Four Nations Debating Tournament held in Bristol
Between 20 and 23 April the ESU held the first ever Four Nations Debating Tournament between the national schools debating teams of England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales who will compete in Cardiff at the WSDC this July. Three preliminary rounds were held at schools and public locations in Bristol, each on an impromptu topic. There was a strong emphasis on analysis motions, an element of World Schools with which British Isles teams are often relatively unfamiliar.
The debates and results were as follows, with the number of judges each team won in brackets:
Round 1: This House believes that the best way for countries to reduce their carbon dioxide emissions is to create systems of tradable pollution permits
-England (2) beat Ireland (1)
-Scotland (1) beat Wales (0)
Round 2: This House believes that feminism has failed
-England (3) beat Scotland (0)
-Ireland (1) beat Wales (0)
Round 3: This House believes that pre-emptive military action is a justified tool of foreign policy
-Wales (0) were beaten by England (1)
-Scotland (0) were beaten by Ireland (3)
The final was held in the British Empire and Commonwealth Museum, on the topic:
This House believes that Africa's current problems are legacy of its colonial past
-England (3) beat Ireland (0)
The ESU would like to thank Sarah Monroe (England), Nick Pacheco (Bermuda) and Dick Wafer (Ireland) for judging; and Cotham School for hosting Round 3 and providing refreshments.
Congratulations to all teams taking part, all of whom were at different stages in their preparation for the World Championships.
Dartmouth House Debating Society - April Members' Debate
Dartmouth House Debating Society member Frank Gelli and ESU Debates and Education Officer Harold Raitt were joined by university debaters Elizabeth Queenan (Bristol) and Krishna Omkar (Oxford) to debate the motion "This House believes in Art for Art's sake" at the second of the Society's Members' debates on Wednesday 5 April.
Harold opened the case for the proposition by giving an open definition of art, and the ensuing debate saw the four speakers treat this nebulous concept with clarity and precision.
The motion was carried by eight votes to six.
The next debate in the Society's calendar will be the MPs' debate on Monday 3 May. For more information contact
vivienne_thomson@esu.org.
ESU Schools Mace England Final
The England Final of the ESU Schools Mace, the National Debating Championship, was held on 24 March at Dartmouth House. The six schools that won their regional round of the competition took part in the final, debating against each other on three motions. The standard of all three debates was extremely high, and it was therefore a difficult decision for the judging panel, which comprised of James Probert and Harold Raitt from the ESU Centre for Speech and Debate, Usman Ahmed, an England finalist in the ESU John Smith Memorial Mace in 2005, Nick Devlin, International Schools Mace Champion in 2003 and Jacqueline Renton, England Delegate to the World Universities Debating Council. After much deliberation, they decided that this year's winners were City of London Boys' School. Their team of Timosha Goldfarb and Andrew Rose will now go on to compete in the International Schools Mace final in the House of Lords on May 6 against schools from Scotland, Wales and Ireland.
