Claire Fox
director, Academy of Ideas; independent peer, House of Lords; author, I STILL Find That Offensive!

Claire Fox is the director of the Academy of Ideas, which she established to create a public space where ideas can be contested without constraint. She convenes the yearly Battle of Ideas festival and initiated the Debating Matters Competition for sixth-formers. She also co-founded a residential summer school, The Academy, with the aim to demonstrate ‘university as it should be’.

In May 2019, she was elected as an MEP for the North West England constituency of the UK in the European Parliament elections. In 2020, she was made a visiting professor in professional practice at the University of Buckingham. In September 2020, Claire became a member of the House of Lords as Baroness Fox of Buckley.

Claire is often invited to comment on developments in culture, education, media and free speech issues on TV and radio programmes in the UK such as the BBC’s Newsnight, Politics Live and Any Questions? as well as being a frequent guest on Times Radio, Talk TV and GB News. She has been a regular newspaper reviewer on Sky News and is a monthly columnist for MJ (Municipal Journal). She was the longest standing panelist on BBC Radio 4’s The Moral Maze for over 20 years until 2020. She is author of a book on free speech, recently republished as I STILL Find That Offensive! (Biteback, 2018), and No Strings Attached! Why arts funding should say no to instrumentalism (Arts&Business, 2007). She has written a variety of chapters and essays for a range of publications, most recently ‘Narcissism and Identity’ in From Self to Selfie: A Critique of Contemporary Forms of Alienation (Palgrave Macmillan, 2019).

Follow Claire on X: @Fox_Claire.

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Saturday 17 October, 10:15 Assembly Hall, Church House
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Sunday 18 October, 11:00 Hoare Memorial Hall, Church House
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Sunday 18 October, 13:45 Hoare Memorial Hall, Church House
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Sunday 18 October, 15:45 Hoare Memorial Hall, Church House
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Sunday 18 October, 15:45 Hospitality Suite, Church House
Women betrayed: should we smash the unions and start again?

Sunday 18 October, 17:15 Assembly Hall, Church House
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Saturday 31 October, 12:35 Balderin Sali
Antaako populismi kansalle äänen?

Saturday 31 October, 12:35 Balderin Sali
Populism: giving the people a voice?

Saturday 31 October, 15:20 Balderin Sali
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Saturday 31 October, 17:30 Balderin Sali
Antaako sananvapaus meille oikeuden arvostella ja loukata toisia?

Saturday 31 October, 17:30 Balderin Sali
Free speech: should we have the right to be offensive?