The Putney Debates were a series of discussions between members of the New Model Army – a number of the participants being Levellers – concerning the makeup of a new constitution for England.

After seizing the City of London from Presbyterian opponents in August 1647, the New Model Army had set up its headquarters at Putney. The debates began at the Church of St. Mary the Virgin, Putney, in the county of Surrey (now in South West London), starting on 28 October 1647 but moved to Quartermaster General of Foot Thomas Grosvenor's lodgings (also in Putney) on 29 October. The debates lasted until 11 November.

Earlier that summer Oliver Cromwell, Henry Ireton and other officers, known as the Grandees, attempted to negotiate a settlement with Charles I of England in the aftermath of the First Civil War. Their proposals, termed the Heads of Proposals included provisions for social justice, but the monarchy and House of Lords retained a power of veto over the House of Commons. A further feature of the Heads of Proposals was that the king would be restored before the issues of the soldiers' indemnity and arrears were entrenched in law. This was contrary to the New Model Army's Declaration of 14 June 1647 and consequently the Heads of Proposals lost the support of the more radical elements among the military and civilian populations.

Coordinates: 51°27′54″N 0°13′16″W / 51.4649°N 0.2211°W / 51.4649; -0.2211

Putney is a district in south-west London, England, located in the London Borough of Wandsworth. It is situated 5.1 miles (8.2 km) south-west of Charing Cross. The area is identified in the London Plan as one of 35 major centres in Greater London.

Putney was an ancient parish in the Brixton hundred of the county of Surrey. In 1855 the parish was included in the area of responsibility of the Metropolitan Board of Works and was grouped into the Wandsworth District. In 1889 the area was removed from Surrey and became part of the County of London. The Wandsworth District became the Metropolitan Borough of Wandsworth in 1900. Since 1965 Putney has formed part of the London Borough of Wandsworth in Greater London.

Putney appears in the Domesday Book of 1086 as Putelei. It was noted that it was not a manor, but obtained 20 shillings from the ferry or market toll at Putney belonging to Mortlake.

The ferry was mentioned in the household accounts of Edward I (1272–1307): Robert the Ferryman of Putney and other sailors received 3/6d for carrying a great part of the royal family across the Thames and also for taking the king and his family to Westminster.

Michael Mansfield QC (born 12 October 1941) is an English barrister. A republican, vegetarian, socialist, and self-described "radical lawyer", he has participated in prominent and controversial court cases and inquests involving accused IRA bombers, the Bloody Sunday incident, and the deaths of Jean Charles de Menezes and Diana, Princess of Wales.

He grew up in Finchley, North London, and attended Holmewood Preparatory School (Woodside Park) before going to Highgate School and the University of Keele, where he graduated with a B.A. (Hons) in history and philosophy, before becoming Secretary of Keele's Students Union. He was called to the bar at Gray's Inn in 1967, became Queen's Counsel in 1989 and was elected as a Bencher of Gray's Inn in 2007. He is a patron of the animal welfare organisation "Viva!" (Vegetarians International Voice for Animals), and refers to animal production as "genocide". He is currently the President of the Haldane Society of Socialist Lawyers. In 2010 he was awarded an Honorary Doctorate in Law from the University of Wolverhampton. He has been married twice, to his first wife for 19 years, and then to filmmaker Yvette Vanson. He has six children (Johnathan, Anna, Louise, Leo, Kieran and Fred).^{[citation needed]}

John Hansen Christensen (born April 29, 1948 in Christchurch) is a former field hockey player who was a member of the New Zealand national team that won the gold at the 1976 Summer Olympics in Montreal.

George Joshua Richard Monbiot (born 27 January 1963) is an English writer, known for his environmental and political activism. He lives in Machynlleth, Wales, writes a weekly column for The Guardian, and is the author of a number of books, including Captive State: The Corporate Takeover of Britain (2000) and Bring on the Apocalypse: Six Arguments for Global Justice (2008). He is the founder of The Land is Ours campaign, which campaigns peacefully for the right of access to the countryside and its resources in the United Kingdom. In January 2010, Monbiot founded the ArrestBlair.org website which offers a reward to people attempting a peaceful citizen’s arrest of former British prime minister Tony Blair for alleged crimes against peace.

George Monbiot grew up in Henley-on-Thames in South Oxfordshire, England, in a house next to Peppard Common. Politics was at the heart of family life—his father, Raymond Geoffrey Monbiot, is a businessman who headed the Conservative Party's trade and industry forum, while his mother, Rosalie—the elder daughter of Conservative MP Roger Gresham Cooke—was a Conservative councillor who led South Oxford district council for a decade. His uncle, Canon Hereward Cooke, was the Liberal Democrat deputy leader of Norwich City Council between 2002 and 2006. Monbiot was educated at Stowe School in Buckinghamshire, an independent school, and won an Open Scholarship to Brasenose College, Oxford.