The Lewes Speakers Festival will be held on 5th/6th August 2011 at the All Saints Centre in Lewes under the eyes of its outspoken MP – Norman Baker. Seasoned journalists Sandy Gall and Dame Ann Leslie, will speak: two of the most significant journalists of the last 50 years. Gall will speak on the problems of the war in Iraq and how it sidelined the more pressing issues that have emerged out of Afghanistan. Leslie will lock horns with her rival Yasmin Alibhai-Brown in a debate over Islam’s relationship with democracy.
 
The themes are political and military. Amongst the speakers, Peter Hennessy, leading thinker on contemporary politics, presents his study of Britain’s ‘secret state’. Michael Smith is an expert on spying and Special Forces and is the author of the bestseller ‘Station X.’ He will speak on the history of MI6. Rosamund Bartlett will speak on Tolstoy and Mark Henderson, who was kidnapped in Colombia, speaks about meeting one of his kidnappers 5 years after being released, and the film he made about it.

To find out more visit www.lewesspeakersfestival.com or telephone the Box Office on 0844 8700 887.