Politics in Pubs is back — checking in on the state of free speech over a pint.
Join Andy Shaw co-founder of ‘the comedy night that takes the PC out of the stand-up elite’ Comedy Unleashed in a proper pub setting for an honest conversation about where open debate stands today. What’s being said, what’s being silenced, and what room do we still have to disagree in public.
No scripts, no echo chambers, just straight talk, robust exchange, and the chance to put your own questions to the panel. Come for the discussion, stay for the atmosphere. Free speech works best when it happens face to face.
Grab a seat, grab a drink, and be part of the conversation.
Join us upstairs at:
Politics in Pubs – London The Warwick, 25 Warwick Way, Pimlico, London, SW1V 1QT Monday 25th January 2027, 7pm.
This is your opportunity to speak to those assembled about an issue that really matters to you and give your tuppenceworth. Each speaker will have up to five minutes to talk about an issue dear to their heart, followed by a short Q&A.
We ask that all speeches are non-partisan and remind you that the laws of slander still apply.
Come prepared or speak off the cuff. This is your chance to exercise some free speech.
If you have notes, we can publish them to increase the reach of your ideas, as we have done for previous events. If you’re comfortable with it, we’re happy to record your talk as well.
Speaking slots will be on a first come first serve basis.
Join us upstairs at:
Politics in Pubs – London The Warwick, 25 Warwick Way, Pimlico, London, SW1V 1QT Monday 9th November, 7pm.
Following the resignation of William Clouston as leader of the Social Democratic Party, Adam Williams has announced his intention to run for the role. We speak with Adam about his plans.
“Chair of the Young Social Democrats, and as the party’s national spokesperson and campaigns organiser, because I believe the SDP can bring about real change for Britain”
Can you introduce yourself and tell us why you are running for leader of the SDP?
My name is Adam Williams. I joined the SDP in 2024 because it’s a party I truly believe in. Since then, I’ve poured myself into it: as a volunteer, as Chair of the Young Social Democrats, and as the party’s national spokesperson and campaigns organiser, because I believe the SDP can bring about real change for Britain.
I am a trained administrator and historian by background. I started my career as a bartender, before becoming an apprentice, then working in the museum sector, after that I took a break to do my MA in Crusader Studies, before returning to work for a charity as a fundraiser and organiser, and now I work for the SDP handling political communications. Politics has been a lifelong passion of mine, I’ve been actively involved in some way or another since 2016 (Brexit was my first vote), and I am determined to make a positive change for this country.
The party has received a lot of publicity but has had limited electoral success. How would you hope to build the vote?
We’ve had good friends in the podcast scene and news media who’ve given us a platform over the years, but it’s provided little cut-through. In the age of attention politics, we need a new approach: a radical, hopeful message that matches the public mood for change with the energy it demands. We should stop waiting to be noticed and start demanding attention with our output.
“My real focus is the cost of living. I want our party to get radical with the solutions we offer, and to put some feeling and romanticism back into our politics”
What changes to policy, or shifts in policy emphasis, would you introduce?
The coming general election will be fought on two main fronts: the cost of living and immigration. On immigration, our part of the electorate has reached a clear consensus, and our policy platform already tackles it robustly, though I’d welcome further measures. My real focus is the cost of living. I want our party to get radical with the solutions we offer, and to put some feeling and romanticism back into our politics: the hope and optimism so many people are crying out for.
“We will bring back hope and optimism for the future, and be a party our supporters are proud to back”
Beyond the party itself, what’s your pitch to the public to support the SDP?
My pitch to the public is simple: under my leadership, the SDP will answer the public’s cry for change with the urgency and radical ideas the moment demands. We will not be “just another party” that promises much and delivers little. We will bring back hope and optimism for the future, and be a party our supporters are proud to back every time they vote.
How can people find out more about your campaign?
My campaign website is live and ready to launch on 12 October, the first official day of campaigning. Everything about the campaign will live there, so watch this space. Until then, I’ll be posting across my socials, holding Q&As, and sharing my thinking right up to the close of campaigning, with one or two policy announcements along the way.
I often think a good indicator that a sci-fi series has run out of ideas is when it finds a parallel universe: somewhere with the same characters and many of the same events, but things that are subtly just a little different. The same might be said of someone writing about a holiday and reaching for this hackneyed cliché. Even so, I couldn’t help feeling that Buenos Aires was a sort of parallel universe or mirror world to Europe, similar, but not quite the same. A mix of many European countries with some New World thrown in for good measure.
“It has been said that you can tell a lot about a city by the number of cranes in the sky. For Buenos Aires this suggests a city whose best days are in the past”
It has been said that you can tell a lot about a city by the number of cranes in the sky. For Buenos Aires this suggests a city whose best days are in the past. It lacks the optimism or sense of purpose of even some of the old European capitals many of its people originally came from. One advantage is that it retains a great collection of early- to mid-20th-century architecture. Whole streets look like the sets of classic movies.
Alongside this old-fashioned look are some welcome vintage values. Politeness and decency abound, as do people dressed in classic chic. For me to notice this it must stand out; partly it is the juxtaposition of new clothes and very old, tired buildings. I noticed a lack of youngsters, not entirely unusual in a city centre, but a quick search later suggested a deeper problem. Argentina’s fertility rate has fallen by roughly 47% over the past decade, to an average of 1.23 children per woman. By comparison, the UK fertility rate is at a historic low of 1.39.
“Argentina’s GDP per capita is about $14,900 (sources vary). That compares with the UK at about $61,056”
Around 1900 Argentina was said to be the richest country in the world. Alas, no more. Despite recent economic stabilisation under the Milei government, Argentina’s GDP per capita is about $14,900 (sources vary). That compares with the UK at about $61,056. It puts Argentina on a similar level to China and Mauritius, and quite a bit lower than two of its neighbours, as the table below shows.
Having said all this, Buenos Aires had the feel of early-1980s London, rough areas and old cars, rather than that of an underdeveloped nation. So, it was a surprise, to see the large shanty towns around the outer parts of the city.
“I had expected a smaller crowd after being told the previous evening that the two main groups of ultras had been arrested earlier in the week for fighting and put in jail”
What it lacks in growth it makes up for in excellent entertainment, food and, most appealingly, wine. A chance to see Huracán v Estudiantes de Río Cuarto took me through the pre-match street entertainment to the magnificent Art Deco: Estadio Tomás Adolfo Ducó, capacity 48,000. The crowd for the 1–1 draw was well below that (our guide said ~22,000; I felt more like ~15,000). I had expected a smaller crowd after being told the previous evening that the two main groups of ultras had been arrested earlier in the week for fighting and put in jail. In Argentina away fans are generally not allowed into games, and we all had our ID checked. Given that rival gangs of ultras can fight pre-match to the point of imprisonment, that may be a reasonable measure. The club’s pre-match display and the tifo put on by the ultras who did attend were both visual delights. The evening passed without incident but with enough entertainment to make the visit well worth it.
I didn’t get to any other matches, but I visited the Boca Juniors area and toured River Plate’s Estadio Monumental. La Boca, the neighbourhood around Boca Juniors’ Estadio Alberto José Armando (the Chocolate Box), is full of street entertainment, colourful houses and art. For some distance approaching the ground you see increasing use of blue and yellow (the club colours) to show a businesses or an areas’ support. You could feel the atmosphere building even on a non-match day, on a tour with people who seemed little interested in football.
River Plate’s stadium, by contrast, felt less enclosed. I watched the area turn into a sea of River fans boarding buses to see their team play away at Banfield. This was part of a limited pilot with around 7,000 tickets sold. It was the first time River supporters had been allowed as visitors for a league game in the Buenos Aires suburbs in more than seven years. You could feel that as the buses of supporters and accompanying police gathered for the journey across town.
Beef in all forms was on the menu wherever I went. A wine-tasting I joined gave us the chance to prepare, cook and eat our own empanadas. We tourists from the UK were all surprised by the quantity of beef we were given, both at that meal and generally. Even when you splash out in the UK, the price of beef means you rarely get much of it. Not in Argentina. In Argentina, be ready to lift your beef with your legs, not your back. The cooking was a useful learning experience — good food, and a line of defence against the large glasses of wine that kept coming. I’m partial to red wine but was constantly surprised by the high quality of the whites I was given to taste.
Some months ago I had a strange conversation with someone from another South American country. They were clear that the Europeans had come and colonised their country, and they wanted to blame the British quite heavily for their part in it (to be fair, we had much more influence in South America than I had realised). The conversation stayed friendly; we disagreed but remained civil and chatty, something all too rare these days. The real risk to that friendliness came when I pointed out that “those Europeans” were his ancestors who had gone to South America, while we Europeans had ancestors who had largely stayed in Europe, as evidenced by the fact that we were born in Europe.
“I’m unsure how my ancestors in Blighty were more responsible for the early slums of BA or the conquest of Patagonia than the ancestors of actual Argentinians”
I hadn’t thought much of that conversation until a tour on my first full day in BA. It started at a giant metal flower (lost on me), took in the Boca area, and included the guide’s explanations and views of the city’s and country’s history. Views I later saw echoed at other heritage sites: that Argentinians were somehow persecuted by “us” Europeans. I don’t believe the sins of the father should be laid on later generations. Even if they were, I’m unsure how my ancestors in Blighty were more responsible for the early slums of BA or the conquest of Patagonia than the ancestors of actual Argentinians.
This mirrored a broader impression I took away: that history was something done to them; that Argentinians were observers rather than participants; a general lack of a sense of agency. I asked a guide something I had always wondered: why Argentina is separate from the other Spanish speaking countries in South America. Why are they not just one? She described them as city-states that became countries, often like brothers fighting one another, and pointed out that parts of the Argentina–Chile border were only fixed in the 1990s. It felt to me that they lacked a unifying national story.
One of the highlights was a tour of the National Congress of Argentina. The Palace of the Argentine National Congress is a resplendent building inside and out. President Javier Milei’s libertarian policies have produced some stark improvements from a very poor starting point. Inflation is still around 32% but down from 211% when he took office. In 2025 they posted their first fiscal surplus since 2008, and the official poverty rate fell to 28.2% in the second half of 2025, the lowest since 2018. The incentive to save and invest must still be difficult when your money loses a quarter of its value each year and only a few years ago was losing two-thirds annually.
“Inflation is still around 32% but down from 211% when he took office. In 2025 they posted their first fiscal surplus since 2008”
In Congress, La Libertad Avanza, Milei’s party, is the largest bloc, especially with allies, in both the 257-seat Chamber of Deputies and the 72 seat Senate, but it must still work with minority parties to pass legislation. Deputies are elected by party list in multi-member constituencies covering each of Argentina’s provinces. Terms are four years, with staggered elections every two years. Senators are elected for six years, also with staggered elections every two years. It should hardly come as a surprise that the 1853 constitution was heavily influenced by that of the United States. All in all, the institution and the fabric of the building have done well to survive the coups d’état of 1930, 1943, 1955, 1962, 1966, 1976 and 1981.
I saw no shortage of pride in Argentina, but some lack of purpose. National flags abounded in a city whose police had water cannon positioned by several major buildings. There was no shortage of references to Eva Perón; the other most revered national figures appeared to be Diego Maradona and Lionel Messi. I should mention the Falklands, something everyone I met was far too polite to raise. There were a few references across the city, but not many. Overall, the city has a lot of appeal, yet it felt as if it needed a purpose to look to the future.
Students For Liberty write about Berlin’s Rent Cap Act its failings and implications for New York and elsewhere.
” Berlin passed a rent freeze to fix its housing shortage. Twelve months later, the number of apartments available to rent in the city had literally halved”
In February 2020, Berlin passed a rent freeze to fix its housing shortage. Twelve months later, the number of apartments available to rent in the city had literally halved. Rent control is one of the most-studied policies in economics. Berlin just gave us the cleanest test we have.
The law was called the Mietendeckel, Berlin’s Rent Cap Act. It froze the rent on roughly 1.5 million apartments built before 2014, rolled prices back to their June 18, 2019 level, and forced landlords to cut existing contracts starting in November 2020. Tenant unions cheered. Landlords went to court.
The market response was immediate. New rental listings in Berlin fell from more than 600 per week before the announcement to fewer than 300 after the law took effect. That is a 56% collapse in the flow of apartments reaching renters, inside twelve months, documented week by week by economists at DIW Berlin and Aix-Marseille.
“New rental listings in Berlin fell from more than 600 per week before the announcement to fewer than 300 after the law took effect”
Where did the apartments go? Owners pulled them off the rental market. Rental-to-owner conversions in Berlin jumped from 12,700 units in 2019 to 19,200 units in 2020, a 51% increase and the highest annual figure since Germany began tracking that number in 2005. Every one of those units is a rental that no longer exists.
Builders read the same signal. New dwelling completions in Berlin fell 14% in 2020, in the same year that the rest of Germany’s completions rose about 5%. Building rental housing in a city that had just told owners what price they were allowed to charge stopped making financial sense.
“Builders read the same signal. New dwelling completions in Berlin fell 14% in 2020, in the same year that the rest of Germany’s completions rose about 5%”
The shortage spilled across the border. Potsdam, the neighbouring city in the state of Brandenburg, was not covered by the freeze. Rents there rose roughly 5% by the first quarter of 2020, 9% by the second, and 12% by the third. Renters priced out of frozen Berlin bid up rents wherever the law did not reach.
Landlords who kept advertising began posting two prices on the same unit. One at the legal cap. One at the market rate that would kick back in the moment the freeze was struck down or expired. 11% of listings carried this double price in February 2020. One month later, in March, it was 34%. By March 2021, close to half. The average gap between the two prices was 51%.
“Renters priced out of frozen Berlin bid up rents wherever the law did not reach”
On April 15, 2021, Germany’s Federal Constitutional Court struck the law down in its entirety. Rent regulation on private housing is a federal power in Germany, and Berlin’s state parliament had no authority to set the rules.
The ruling was retroactive. Tenants who had paid the lower capped rent for months were now billed for the difference. A Sparkasse Berlin survey found that 47% of Berlin renters had saved nothing for the bill. Monthly repayments ran from €100 to €500 per person. Some households owed several thousand euros in a single letter from the landlord.
Berlin is now one of the cleanest natural experiments in the economics of rent control. A single city, a single law, a defined start date, and Potsdam sitting across the border as an unregulated comparison. Assar Lindbeck, the Swedish social-democratic economist, once wrote that rent control is the most efficient technique known to destroy a city, next to bombing. Berlin’s data put numbers on the claim.
“In twelve months, Berlin delivered fewer listings, fewer new buildings, higher rents in the neighbouring city”
Rent control does not create apartments. It gives a discount to the people already holding a lease. It removes apartments from the market for everyone else. The people trying to move in, the students, the recent graduates, the workers arriving for a new job, never see the door open in the first place.
In twelve months, Berlin delivered fewer listings, fewer new buildings, higher rents in the neighbouring city, and a legal bill sent to the very tenants the law was written to protect. On June 26, 2026, New York City’s Rent Guidelines Board voted 7 to 1 to freeze the rent on roughly one million stabilized apartments, delivering Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s central campaign promise.
Every number above is drawn from a peer-reviewed study in Management Science measuring Berlin’s twelve months under the freeze. New Yorkers weighing the same policy have the result already in hand.
“Rent control does not create apartments. It gives a discount to the people already holding a lease. It removes apartments from the market for everyone else”
