equality in the UK to the approach we need to Iran.

Tuesday, 18th September 2007

Both parties may have different visions of the prosperous society, but how will a Brownite business agenda compare to a Cameronian one? What will the main policy and political challenges be for the party leaders at the next election in wooing the business vote?

Sunday, 16th September 2007

Monday, 10th September 2007

Saturday, 8th September 2007

The Fabian Autumn Conference will kick off the new political season. Come along to listen to speakers including Liam Byrne, Michael Wills and Hazel Blears. Have your say and join leading politicians, thinkers and grassroots campaigners as we debate ideas that will renew our democracy.

Keynote speaker: Ed Miliband MP.

Thursday, 26th July 2007

Dr Howard Stoate MP, author of Fabian pamphlet 'Challenging the Citadel: Breaking the hospitals' grip on the NHS', led a discussion on the future of the NHS.

Tuesday, 26th June 2007

Ed Balls toasted a fantastic year for the Fabians at the annual summer reception on the House of Commons terrace. The reception was an opportunity for the Fabians to thank all contributors, partners and friends of the Society for their support over the past year.

Sunday, 24th June 2007

Neither the Conservative Party's election strategy nor whether David Cameron, David Davis or William Hague will be the party leader can be predicted with certainty, Ed Balls told a Fabian fringe meeting on the morning of the Labour special leadership conference in Manchester. He suggested that the smooth transistion between Blair and Brown had focussed the public gaze on the Conservative split over grammar schools.

Thursday, 21st June 2007

In this lecture, DWP Minister James Purnell set out the case and vision for building an aspiration society where life chances are not inherited at birth, but depend on each person's own efforts and talents. He addressed some of the key policy questions for the next decade agenda, in particular placing education at the centre of the future political and policy debates and of the Labour government's future social vision.

Monday, 18th June 2007

International Development Secretary Hilary Benn MP was among the speakers debating Tony Klug's new Fabian freethinking paper How Peace Broke Out in the Middle East: A Short History of the Future.

Benn spoke alongside Yossi Mekelberg of Chatham House and Atallah Said of the Arab Labour Group. The paper is generating an extraordinary response from a wide range of commentators, academics and government and civil society voices in the UK, Israel and the Palestinian Territories.

Wednesday, 13th June 2007

In this lecture, DCLG Minister Baroness Andrews explored the Government's response to the future provision of housing for a growing and ageing society, and argued that housing policy must be at the heart of the social justice and social care agenda.

Wednesday, 13th June 2007

David Coats of the Work Foundation and Richard Exell of the TUC lead discussion in the second seminar of 2007 in the Fabian City, Business and Politics Network on the challenges of global integration and the response of the UK government and business to economic nationalism and protectionist tendencies in Europe and elsewhere.

Tuesday, 12th June 2007

Leading workplace analyst David Coats argued that workers in the south of England find the combination of a long commute, rising interest rates and a job they don't like contributes to their "southern discomfort".

But Coats, the former head of economics at the TUC, also argued in a Fabian lecture that workplaces have actually become more secure and better paid for the most vulnerable in his Next Decade lecture for the Fabians. He threw down a challenge to employers and government to improve workplaces.

Saturday, 9th June 2007

The Fabian Society will be running a session at this year's Compass conference to debate the public politics of equality. Tim Horton, Fabian Research Director, will be joined on a panel by Professor Anthony Giddens, LSE, Karen Buck MP and Louise Bamfield, Fabian Research Fellow.

Thursday, 7th June 2007

Jim Murphy, Minister of State, Department of Work and Pensions, led a Fabian policy seminar marking the tenth anniversary of the New Deal, assessing Labour's achievements in the area of employment policy and setting out the next decade challenges still to be met.

Wednesday, 6th June 2007

Ruth Kelly and Liam Byrne will speak at a Fabian seminar to launch their new freethinking paper. Drawing on their different perspectives in government, they will propose and debate new recommendations to strengthen citizenship and a common, shared British identity.

This event is by invitation only.

Wednesday, 6th June 2007

Baroness Amos will lead a high-level seminar exploring the next decade challenges in the area of internatioanl health development policy.

Tuesday, 5th June 2007

Continuing the Fabian 'Next Decade' series, Health Minister Andy Burnham argued that the era of the top down NHS is over. You can read the full transcript of his speech here.

Wednesday, 23rd May 2007

Labour cannot comfortably govern the UK as a whole without a significant presence in its largest and most prosperous region, argued former Home Office minister John Denham in a Fabian lecture. New Labour's unquestioned achievement was the solid base of councillors and MPs from the south of England. Read Denham's arguments on why that advance has been halted and, in many cases, reversed.

Tuesday, 22nd May 2007

Fear and unfamiliarity are the problems creating division in our society, Culture Minister David Lammy said in a Fabian lecture. "What we really need as a society is the social glue created by an encounter culture – in which it becomes normal, commonplace and comfortable to meet people from other backgrounds and cultures.We need workplaces that are representative. Public spaces that are welcoming."

Wednesday, 16th May 2007

Hazel Blears topped a straw poll following an exclusive Fabian Society and Progress deputy leadership hustings. All six candidates - Alan Johnson, Hazel Blears, Harriet Harman, Hilary Benn, Jon Cruddas and Peter Hain - debated major issues including democracy, education and foreign policy in a session chaired by The Guardian's Michael White. Read more in the full transcript.

Plus: Fabians publish book of candidates' essays:

Labour's Choice: The Deputy Leadership

Tuesday, 15th May 2007

Yvette Cooper, Minister for Housing and Planning, continued the Fabian 'Next Decade' series, discussing the link between housing policy and the government's child poverty agenda.

Sunday, 13th May 2007

What happened when the Fabian Society invited Gordon Brown, Michael Meacher and John McDonnell to debate Labour's future at a special Fabian hustings event?

Thursday, 10th May 2007

Labour party chair Hazel Blears issued a stark warning that Labour could soon 'cease to exist as a national political party' without major structural and cultural change, in a Fabian Society and Young Fabians lecture on the eve of the party leadership contest.

Tuesday, 24th April 2007

Yvette Cooper, Minister for Housing and Planning, led the second seminar in the 2007 Environmental Policy Network programme on environmental objectives in housing and planning policy.

Thursday, 19th April 2007

Ed Balls MP, Economic Secretary to the Treasury, led a City, Business and Politics Network seminar discussion on UK competitiveness in the global economy and the Government's promotion of stability and productivity through macro and microeconomic reform.

Monday, 2nd April 2007

Higher Education and Lifelong Learning Minister Bill Rammell addressed the Fabian Science and Technology Network on 19th March 2007, leading a discussion on the skills gap in the UK science and engineering sectors.

Monday, 19th March 2007

Science Minister Malcolm Wicks spoke on Science and Innovation policy to the Fabian Science and Technology Network on 19th March 2007.

Tuesday, 13th March 2007

Education Secretary Alan Johnson says schools need to focus on working-class boys to close the gap in achievement, launching a major Fabian research project on educational inequality.

Monday, 12th March 2007

Former Labour leader Neil Kinnock reflected on Labour politics, past, present and future, sharing his views on the Labour leadership, health, education, foreign policy, Lords reform - and why he opposes the government's decision to renew Trident - at a special Fabian members event.

Saturday, 10th March 2007

Involving parents more in education would help to narrow the attainment gap, Schools Minister Jim Knight told the Fabian South-West conference in Bournemouth.

Speakers: Jim Knight MP, Howard Stoate MP, Jessica Asato, Patrick Diamond, Sunder Katwala, Stephen Twigg

Wednesday, 7th March 2007

Ian Pearson MP, Minister of State, DEFRA, led a discussion on the future priorities in environment policy for the Government over the next decade, in the first seminar in the 2007 EPN programme.

Tuesday, 13th February 2007

Ruth Kelly says building more homes and enabling more tenants to build up a stake in their homes can help to brige the housing divide, in the latest Fabian 'Next Decade' lecture.

Sunday, 28th January 2007

MP Howard Stoate argues that the public needs to be persuaded that the government's plan to close hospitals will be good for health care.

Thursday, 14th December 2006

Environment Secretary David Miliband's lecture in the Fabian 'Next Decade' series gave a powerful warning that any party that does not raise its game on the environment will prove unelectable.

Wednesday, 13th December 2006

In light of the many reviews that have taken place ahead of the Comprehensive Spending Review in 2007, Dan Corry Chair of the Council of Economic Advisers, HM Treasury lead a broad discussion about the key long-term challenges facing the UK economy and public services.

Wednesday, 29th November 2006

Former Home Secretary Charles Clarke MP gave a major lecture on "The World After Bush", assessing the impact of the US mid-term elections for global politics, and what the Labour government's highly controversial foreign policy record means for the future of British foreign policy.

Saturday, 19th January 2008

Our biggest event of the year, dedicated to foreign policy, takes place precisely one year before President Bush leaves office. What happens next could be up to us. Can those who believe in a progressive and multilateral approach show that we have effective answers to the world's biggest problems?

Saturday, 4th November 2006

The Fabian Society's Annual General Meeting, was held on Saturday 4th November 2006 in London.

Wednesday, 1st November 2006

Ed Balls, Fabian Society Vice-Chair and Economic Secretary to the Treasury, kicks off a major Fabian 'Next Decade' lecture series by arguing that global change will make stronger European cooperation essential to tackle climate change, security and inequality.

Tuesday, 31st October 2006

John Healey MP, Financial Secretary to the Treasury, addressed a seminar of the Fabian City, Business and Politics network on 31st October 2006. Philip Hampton, Chairman of J Sainsbury Plc, spoke as a respondent and the session was chaired by Tim Horton, Research Director of the Fabian Society.

Monday 25th to Friday 29th September 2006

In Manchester we ran our biggest ever programme of fringe events at the Labour Party Conference. Our goal was to start the 'next decade' debates we need now. You can read event reports on all our fringe meetings.

Monday, 18th September 2006

Ed Miliband argues that Labour should place a mission to narrow inequalities at the heart of its future vision, opening the Fabian Northern Conference in Grimsby by arguing that the 50th anniversary of Tony Crosland's Future of Socialism speaks powerfully to the challenge of revising and renewing Labour today.

Monday 11th to Tuesday 12th September 2006

Details of Fabian events at the TUC 2006, 11th-12th September 2006, Brighton. Fabians will be leading debates on trade union, Labour Party reform and life chances: the work and skills agenda.

Saturday, 2nd September 2006

Scottish Fabians, MPs and MSPs participated in a jam-packed day of debate and discussion on Saturday 2nd September at the Fabian Scottish Conference in Edinburgh.

Wednesday, 26th July 2006

The Fabian Society and National Theatre celebrated George Bernard Shaw's 150th birthday with a platform discussion of his legacy as a political thinker.

Speakers: Christopher Morahan, Sunder Katwala, Roy Hattersley., Genista McIntosh.

Monday, 3rd July 2006

'The laissez faire approach to Britishness citizenship and identity can not continue. We need a new civic contract', argued Sadiq Khan MP in a major Fabian speech on being a British Muslim, in association with The City Circle, Q-News and Fosis, the federation of student Islamic Societies.

Speakers: Sadiq Khan, Mohammed Abdul Bari, John Denham, Shahedah Vawda, Humera Khan

Thursday, 29th June 2006

Labour must 'persuade people that the more equal society is the better society', Cabinet Office Minister Ed Miliband told a Fabian Society debate on 'Narrowing the Gap' at the Compass conference in London.

Speakers: Louise Bamfield, Martin Bright, Ed Miliband, Carey Oppenheim, Sunder Katwala

Monday, 5th June 2006

Trade Secretary, Alistair Darling, put demand reduction at the heart of energy policy in a major speech to the Fabian Environmental Policy Network.

Thursday, 1st June 2006

In his first major public lecture as Leader of the House of Commons, the Rt Hon Jack Straw MP made the case for politics as the force which can bond an increasingly atomised society.

Thursday, 25th May 2006

Alan Johnson's first major public speech as Education Secretary highlights extending opportunity to those who find the 'scales of educational achievement tipped heavily against them' as a key priority for futue policy.

Thursday, 18th May 2006

Work and Pensions Secretary John Hutton reveals plans to 'end injustice' to women by recognising caring contributions in a major speech to the Fabian Women's Network.

Calls were made to extend the 'early years' agenda to inequalities before birth and for a greater focus on the 'working poor', as Ed Balls, John Denham, Polly Toynbee and Louise Bamfield previewed the Fabian Life Chances Commission report with a debate on how government can get back on track to meet its child poverty target.

Speakers: Ed Balls, Louise Bamfield, John Denham, Polly Toynbee

Former Italian Prime Minister Giuliano Amato calls for important features of the Treaty to be salvaged as politicians, diplomats and commentators debate the consequences of the French and Dutch referendums at a Fabian Society and Centre for European Reform conference in London on 31st May 2005.

Speakers: Giuliano Amato, Charles Grant, Sylvie Goulard, Thom de Graaf, Alan Dashwood, Timothy Garton Ash

More democratic scrutiny needed of EU, say senior backbenchers Gisela Stuart and Tony Wright.

Speakers: Quentin Peel, Gisela Stuart, Tony Wright