Over the last 40 years, there's been a general tendency in most Western democracies to attempt to "roll back" the state through deregulation, marketisation and privatisation – but the sudden impact of the Covid crisis saw a return to state-imposed lockdowns, economic intervention and a reliance on government more generally, with support and control unprecedented in modern peacetime.

The 2008 financial crisis did not lead to governments taking a greater role in people's lives – but will Covid be different, bringing back the state in a big way? And will the public expect more interventionist policies in future? Join our panel made up of:

• Alexander Downer AC, Executive Chair of the International School for Government at King’s College London (Chair)
  
  
• Jonathan Slater, former Permanent Secretary at the Department for Education
  
  
• Professor Richard Sullivan, Director of the Institute of Cancer Policy, and Co-Director of the Conflict & Health Research Group, King's College London

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