Peril and Progress

Originally to be progressive was to believe in progress and to imagine there was a right side to history. But times have changed. What it is to be progressive looks increasingly in question. Science and technology which were once the dream of early 20th-century socialism, are often the the focus of attack. Some of the most radical favour a return to a pre-industrial world. Meanwhile, stability and security, once the rallying cry of conservatives, are now endorsed by many who see themselves as progressive. And across Europe the young, traditionally the drivers of progressive change, are increasingly voting with the right.

Do we have to recognise that without a clear vision of progress we have also lost the idea of what it is to be progressive? Is there a new vision around which a progressive politics can be built? Or was the idea of progress always an illusion, a means of imposing on history the idealistic prejudices of the time?

Cabinet Minister for Johnson, Truss and Sunak, Nadhim Zahawi, radical economist Guy Standing, political scientist Camila Vergara debate and former Speaker of the House of Commons John Bercow debate whether progress is an illusion or a tangible reality worth striving for.