Laid out before us in the leafy grounds of Hampstead Heath was a series of events discussions, interviewees and presentations to provoke, inform and entertain and from a stellar cast of guest speakers - and a huge coup for The FT with the first-ever joint public appearance by the Director of the CIA and Head of MI6. While their pronouncements on Ukraine, Gaza and joint intelligence were jumped on by the world’s press, other sessions threw up intriguing insights on everything from Wes Streeting's 3-point plan for fixing the ‘broken’ NHS to the hitherto vastly underrated contribution India made to the shaping of the ancient world.
Dynamic Discussions at FT Weekend Festival 2024
Words by
Liz Hartford
27th September 2024
The nights are drawing in and there’s a chill in the early morning air but any gloom at the onset of Autumn was cast aside at Kenwood House in North London as it opened its gates to The FT Weekend Festival 2024. SPHERE was a proud Media Partner. Liz Hartford and Lara Finn report back from the Heath
The actor Sir Ian McKellen on the relationship between performers and critics
Over the course of 8 hours you could find answers to a veritable smorgasbord of pressing and eclectic question: Whither Culture? Should we eat steak? Can A1 solve loneliness? And with appearances by cultural luminaries such as Simon Schama, Michael Palin and Sir Ian McKellen, the phrase ‘spoilt for choice’ has never been truer. The only challenge of the day at this beautifully curated and seamlessly run event was deciding which events to attend…
Entrepreneur and Dragon’s Den star, Deborah Meaden, in conversation with FT Deputy Editor, Patrick Jenkins
How Can We justify eating steak?
The launch pad for an illuminating and thought provoking discussion began with a question that reminds us how much a staple of the British diet steak has become in the last 50 years: Can the panel remember their first steak? They most certainly could and the Berni Inn loomed large. In the ensuing discussion, so did the reasons steak has become the most controversial of food choices with a spotlight thrown on the alarmingly named ‘ fatter faster system’…
Tim Hayward challenged the ethics behind the concept of Wagyu Beef and questioned whether playing Mozart to cattle overfed on corn and limited in movement was really any better than rearing cattle in mass feed lots. Huw Gott, the co-owner of Hawksmoor, acknowledged the responsibility of his steak-led restaurant and successfully defended their approach: “Where we’ve ended up is try and find the people who are following the best possible practices for the life of that animal, for the impact on local nature, and for the environment and then support them by buying their stuff.”
Actor John Lithgow in conversation with FT Weekend editor Janine Gibson
An Unprecedented Sit Down
Informed conversation: Robert Moore, Chief of M16
In a surprise turn of events FT played host to CIA director Bill Burns and MI6 Chief Richard Moore for a groundbreaking discussion. The pair highlighted the significance of their partnership particularly in the wake of Russia’s advances on Ukraine. They revealed active negotiations are underway to secure a peace agreement between Israel and Hamas. Burns however stated that the end to the war in Gaza is “ultimately a question of political will”. They addressed their respective relations with China and the growing threat it presents, but above all emphasised their strong partnership during these unprecedented times. This was certainly not a conversation to be missed.
Top Secret: William Burns, Director of the CIA
Dark Forces
It was only appropriate that the clouds broke and the rain bucketed down at the start of a riveting session that promised an in-depth looked at the dark arts of power networks and conspiracy theories and their dissemination across the globe. While focusing on the foremost orchestrators of these ‘dark forces’ Vladimir Putin and his chief spin doctors, this expert panel also took us back to a key turning point, the death of Boris Yeltsin, and looked ahead to how this might all play out in the future. Will Putinism die with Putin?
FT’s Frederick Studemann sits down with Catherine Belton, Gabriel Gatehouse and Giuliano Da Empoli
In answer to this question Catherine Belton proposed: “Yes, to some degree but it’s also contingent on what happens in the war in Ukraine.” She continued: “If Ukraine is not forced into a ceasefire on Russia’s terms, then there is every chance that the next person who follows Putin will seek a much less aggressive stance because that aggression will have seen to have failed, and they won’t seek to bow before us in the West.”
Gabriel Gatehouse added: “It is a system but it’s a system that at the moment relies on one man, in that sense it’s like a monarchy and there’s no successor.”
Author Robert Harris discusses his latest historical fiction ‘Precipice’ with FT’s Tobias Buck
BIG IDEAS
A packed `Big Tent’ heard from the newly-minted Secretary of State for Health and Social Care Wes Streeting and were given a heads up on his response to a report on the current state of the NHS later this week. But alongside policy this was an opportunity to get up close and personal to one of the stars of the new government; to hear how conservatism informed his politics, the knife edge of election night when he was in danger of losing his seat, and how a ‘fry-up’ played a part in saving his life…
Discussing a topic that has been on everyone’s mind Streeting responded: “The NHS is broken but not beaten,” reaffirming the government’s commitment to rebuilding the NHS from “from the grips of the worst crisis in its history."
