Debating Society: ‘This House believes that we are heading for another Winter of Discontent’
There was a high standard of debate, despite the difficulty of the topic, and the relatively young age of many of the speakers. The proposition consisted of Keelan (TEJN), Harries (ASR) and Jarvis (RJM), and their arguments focussed on the economic, political and social divisions within the country that would lead to a winter of discontent, something they defined as “a time of financial difficulty, unhappiness, unrest, and political divide”. The opposition consisted of Strover (NCWS), Kim (SMM) and Outhwaite (JDN). They chose to rebut the belief that we are heading for a winter of discontent by emphasising the social and political differences between Britain today and in 1978, as well as attacking the logic of the motion itself. In the end they proved more convincing for the floor, which voted to defeat the motion by a margin of 25 votes. This was followed by a seminar on debating led by Mr Ball-Brau, the Annenberg Fellow, who picked up on the strengths and weaknesses of the speeches and gave very useful advice on making improvements in structure, content and delivery.
Nikita Tsukanov (SMM)
