The Contrarian Prize lecture provides a platform to the winner of the prize to speak about a topic of their choice that highlights the principles of independence, courage and sacrifice.
This is a public lecture and aims to encourage the audience to think about the values we expect our leaders in British public life to espouse and whether the behaviours that they engage in are concomitant with these ideals. The lecture is delivered before the deadline for nominations for the prize to encourage people to put forward suitable individuals for this accolade
Hiding in plain sight: An evening with Simon Dancuk MP,
winner of the 2015 Contrarian Prize. Wednesday 2 December 2015, 6pm- 8.45pm
Simon Danczuk MP, winner or the 2015 Contrarian Prize, delivered a powerful, discursive lecture about the Rochdale child grooming scandal and the wider allegations of a so-called Westminster-VIP paedophile ring that have rocked the British establishment. He explored how, Cyril Smith, the former MP for Rochdale, used his power to prey on young boys and the wider societal problem that allows runaways, poor working class children and those in care to be sexually abused.
What does the silence of so many who knew what was going on tell us? Does this store up huge problems for society? Do we need a radical shift in our approach to this issue to prevent a generation from having their futures ripped away from them?
This lecture was followed by a drinks reception at which Simon Danczuk signed copies of his bestselling book “Smile for the camera”.
You can view the lecture here
