Unprecedented debate sees school children discuss Lords reform in the Chamber of the House
The ESU made history on Saturday 12 May when the International Final of the Schools Mace, the national debating championships for Britain and Ireland, saw more than 200 school children, teachers, ESU members, alumni and representatives of partner organisations fill the famous red seats of Britain's upper house. The occasion was the first event ever to use the Chamber of either of the Houses of Parliament for non-Parliamentary business, a recommendation of the Puttnam Commission on the Communication of Parliamentary Democracy. The event was evaluated by the Hansard Society and its success will no doubt set a precedent to inform future discussions on the use of the two Chambers.
Delivering a speech of welcome before the debates began, Lord Hunt, the chairman of the English-Speaking Union and a former student debating champion himself, said of the historic event, "I think it is vital that parliamentarians give their full support to programmes like this that teach the skills of debate and engagement in our schools, and that demonstrate the vital link between that engagement and the structures of parliamentary democracy."
Baroness Hayman, Lord Speaker, chaired the two debates from the woolsack, although the rules of procedure were those of the ESU's competition. She expressed her delight and being to look around the chamber and see such a dramatic change from "the usual faces", and also spoke of her own association with competitive debate, from setting up a schools debating club in Wolverhampton and entering ESU competitions as a student, though to her entry into elected politics.
Four teams of two students each, the national winners of competitions in England, Scotland, Ireland and Wales, debated for the Silver Mace and the title of champions in the worlds' oldest and largest parliamentary schools debating competition. This year the tournament attracted a record number of schools - in total more than 800 took part across the UK and Ireland - and a significant number of those schools were taking part for the first time. Access to the competition has become easier in part thanks to a nationwide road show of free workshops for new participants, funded by the Ministry of Justice (formerly the Department for Constitutional Affairs), who see the programme as an effective way to encourage young people to examine and discuss current affairs issues.
In the first of two debates Howell's School, Llandaff, representing Wales proposed the motion "This House would create a fully-elected House of Lords" against opposition from Haberdashers' Aske's School for Boys, Hertfordshire, representing England. The motion for the second debate between Mount Mercy College, Cork, representing Ireland, and Grove Academy, Dundee, representing Scotland was "This House would make it illegal to advertise gambling."
During the judges' deliberation the audience heard from David Bussey, Chair of the Centre for Speech and Debate's committee, who spoke on the heritage of the contest, and Lewis Iwu, a former International Mace winner. The chair of the judging panel, Ndanga Kamau, eventually declared the team from Scotland, Netan Dogra and Kenny Nicoll from Grove Academy, to be overall champions. Grove is the first Scottish state school to win the competition, and they carry the Mace north after two years in a row of the title staying in England. As part of their prize Netan and Kenny will attend the annual ESU Awards Ceremony at Buckingham Palace later this year. Netan was also awarded the Kenneth Harris Prize for the best individual speaker in the final, named in memory of the competition's founder, an ESU alumnus and renowned Observer journalist. The prize was awarded by Kenneth's widow, Mrs Jo Harris.
The day concluded with a reception in the Scotland Office, Dover House, on Whitehall, by kind permission of the Secretary for State. The ESU will cooperate again with the Scotland Office when we hold a debate to mark 300 years of the Treaty of Union in September.
