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David Willetts MP and the writer and philosopher Roger Scruton discuss the best way to foster knowledge in schools and universities and whether politicians have become too professionalised. In an age when many politicians have never had other jobs, are we better off with representatives who have specialist knowledge from careers forged outside Westminster?

Roger Scruton is the author of books including The Soul Of The World, The Palgrave MacMillan Dictionary of Political Thought and How to Be a Conservative.

The Rt Hon David Willetts MP was Minister for Universities and Science, attending Cabinet from 2010 to 2014. He has held various posts in the Shadow Cabinet and has worked at HM Treasury, and the Number 10 Policy Unit. He is a member of the Council of the Institute for Fiscal Studies and has written widely on economic and social policy including The Pinch: How the Baby Boomers Took Their Children's Future, and Why They Should Give it Back.

The conversation is chaired by Anne McElvoy and was recorded in front of an audience at the Free Thinking Festival at Sage, Gateshead.
All the discussions and essays from the festival are available as Radio 3 Arts and Ideas downloads.