Common Sense in the United Kingdom

Event Overview

Join Common Sense Society–United Kingdom (CSS–UK) for an evening with Common Sense Society trustee Lady Scruton, CSS President and C.E.O. Marion Smith, and CSS–UK director Emma Webb. This event will feature special remarks by author Theodore Dalrymple, the “Orwell of our time,” on common sense and human psychology, followed by a musical performance by The Beaumont String Trio.

Gentlemen are required to wear a jacket and shirt with full collar. Ties are encouraged but not required. Ladies are required to dress with similar formality. Jeans, sportswear, trainers and similar sports footwear are not permitted.

 

Questions about this event may be directed to Emma Webb at emma@commonsensesociety.org.

 

Featured Speakers

Theodore Dalrymple (the pen name of Dr. Anthony Daniels) is a senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute and a contributing editor of City Journal. He is a retired physician who, most recently, practiced in a British inner-city hospital and prison. Denis Dutton, editor of Arts & Letters Daily, called Dalrymple the “Orwell of our time.”

 

Lady Scruton is the director of Horsell’s Farm Enterprises, Ltd. which she established with her late husband, Sir Roger Scruton, to provide guidance for commercial and non-profit enterprises concerned with local farming, conservation, and the preservation of historical records. Horsell’s Farm Enterprises sponsors summer school programs and launched Athelstan Farm Foods, which uses traditional local recipes to produce cheese for wholesale partners. She is a member of the board of directors of the Roger Scruton Legacy Foundation, which is a network of institutions and scholars committed to preserving and further developing the philosophies and cultural movements championed in Sir Roger’s work.

 

Mr. Marion Smith is the President and C.E.O. of Common Sense Society, which he founded in 2009. CSS is an international network that promotes the principles of liberty, prosperity, and beauty. He is also the chairman of Washington, D.C.’s National Civic Art Society, a former visiting fellow in the B. Kenneth Simon Center for Principles and Politics at The Heritage Foundation, and the former executive director and C.E.O. of the congressionally authorized Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation, a bipartisan educational, research, and human rights nonprofit. He graduated Phi Beta Kappa from South Carolina’s Wofford College and earned an M.A. from Central European University. His writings have been published in The Hill, Los Angeles Times, National Review, Politico, USA Today, The Wall Street Journal, and The Washington Post. He is a regular guest on network and cable television channels, including ABC, NBC, MSNBC, Fox News, CNN, and CSPAN.

 

Ms. Emma Webb is the director of Common Sense Society–United Kingdom. She was most recently deputy research director at the Free Speech Union, a membership organization fighting to protect freedom of expression in the U.K. In 2020, she co-founded the heritage campaign group Save Our Statues. Prior to that, she was director of the forum on integration, democracy, and extremism at the Westminster think tank Civitas, and a research fellow at the foreign policy think tank, The Henry Jackson Society. She is a regular contributor to GB News and TalkTV, and has appeared on flagship BBC political programming The Big Questions, Politics Live, and Channel 5. She has written for a number of publications including The Spectator, The Daily Telegraph, and The Times, and hosts a weekly political show for the Westminster-based New Culture Forum podcast. She is a graduate of the University of Cambridge and King’s College London.

With Performance By

The Beaumont String Trio was founded in 1992 by students at the Royal College of Music. With many years of experience behind them, the trio has performed for a vast variety of occasions ranging from royalty and celebrities to prestigious corporate events. Memorable occasions include performing for the late Queen Elizabeth II, the Monty Python cast, and large corporations such as Guinness, Jaguar, and GlaxoSmithKline.