Summary
The Longford Lectures are held annually in November in the circular Assembly Hall of Church House, Westminster, London. They aim to provide a national platform for a serious contribution to questions of social and penal reform.
The Lectures are organised by The Longford Trust which celebrates the achievements and continues the work of Lord Longford. It was established in 2002 by friends and admirers to further the goals he pursued, particularly in the field of social and prison reform.
The Longford Lectures were sponsored originally by The Independent and more recently by the Daily Telegraph.
In addition to the Lectures, the Trust awards The Longford Prize to individuals and organisations who play a prominent role in the field of prison reform.
The broadcaster and journalist Jon Snow chairs the event.
Past Lectures
editFull transcripts of all lectures and films of recent lectures available on the Longford Trust website.
| Year | Speaker | Title of the Lecture | Chaired by |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2002 | Cherie Booth QC | The Law, the Victims and the Vulnerable | Jon Snow |
| 2003 | John Sentamu | Towards a Global Paradigm of Justice | Jon Snow |
| 2004 | Desmond Tutu | Restorative Justice | Jon Snow |
| 2005 | Brenda Hale | Women in the Criminal Justice System | Jon Snow |
| 2006 | Clive Stafford Smith | Lessons politicians learn from America | Jon Snow |
| 2007 | Mary McAleese | Changing History | Jon Snow |
| 2008 | Special Debate | We Cannot Build Our Way Out of the Prisons' Crisis | Jon Snow |
| 2009 | Sir Hugh Orde | War is easy. Peace is the difficult prize | Rachel Billington |
| 2010 | Martha Lane Fox | Views from a dot.com dinosaur | Jon Snow |
| 2011 | Jon Snow | Crime, Punishment and the Media | Shami Chakrabarti |
| 2012 | Will Self | Drug use in British Prisons | Rachel Billington |
| 2013 | Bianca Jagger | Ending violence against women and girls | Jon Snow |
| 2014 | Nils Öberg | Cracking the Code: how Sweden is closing prisons and reducing the prison population | Jon Snow |
| 2015 | Michael Palin | Collateral damage: The effects of prison sentences on offenders' families | Jon Snow |
| 2016 | Michael Gove | What is Really Criminal About Our Justice System | Jon Snow |
| 2017 | Ken Loach | Charity or Justice? | Jon Snow |
| 2018 | Longford Scholars | Why People Stop Doing Crime | Jon Snow |
| 2019 | Lord Blair | Where Next For Policing and Criminal Justice | Jon Snow |