See Polly Toynbee and David Walker live and in person at Quarterhouse.
In The Lost Decade 2010 - 2020 and What Lies Ahead For Britain, Polly Toynbee and David Walker offer the definitive survey of a tumultuous period in British history and look to what lies ahead.
The ten years from 2010 have been devastating. A decade of austerity and paralysis has nurtured contempt for leaders, institutions and fellow citizens and fertilised the ground for a rebellious Brexit. It has been a decade characterised by national tragedies from Grenfell to Windrush, and food banks to the property crisis. But, as Adam Smith said, ‘there’s a great deal of ruin in a nation’. No truthful portrait of an era can be monochrome. Bright spots included the rise of renewable energy, lower crime rates, legalisation of same-sex marriage and the creative industries continuing to punch well above their weight in spite of cuts.
This event is also part of the Folkestone Book Festival Digital Pass. By booking a Digital Pass you'll be able to access all the talks and events and revisit anything you missed for up to a week after the festival.
You will need to order your pass at least 24 hours before the start of the first event you wish to attend.
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Polly Toynbee and David Walker have co-authored Dogma and Disarray: Cameron at Half-Time, Unjust Rewards: Exposing Greed and Inequality in Britain Today, The Verdict: Did Labour Change Britain? and Better or Worse: Did Labour Deliver?. Polly Toynbee is a columnist for The Guardian. David Walker is a contributing editor to The Guardian Public and former director of public reporting at the Audit Commission.
What happened in the UK between 2010 and 2020 will scar us for the rest of our lives.
- Polly Toynbee and David Walker
A copy of their book can be found on the CCCU website (canterbury.ac.uk)
This year the Festival will be presented online and in-person wherever possible and in line with the latest government guidance. You can find more information about the Festival here.
Creative Folkestone Book Festival is made possible thanks to the generous support of our funders and partners. We are proud to welcome the return of NewsNow as our Principal Partner for the Creative Folkestone Book Festival.
