“Whatever else this man is he’s not a politician.” Nick Cohen begins by saying that left wing journalists failed in their duty by not saying that Ed Miliband couldn’t win an election because he wasn’t convincing as a prospective prime minister.

Cohen argues that 2015 was also a turning point where the traditional progressive majority in the UK was eroded and the parties on the right gained over 50% of the votes (58% if you include the Liberal Democrats).

Manzoor invites the audience to ask questions during the discussion to be “part of the conversation”. It has mixed results and the discussion becomes more than a little fragmented as a result. We move onto Tony Blair, there is a sense that the audience is skeptical about him and that both Cohen and Manzoor believe he is the sort of leader that the Labour Party now needs. Manzoor challenges a Tory voter in the audience “did you feel the Conservative campaign was full of love?” She responds by accusing him of being patronising and a vocal section of the audience agrees.

Bizarrely many of those speaking from the floor say that they voted Conservative but few of them seem happy about it. That could be a “Hay effect” but begs the question as to why they grabbed a microphone.

Another member of the audience takes a swipe at the chair, this time taking offence at being addressed as a lady. “Dimbleby never gets this kind of shit” says Manzoor.

Nick Cohen has some very interesting and insightful things to say but the early evening session is dominated by people from the floor. They completely ignore Manzoor’s request that they ask questions rather than take the opportunity to give their own, far from original or insightful, opinions.

Andrew Keen is the author of ‘The Internet is Not the Answer ‘ which argues that the internet is having a negative effect on our culture. Robert Phillips, ex CEO of Edelman, a leading global PR firm, has written ‘Trust Me PR is Dead’.

I have to declare an interest here; I’m a PR person and I’m on the board of the Chartered Institute of Public Relations, so I don’t entirely subscribe to Robert’s assertion.

Actually he starts by saying that PR isn’t dead. What Phillips asserts is that the problem is that PR doesn’t speak to the common good and doesn’t focus enough on trustworthiness.

Whilst Robert Phillips is concerned with a failure of trust revealed by the transparency brought about by the internet, Andrew Keen believes that internet itself is a cause of inequality and injustice. The internet does away with top down elitist structures but it also sweeps away the trusted frameworks that support society. Keen described the world as flat, one in which we have contempt for leaders yet long for leadership.

Leadership failure is a subject that Robert Phillips covers too. He cites the recent disastrous corporate performance of Thomas Cook.  It has been characterised as a PR failure but as Robert implies, it was actually a corporate failure.

Andrew Keen has the final word and applauds Robert’s appeal for greater values and morality but also says we must become less self obsessed. The problem with the Internet is that when we look at it we see ourselves.

It was a captivating, intellectual debate, but I’m no more convinced about the failures of the Internet or the Public Relations industry, than I was at the beginning. Who would have imagined.

By Virginia

Being  a writer, I’ve been closely following the stellar rise of Jessie Burton, author of the 2014 sensation ‘The Miniaturist’.  I follow Jessie, her agent Juliet Mushens and editor Francesca Main on twitter, so it’s been exciting to watch the story from the description of her submission letter to Mushens, the auction that followed, and publication that led to the book being on bestseller lists across the world.

And whilst it’s easy to get snarky about another writer’s success (read David Mitchell’s ‘The Bone Clocks’  for an excellent example of writerly envy), it’s impossible not to enjoy Burton’s. Not only is it a book worthy of the plaudits, but the author comes across as a genuinely lovely person who appreciates the wonderful and ‘discombobulating’ experience she has been having.

In this session with Georgia Godwin, she discussed both the busy promotional schedule of the last year, which has led to headline articles, personal interest in some countries, intellectual in others, but also some of the background to the book. She talked about how seeing the real miniature doll’s house in Amsterdam inspired her to explore a seventeenth century society that was both similar and different from ours. How wealthy women could walk the streets openly with their husbands, and could be members of guilds, and yet also had to fight the reactionary forces that pushed them back to the hearth.

She also talked about the complexity of her characters, how Nella is struggling to make sense of her world, and combative with her new  family and how Marian’s kindness is buried in years of repression. And how the characters keep secrets from each other, sometimes because of the moralistic society they live in and sometimes for protection.  How none of the characters can be fully known and some things are left half open.

I was also fascinated with her relaying how food becomes a status symbol in the book. Having sugar and spice meant people being able to show they were wealthy enough to flavour their food. Burton also noted that they would paint meals much in the same way people instagram them now.

This was a great interview, Burton is warm, self deprecating and  an intelligent and thoughtful writer.  I could have listened to her for hours. As a reader, I can confirm she writes beautifully. The Miniaturist isn’t my usual reading fare, but she drew me into the mysteries and secrets of her characters and describes the world so well,  I really enjoyed it.  As an aspiring writer her extraordinary rise to the top of the charts fills me with hope, not because I expect the same, but because it shows it is possible to be taken from the slushpile. And I love the fact she is so dumbstruck but the whole thing and was so excited by the size of her audience she took a selfie with us.

Her next book ‘Belonging’ will cover the Spanish Civil War and another set of secrets. It should be out next year – I’m already looking forward to it.

A most entertaining and very moving hour was spent last night in the company of Jude Law as he performed in an ensemble reading of My dear Bessie, the letters that passed between two lovers during the last years of the Second World War, and which now form the basis of a book of the same name.  

Many a festival goer will have left this event with a lump in the throat and a tear in the eye. I know that I did.  Such was the popularity of this particular piece that the scrum for seats was a little unseemly as the doors opened to permit admittance. Many a sharp middle class elbow was brought to bear as certain of the Friends of the festival showed that they were able to behave in a rather unfriendly fashion in order to bag a prime position. Such, I suppose, is the allure of Mr. Law. Normal civilised behaviour was resumed as he took to the stage, although the rapid beating of adjacent female hearts was almost audible.

by Virginia

A lot was riding on Simon Singh tonight.  I had chosen his talk over Simon Armitage,  Laslo Krasznahorkai  and Germaine Greer, who I’d have loved to see, because I enjoyed ‘Fermat’s Last Theorem’ so much.   Then I’d had a frustrating time getting here due to a missed turn en-route adding an hour to the journey.   High winds on arrival, and a broken pole mean it took longer than expected to erect t the tent, and so I missed my first event. If the day was going to be redeemed, Singh’s talk had better be good…

I’m delighted to say that it was way better than that, and meant after hours of frustration, my Hay has kicked off in style. Which was particularly pleasing as my eldest, Beth (16) decided to come along at the last minute and I would have also hated to disappoint her.

For those unfamiliar with Singh’s book, it tells the story of Andrew Wiles, a mathematician who was obsessed with solving Fermat’s Last Theorem. That puzzle was laid down by Fermat, who liked to writ e notes in the margins of his copy of Arithmetica. In one, he claimed to have proved a particular equation, but there wasn’t space to write the proof, thereby setting down a challenge for mathematicians for 350 years. 

Tonight’s talk was a celebration of twenty  years since Wiles’ tremendous achievement. Fittingly, it began with an excerpt from the BBC film of the story in which Wiles is filled with emotion as he remembers the moment he knew he’d completed the proof.  ‘We’ve all had occasions when maths made us want to cry’ Singh commented wryly, before taking us through the story and why it mattered so much to the mathematician.  An obsession formed when he was ten, led to him spending years studying the theorem, till a breakthrough in a new field of mathematics gave him the tools for a possible solution. For the next seven years Wiles toiled away in secret, until he finally worked out a proof. Even that wasn’t the end of the story as the proof later turned out to have an error and it was another eighteen months before it was absolutely watertight.

Singh is as an engaging a presenter as he is a writer, and he told the absorbing tale with verve and energy. Beth loved it. And when we met the author afterwards, he proved as engaging in person as he is on stage and page.  So look out for his books, he’s well worth a read.

After a somewhat wobbly start, my festival has begun.

 I’m very impressed with the plans for the restoration of Hay Castle, which are on display on the Festival site.

http://haycastletrust.org

I’ve been lucky to see inside the castle, as in the last two years the Festival has organised guided tours with experts. It’s a fascinating building, with so many quirks. If you’re around Hay this week, pop into the Groucho for a coffee/drink/meal, and you’ll see part of it.

Today I confirmed a rumour that I’d heard about the bath. Prince Charles visited the castle a while back and commented on the fact that he collects baths. The Trust didn’t think that the tub fitted in with their plans, so it took 6 men one day to remove the bath from the castle. It now resides in Scotland.

Colim Toibin provided much entertainment this morning in his own inimitable fashion, though one’s eyes were oft diverted by the very easy on the eye, Sarah Churchwell. Right now we find ourselves waiting in line for admission unto the presence of Jude Law, whilst Germaine Greer burbles from within. One of the pleasures of Hay is always the ability to watch and listen during downtime. Thus today we have been much entertained by the kind of conversations that would do justice to the scriptwriters of W1A or 2012. The pleasures of being nosey.