The Implications of Low Fertility Rates

Posted on: December 22nd, 2025 by Alan Wareham

The fertility rate in the UK – that is the average number of children born to a woman over her life – has fallen to under 1.5. This is well below the level at which the population would remain roughly constant in the absence of substantial net immigration. In the absence of such large net flows of people into the country the population will start to decline and continue to do so unless the fertility rate rises to a little over two. Some people believe that such a state of affairs poses serious economic and social problems. Many believe that the decline in fertility rates to, or in some cases well below, the UK level in many rich countries poses a substantial risk to the European way of life.

Part of the perceived risk is that economic growth will fall and could become negative. There is also believed to be a rising problem of care for the relatively elderly.

In this talk Professor David Miles CBE considers the scale of the risk, the factors behind the decline in fertility and whether policies to substantially boost fertility are either likely to succeed or if they are even ethical. He also considers the case for continued large scale migration to offset the effects of a low fertility rate.

The economic and social case that sustained low fertility rates poses severe problems is very far from obvious and he explored some of its underpinnings. The disadvantages of ever-growing populations are highly relevant to whether one views low fertility rates as a curse or a blessing. He used evidence from the past and speculated on how different patterns of fertility and net migration will affect the country over the next several decades.

Professor David Miles CBE also considered philosophical issues connected with population size and whether current generations have obligations to maintain populations.

The Fall and Rise of Local Journalism

Posted on: December 22nd, 2025 by Alan Wareham

Local journalism used to be a thriving and highly profitable industry – so much so that the Manchester Evening News used to subsidise the losses on its stablemate, the Manchester Guardian. But the 21st century has been devastating for local newspapers in the UK as their main revenue model has disappeared and thousands of journalists have been laid off. Poorer and smaller communities have become ‘news deserts’ – places where no meaningful journalism is being done. And large city newspapers have shed dozens of their reporters and editors, reduced to a shell of their former selves. As a result, many people are much less knowledgeable about what is happening in their communities, and sources of local power – including the police, the council and local companies – are not held to account. There is also a strong argument that people reading much more national – as opposed to local – media has contributed to the polarisation we see in British politics. Can local journalism in the UK be rebuilt?

SimpsonHaugh: A Manchester Story

Posted on: December 22nd, 2025 by Alan Wareham

Over the past 38 years, SimpsonHaugh Architects has established a strong presence in Manchester, compiling a distinguished portfolio of award-winning projects and playing a pivotal role in helping shape the city’s identity on both the national and international stage.

The practice’s initiation was motivated by a shared belief in the power of high-quality design to lead the regeneration of post-industrial cities and instigate new contemporary architectural identities. As projects have increased in scale over the years, these original values have matured and been reinforced such that they remain the practice’s guiding principles.

The underlying themes of urban renewal, sustainability and design excellence unite an otherwise diverse range of building functions and solutions. Similarly, the completed work demonstrates that the practice’s regeneration objectives are equally valid whether applied to new buildings or to existing historic structures.

A recurring challenge of the practice’s work has been the need to develop appropriate forms for emerging typologies. Its innovative solutions for public galleries, transport interchanges and high density living have both challenged normative design responses and contributed positive new precedents.

While the success of its completed work and a growing reputation for design integrity has allowed the practice to expand, Rachel and Ian remain personally involved in each project. Consequently, the inspiration in design and the attention to detail in construction that have stimulated the achievements of the practice so far will continue to guide the ambition and quality of its schemes in the future.

Ian Simpson and Rachel Haugh share their vision, highlight their architectural milestones, and place their work in the context of the evolution of the city.

Should We Permit Voluntary Assisted Dying?

Posted on: December 22nd, 2025 by Alan Wareham

Euthanasia is the act of deliberately ending a person’s life to relieve suffering. Assisted suicide is the act of deliberately assisting another person to kill themselves. The English courts have wrestled with challenges to the restrictions on euthanasia and assisted suicide for years, while the government has resisted calls to liberalise the law. Meanwhile, terminally ill people continue to travel overseas to clinics such as Dignitas, to end their lives. Assisted dying raises fundamental questions about respect for individual autonomy, protection of the vulnerable and the role the State should play. This online webinar explained the law and explored arguments for and against liberalisation.

How the Maasai of Kenya use regenerative farming for climate resilience

Posted on: October 17th, 2025 by Editor-Jo

For centuries, the Maasai people of East Africa have lived in harmony with the land, moving with the seasons and maintaining a delicate balance between people, cattle, and wildlife. Today, climate change, land privatisation, and conservation policies restrict this traditional mobility, challenging both livelihoods and culture.

Dalmas Tiampati, a Maasai herder and climate activist, leads the Maasai Centre for Regenerative Pastoralism in Kenya. His work integrates indigenous ecological knowledge with regenerative land management — restoring degraded pastures, empowering communities, and reviving cultural governance systems.

In this talk, Dalmas will share the Maasai philosophy that “a herder is a herder of herders” — a vision of leadership rooted in care, responsibility, and interdependence. He will explore how traditional pastoral wisdom aligns with modern sustainability science, and how innovations such as azolla cultivation can produce local biofertilizer and livestock feed at no cost, offering a nature-based path to climate resilience.

Dalmas will be available after the event to talk freely with any attendees who would like to carry on the conversation directly with Dalmas.

Who Should Attend?

  • Professionals in ecology, sustainable agriculture, and international development.
  • Students and researchers in environmental science, geography, and anthropology.
  • Policymakers and NGO representatives working in regeneration and food systems.
  • Members of the public seeking insight into indigenous solutions to the global climate crisis.

Questions to Reflect On

  • What can the world learn from indigenous approaches to land stewardship?
  • How can regenerative pastoralism heal ecosystems and cultures simultaneously?
  • Can traditional knowledge and modern science work together to mitigate climate change?
  • How might innovations like azolla reshape sustainable farming in arid regions?

Practical Information

The presentation will include time for questions and discussion. Booking is strongly advised.

Access

The venue is wheelchair accessible with an accessible toilet on the ground floor. Please contact us regarding any specific accessibility requirements you may have by emailing events@manlitphil.ac.uk

The Fall and Rise of Local Journalism

Posted on: October 10th, 2025 by Editor-Jo

Local journalism used to be a thriving and highly profitable industry – so much so that the Manchester Evening News used to subsidise the losses on its stablemate, the Manchester Guardian. But the 21st century has been devastating for local newspapers in the UK as their main revenue model has disappeared and thousands of journalists have been laid off. Poorer and smaller communities have become ‘news deserts’ – places where no meaningful journalism is being done. And large city newspapers have shed dozens of their reporters and editors, reduced to a shell of their former selves. As a result, many people are much less knowledgeable about what is happening in their communities, and sources of local power – including the police, the council and local companies – are not held to account. There is also a strong argument that people reading much more national – as opposed to local – media has contributed to the polarisation we see in British politics. Can local journalism in the UK be rebuilt?

Practical Information

The talk includes a Q&A session and light refreshments can be purchased from the venue’s bar.

Booking is essential. Lit & Phil members: we recommend logging into the website to make booking your free member ticket quicker and easier.

Accessibility Information

The venue is wheelchair accessible with an accessible toilet on the ground floor. Please contact us regarding any specific accessibility requirements you may have by emailing events@manlitphil.ac.uk

Raising Curiosity: The Rochdale Science Initiative

Posted on: September 26th, 2025 by Editor-Jo

From a museum trip with his son to a town-wide celebration of science, Mohammed Rahman shares the story behind the Rochdale Science Initiative C.I.C (RSI) and its flagship event, the Rochdale Science Extravaganza. What began in 2017 with 500 attendees has grown into a volunteer powered movement that now attracts thousands. The goal is simple and bold: make STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) accessible for families who do not always see themselves represented in science spaces.

In this interview with Manchester Lit and Phil, Mohammed reflects on how a father’s quest to answer his child’s big questions became a civic mission. Expect a candid conversation about building trust in science through culture, faith, and family, meeting people where they are, in the spaces they already use, and turning curiosity into confidence. You will hear how RSI nurtures a community of volunteers, creates pathways for young people to stay with STEM, and partners with museums, universities, schools, and faith groups to bring hands on science into everyday life.

This year’s climate change theme shows RSI’s approach in action: relevant, practical, and hopeful. We will explore how the team finds speakers and presenters from across Greater Manchester, blends grants with community giving and in kind support, and keeps events welcoming, multilingual, and family friendly. Along the way, Mohammed, recognised by the British Science Association as a community role model, shares what has worked, what has not, and the simple steps any neighbourhood can take to start something similar.

To see RSI in action follow this link

Who Should Attend?

Anyone who cares about inclusion, education, and the power of local action, join us. Come for inspiring stories, stay for practical ideas, and leave with a renewed sense that science belongs to all of us, especially the next generation.

Practical Information

The talk includes a Q&A session and light refreshments can be purchased from the venue’s bar.

Booking is essential. Lit & Phil members: we recommend logging into the website to make booking your free member ticket quicker and easier.

Accessibility Information

The venue is wheelchair accessible with an accessible toilet on the ground floor. Please contact us regarding any specific accessibility requirements you may have by emailing events@manlitphil.ac.uk

From climate science to climate policy in a world of changing geopolitics

Posted on: September 23rd, 2025 by Editor-Jo

Piers Forster is founding Director of the Priestley Centre for Climate Futures and Professor of Physical Climate Change at the University of Leeds. He is recognised as a highly cited climate scientist with over 30 years of experience researching the causes and impacts of climate change, as well as mitigation and adaptation approaches and their connection to national and international climate policy.  He Leads the Indicators of Global Climate Change Project,  an international independent initiative to provide annual updates of key climate indicators to policymakers.  

He was made a fellow of the American Geophysical Union in 2019 and has played leading roles authoring Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) reports, including its Special Report on 1.5°C and its latest IPCC 6th Assessment Report. He has sat on the UK Government’s Climate Change Committee since 2018 and has served as the Committee’s Chair for 2023-2025.

Who Should Attend?

This talk is for anyone who wants to understand the UK’s response to the climate emergency, including:

  • Professionals in healthcare, science, education, law, finance, and policy, who may be grappling with the implications in their own fields.
  • Students and young people, who will live longest with the consequences.
  • Community leaders, business owners, and decision-makers.
  • Anyone interested in the intersection of government, science, society, and survival.

Questions to Reflect On

  • Why did warnings about climate change go unheeded for so long?
  • What does a world at >4.2°C of warming really mean for our society and citizens, not just ecosystems?
  • How do issues of policy, economy, and national security intersect with climate change?
  • What practical actions can individuals and communities take now to make a meaningful difference to government policy?
  • Is there still time to change course, and what does “immediate action” actually look like in the UK?

Please note that this event was originally scheduled for 22nd October and has since been rescheduled. 

Annual General Meeting and Social 2025

Posted on: September 5th, 2025 by Alan Wareham

Members only are cordially invited to join us at the Annual General Meeting and Social of the Manchester Lit & Phil*.

Sign-in will begin at 6:00 p.m., followed by the meeting at 6:30 p.m., taking place at the International Anthony Burgess Foundation.

This meeting presents a valuable opportunity for the incumbent President and Honorary Officers to provide members with insights into recent developments within the organisation.

We look forward to your presence at this important event.

 

A formal notice, including detailed agenda for this meeting, will be sent by email.

* Please note that as per our Articles of Association only those with either an Individual or Joint membership, or an ‘Honorary Life’ membership, can vote in elections.

When The Canary Stops Singing

Posted on: September 5th, 2025 by Alan Wareham

Thirty years ago, climate change was denied by the media. Twenty-five ago, the threat was only to tree frogs or polar bears and, 20 years ago, to ‘future generations’. Fifteen years ago, the Lancet Commission described it as ‘the greatest threat to human health of the 21st century’. But none of us took any heed. Now, every one of us is threatened and soon, it will be too late. So say not just climate scientists, but ecologists, agronomists, the food industry, the military, healthcare professionals, bankers, actuaries and economists.

In 2022, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change warned that, ‘Any further delay in concerted global action will miss a brief and rapidly closing window to secure a liveable future.’ In the same year, scientists told us that ‘accelerating greenhouse gas emissions…. culminate in a mass extinction rivalling those in Earth’s past’.  As extreme weather events escalate, the ‘Yield, quality, and predictability of [food] supply from many of our most critical sourcing regions is not something we will be able to rely upon over the coming years’.  Such effects mean that the world economy is committed to the loss of $38 trillion in 2005 international dollars, within 24 years. Indeed, the global economy may be halved within decades, ‘unless immediate policy action…is taken” and, according to the Institute and Faculty of Actuaries, “our economy may not exist at all if we do not mitigate climate change’.

The latest data (January 2025) suggest that we are on track for >4.2oC, and we are warned that, “At 3C or more of heating by 2050, there could be more than 4 billion deaths, significant sociopolitical fragmentation worldwide, failure of states (with resulting rapid, enduring, and significant loss of capital), and extinction events.’

Prof Hugh Montgomery will discuss how we came to be here, the nature, gravity and immediacy of the threat, and what we must all do in our lives if we are to save ourselves and our families.

Who Should Attend?

This talk is for anyone who wants to understand and respond to the climate emergency, including:

  • Professionals in healthcare, science, education, law, finance, and policy, who may be grappling with the implications in their own fields.
  • Students and young people, who will live longest with the consequences.
  • Community leaders, business owners, and decision-makers, seeking to learn what action can (and must) be taken.
  • Anyone interested in the intersection of science, society, and survival.

Questions to Reflect On

  • Why did warnings about climate change go unheeded for so long?
  • What does a world at >4.2°C of warming really mean for human survival, not just ecosystems?
  • How do issues of health, economy, and national security intersect with climate change?
  • What practical actions can individuals and communities take now to make a meaningful difference?
  • Is there still time to change course, and what does “immediate action” actually look like in daily life?

Practical Information

The presentation will include time for questions and discussion. Booking is essential.

Access

Access to the event is via the Altrincham Street entrance.

Accessibility Information

Please contact us regarding any specific accessibility requirements you may have by emailing events@manlitphil.ac.uk

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