Colleagues may be interested in this interview on the Royal Society for the encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce (RSA) website. The discussion features Dr Benjamin Barber, the American political theorist whose forthcoming book - If Mayors Ruled The World - will argue that mayors are the people to get things done on an international scale, emphasising the growing importance of cities.

The RSA is a prestigious 250 year old organisation which has over that time espoused enlightenment values and still does valuable work in that area in the UK and beyond.

Norman Longworth