Prioritising People and Planet: Pascal Lamy and Lisa Nandy MP

Listen to the event audio here.

The Fabian Society is delighted to invite you to a political conversation between Pascal Lamy and Lisa Nandy MP. The event marks the London launch of the Lamy Group’s report Prioritising People and Planet: A New Agenda for Global Progress, published by the Foundation for European Progressive Studies.

Pascal Lamy is former director-general of the World Trade Organisation and former EU Commissioner for Trade. In introducing the new report he will share his insights on the prospects for the global left and the challenges facing social democrats in the UK and France in particular. Pascal’s perspective will be especially pertinent as the UK considers its post-Brexit future. The UK will soon be entering a new trading relationship with the EU, with the prospect of an independent trade policy outside of the EU customs union. Pascal will address the impact and viability of various Brexit scenarios, the prospects for social democrats in Europe as well as the future of progressive politics across the globe.

Lisa Nandy, Labour MP for Wigan, will offer a UK perspective on the report and respond to Pascal Lamy. Lisa is former Shadow Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change and a passionate advocate for reconnecting politics with people’s lives. She is leading work to reorientate political debate away from cities to focus on people who live in towns and their concerns.

The ‘Prioritising People and Planet’ report is a response to rapid changes in society triggered by a nexus of new scientific advances, technological leaps, major demographic changes and the intensification of globalisation. The paper sets out a compelling progressive agenda so that the future can be better than the past, rejecting the fatalistic neoliberal paradigm.