Moral Maze - 03/06/2009

Michael Buerk is joined by Claire Fox, Melanie Phillips, Clifford Longley and Kenan Malik to consider what has become of moral authority. It doesn't just apply to MPs; the moral authority of the institutions and professions that we used to turn to as a source of wisdom and guidance has been undermined, or even fatally flawed. And now it seems we cannot even trust our poets to be true prophetic voices. So where do we look to for moral authority now, and does it even matter? Did any of these bodies ever truly deserve our trust? Is it better to rely on our own moral judgement, rather than abdicating it to something or someone else? Witnesses: Esther Rantzen, journalist and television presenter Dr Catherine Cowley RA, Assistant Director for the Heythrop Institute for Religion, Ethics and Public Life George Monbiot, environmental campaigner John Lloyd, author of What the Media are Doing to Our Politics.