Culture begins across the channel

04 May 2004

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The debate took place at: Royal Geographical Society, Ondaatje Theatre.

Speaker bios correct on date of event.

Speakers for the motion:

Colin MacCabe: Distinguished Professor of English and Film at the University of Pittsburgh where he has taught since l985. Since 1998 he has also been Professor of English at Exeter University. From l985-1998 he worked for the British Film Institute, first as Head of Production and then as Head of Research. He has published widely on modernism and on the history of English language and literature. His most recent book is Godard: A Portrait of the Artist at 70 (Bloomsbury 2003) and his most recent production Isaac Julien's Bad..assssss Cinema (Independent Film Channel 2002). He has currently working on a book on T.S. Eliot and helping Chris Marker with his next project: Owls At Noon.

Theodore Zeldin CBE FBA FRSL: President of the Oxford Muse, Emeritus Fellow of St Antony's College, Oxford, Associate Fellow of Templeton College, Oxford and Honorary Professor at the Ecole des Hautes Etudes Commerciales, Paris. Formerly Visiting Professor at Harvard and the University of Southern California and Director of the Future of Work Project (financed by the European Commission). He is a co-founder of the Oxford Food Symposium and was Commandeur de l'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres (France). He is a Member of the European Academy and Honorary President, Maison du Temps et de la Mobilité. He has written several books including "An Intimate History of Humanity", "Conversation", "Happiness", "History of French Passions" and "The French".

Theodore Dalrymple: Doctor who retired from clinical practice in 2005. He writes for The Spectator, the British Medical Journal, The New Criterion and the City Journal (New York) and has written several books, including "Junk Medicine", "Mass Listeria" and "So Little Done". He divides his time between Britain and France.

Speakers against the motion:

Will Self: English novelist, reviewer and columnist, known for his satirical, grotesque and fantastic novels and short stories set in seemingly parallel universes. His Psychogeography column appears in the magazine section of the Saturday edition of The Independent and he has also written for the New Statesman and Prospect magazine. His most recent novel is The Butt, a satire on Western liberal attitudes in the aftermath of 9/11.

Howard Jacobson: Author, critic and broadcaster whose latest novel is entitled "The Act of Love".

The Rt Hon Sir Michael Portillo MP: Conservative MP for Kensington and Chelsea. He was responsible for briefing Margaret Thatcher before her press conferences at the General Election in 1979. For the next 2 years he was special adviser to the Secretary of State for Energy. He returned to politics as a special adviser to the Chancellor of the Exchequer (Nigel Lawson) and in December 1984 won the by-election in Enfield Southgate, caused by the murder of Sir Anthony Berry MP in the Brighton bombing. He joined the Government in 1986, and remained a member until 1997. He was a whip, Parliamentary Under Secretary for Social Security, Minister of State for Transport, Minister of State for Local Government and Inner Cities; and as a Cabinet Minister was Chief Secretary to the Treasury, Secretary of State for Employment, and Secretary of State for Defence. He was admitted to the Privy Council in 1992. He had a weekly column in The Scotsman, took part in a 3-part series for Channel 4 about politics Portillo's Progress, and a programme in BBC2's Great Railway Journeys series. He has made a number of television programmes for BBC2 including Art that shook the world: Richard Wagner's Ring, Portillo in Euroland, Elizabeth I in the series Great Britons and When Michael Portillo became a single mum. He was re-elected to Parliament in a by-election in Kensington and Chelsea in November 1999 and was Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer Feb 2000-Sept 2001. Michael is a member of the International Commission on Missing Persons in the former Yugoslavia. In November 2003 Michael announced that he would not seek re-election to the House of Commons at the next general election.

Chair: Anna Ford Presenter of the BBC One O'Clock News and previously a presenter of the Today programme on Radio 4 and the BBC Six O'Clock News. She was also an ITN Newscaster, a reporter, a Medical Correspondent and a presenter of BBC Tomorrow's World and Man Alive. She is the Co-Chancellor of The University of Manchester.