Six months have passed since the UK officially left the European Union and yet the debate surrounding Brexit still feels painfully fresh for Remainers and Brexiteers alike.

With rhetoric, hyperbole and inaccuracies rife on both sides of the equation, how can we be sure what life without the EU means for our new relationship with our global neighbours and the rest of the wider world?

To shed some light on these timely cultural questions, we’ve gathered a group of experts to discuss the practical challenges that we can expect moving forward while we attempt to redefine a divisive, yet once-key relationship.

About The Speakers

Peter Ricketts

Peter Ricketts was a British diplomat for 40 years, spending much of his career handling international crises. He was the UK’s first National Security Adviser and Ambassador to France. After retiring in 2016, he joined the House of Lords and is a regular commentator on international affairs.

Muddassar Ahmed

Muddassar is a serial social entrepreneur who traverses the worlds of business, media and civil society engagement to bridge divides between communities. He is Managing Partner at Unitas Communications, a political consultancy based in London, Washington, Brussels and Jeddah specialising in strategic cross-cultural communications.

Ella Whelan

Ella Whelan is a freelance journalist, commentator and author of What Women Want: Fun, Freedom and an End to Feminism. She was the assistant editor at spiked and host of the spiked podcast between 2015-2018. She regularly appears on TV and radio, including Question Time, Today, Sky News Press Preview, Good Morning Britain, Any Questions, Moral Maze, Politics Live, Channel 4 and others. She has written for the Sunday Times, The Economist, the Irish Times, the Sun, Conscience, the Spectator, City Am, the IBT, The Critic, Grazia, Standpoint and others. Ella is one half of Lobster Films – a new production company making political documentaries about thorny issues that others shy away from. Their first doc – The F Word – is out now.

About The Chair

Penny Richards

Penny Richards is the Managing Director of the Aspen Institute in the UK. She’s a CEO with an exceptional track record of delivering change and meaningful results for international organisations, including the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and the BBC. She spent many years working in foreign news at the BBC, finally as their Asia Bureau Editor, responsible for the news coverage of half the world’s population. She has also been the COO for The Elders, a group of independent former world leaders including Archbishop Desmond Tutu and President Jimmy Carter, working together for peace and human rights.