John is joined in conversation by Lord Jonathan Sumption OBE, described by his peers as ‘the cleverest man in Britain’. Sumption’s glittering legal mind provides for insightful and challenging perspectives on various topics including lockdown, climate change, Brexit, and so-called ‘hate speech’. Lord Jonathan Sumption is a celebrated historian, barrister, and emeritus judge of the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom. After teaching and researching in medieval history at Oxford University, he pursued an astonishingly successful legal career which resulted in his appointment to the Supreme Court. While practising as a lawyer, Sumption wrote celebrated works of medieval history, most notably four volumes of a planned five-volume history of the Hundred Years’ War. Sumption has weighed into public debate over many years, most recently regarding COVID policies in the UK and the demonisation of Western history, particularly since the BLM protests and riots in 2020. His most recent books are Trials of the State: Law and the Decline of Politics and Law in a Time of Crisis. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 00:40 Introduction 01:51 What is the rule of law 04:30 The separation of powers 08:37 The problem of activists in judicial systems 12:01 Brexit and its implications on law 16:11 What is driving the increase of laws 20:37 Decline of religion 21:46 Hate speech 26:23 Disengagement between politicians and the public 30:16 High expectations of politicians 32:33 The importance of history 34:54 Overuse of emotive language in crisis 38:25 Climate change and democracy 42:50 Motive behind solutions to climate change 46:31 Inequality 49:10 Implications of lockdown 55:25 The greatest challenge to democracy 57:15 Using history to undermine western culture 1:00:20 The problem of ‘Direct Democracy’ 1:03:54 Conclusion -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Conversations feature John Anderson, former Deputy Prime Minister of Australia, interviewing the world's foremost thought leaders about today's pressing social, cultural and political issues. John believes proper, robust dialogue is necessary if we are to maintain our social strength and cohesion. As he puts it; "You cannot get good public policy out of a bad public debate." If you value this discussion and want to see more like it, make sure you subscribe to the channel here: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCtnYSEGViOnb7k8ezUaWUww?sub_confirmation=1 And stay right up to date with all the conversations by subscribing to the newsletter here: https://johnanderson.net.au/contact/ Follow John on Twitter: https://twitter.com/JohnAndersonAC Follow John on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/johnandersonac/ Support the channel: https://johnanderson.net.au/support/ Website: https://johnanderson.net.au/ Podcast: https://johnanderson.net.au/podcasts/ -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Purchase Lord Sumption's Law in a Time of Crisis here: https://www.allenandunwin.com/browse/books/academic-professional/politics-government/Law-in-a-Time-of-Crisis-Jonathan-Sumption-9781788167123