Henry Porter - Events

Manifesto Club 28 April Clubnight: What would you put in a Freedom Manifesto?

Wednesday 28 April, 7.30pm; Function room @ The Slug and Lettuce, 5 Lisle Street, Leicester Square, WC2

We have invited activists from different points on the political spectrum to discuss the challenges for freedom today – and to suggest what they would put in their Freedom Manifesto. Do we need a new freedom alliance? Speakers: Guy Herbert (No2ID), Henry Porter (Observer columnist and civil liberties campaigner), James Panton (Manifesto Club), Alex Deane (Big Brother Watch), Rowenna Davis (features writer, The Guardian). Cost: Free for Manifesto Club members; £5 non-members.

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Chipping Campden Literature festival 2010

Saturday 8th May 2010, 6.30 –7.30pm, Upper Room, The Town Hall, The Campden Fringe

Henry Porter talks about his latest thriller The Dying Light, highlighting the threat of surveillance to civil liberties. Organised by The Quaker Meeting House Broad Campden. Proceeds to Asylum Welcome Oxford. Tickets £8 ; Concessions: Under 21 Free, unwaged half price. For tickets and more information telephone 01386 849 199

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Hostile Reconnaissance

13th April 2010, 7pm, Friends Meeting House, 173 Euston Road, London NW1

The London Photographers’ Branch is proud to announce a pre-election rally on Terror Laws, Civil Liberties & Press Freedom at 7pm on the 13th of April at Friends Meeting House in Euston. The rally will be chaired by award winning photographer Jess Hurd and speakers include Jeremy Dear, General Secretary National Union of Journalists, Paul Lewis, Guardian journalist & British Press Awards Reporter of the Year 2010, Keith Ewing, Professor of Public Law at King’s College London & author of Bonfire of the Liberties and Henry Porter, Observer columnist, author & British editor of Vanity Fair.

Fatima Bhutto - Songs of Blood and Sword - In conversation with Henry Porter

Monday 12 April 2010, 7pm, Kings Place, 90 York Way, London N1

Fatima Bhutto, fearless niece of Benazir, is an outspoken critic of Pakistan's current regime. In Songs of Blood and Sword, she tells the story of the Bhutto family as it mirrors the tumultuous history of Pakistan itself, and of the quest to find the truth behind her father's murder that has led her to the heart of her country's volatile political establishment. During this event Bhutto will be discussing her important and revealing book and talks about future of Pakistan with Henry Porter.

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Sit Down, Shut Up: Are Football Supporters Discriminated Against?

Thursday March 4th 2010, 7pm, The Vibe Bar, Brick Lane, London E1

Sit Down, Shut Up: Are Football Supporters Discriminated Against? is the FSF’s free Question Time-style debate, chaired by Tony Evans (Football Editor at The Times) with panellists Henry Porter, Duleep Allirajah (Sports Columnist for Spiked), David Bohannan (Head of the Home Office Football Unit), Tony Conniford (Assistant Director of the UK Football Policing Unit) and James Welch (solicitor and Legal Director of Liberty). This free event is open to all. Every person who registers in advance also gets a free drink. To register, simply email your name to : This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it

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An Unwarranted Intrusion?

23 February 2010, 6.15 for 6.30pm, 55 Tufton Street, SW1, Centre for Policy Studies

New research from Big Brother Watch (pdf) has revealed that there are nearly 15,000 officers in local councils nationwide who can enter private property without requiring a warrant or police officer escort. The report builds on the 2006 Centre for Policy Studies pamphlet Crossing the Threshold by Harry Snook (pdf), which detailed the number of ways the State can enter a private home as of right - there were 266 distinct powers of entry then, and 1,043 now. Our panel of speakers will discuss the implications of this for civil liberties and whether action is needed to rebalance power in the relationship between the state and the citizen. Chaired by Jill Kirby, with speakers Dominic Grieve QC MP, Henry Porter, Harry Snook and Alex Deane .

What Price Liberty?

Saturday 23rd January 2010, 10am - 4.30pm, Truro College, Cornwall

A day to discuss our freedom, privacy & rights. Chaired by Kate Adie (broadcaster and author) with speakers Henry Porter, Frederick Taylor (best selling historian of WW2), Katherine Whitehorn (columnist and broadcaster), Oliver Baines (environmental campaigner), Stephen Otter (Chief Constable for Devon and Cornwall) and Ursula Owen (campaigner for free speech).

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Civil liberties: are we placing ourselves at the mercy of the state?

Tuesday December 8, 6.30pm - 8pm, Hansard Society, Portcullis House

This Democracy Forum will look at whether what can be viewed as our traditional British ‘apathy’ is allowing the state to pass legislation that scrutinises and controls us. Or, is such a dystopian view a wildly exaggerated response to what is merely the use of modern tools to tackle 21st century crime and terrorism? The speakers are: Henry Porter, Peter Oborne and Sir Ian Blair. Chaired by Fiona Booth, Chief Executive, Hansard Society.