Cardiff Open Winners (Rebecca Tan left, Bailey Reid right) – © Craig McDonald

Congratulations to the team ‘Bailey’s white privilege’ (Bailey Reid, Rebecca Tan; KCL/Bristol) for winning the final of the Cardiff Open 2017. They won the final from Closing Opposition defeating ‘Oxford That Shakespeherian Rag’ (Richard Ngo, Steve Heo; Oxford) in Opening Government, ‘London University School College Economics London’ (Hamish Barker, Aiden Patrick; LSE/UCL) in Opening Opposition, and ‘Oxford Not Wong (literally – we’re not him)’ (Teck Wei Tan, Will Prescott; Oxford) on the motion “This House believes that marginalized groups should abandon respectability politics”.

The final was judged by Clare Robinson in the chair, and Luke Kosky, Calan Eskandar, Nathan Chalk and Megan Thomas on the panel.

Further congratulations go to ‘LSE The System’ (Sarah Tay and Ciara Mitchell, LSE) for winning the Pro-Am Final. As Closing Opposition, they defeated ‘Make Warwick Debate Again’ (Amir Hamza, Nick Zervoudis; Warwick/Warwick Alumni) in Opening Government, ‘Nottingham Trent Yawning Nihilism’ (Naomi Corlett, Armand Lluka; Nottingham) in Opening Opposition, and ‘Bristol Medical Memes for moms against vaccines’ (Lucy  Russell, Jason Palmer; Bristol) in Closing Government on the motion “This House would not require individuals to disclose their criminal record, except when dealing with vulnerable individuals (e.g. schools)”.

Cardiff Open Pro-Am Winners (Ciara Mitchell left, Sarah Tay right) – © Craig McDonald

The Pro-Am Final was judged by Raluca Vacaru, Alexandru Gradinaru, Rayne Goddard, Rachel O’Nunain and Raphael Hill in the chair.

The Top Speaker of the tournament was Teck Wei Tan with an average of 81.75 and the Top Novice Speaker was Ciara Mitchell with an average of 79.25.

The CAs of the tournament were Nathan Chalk, Raluca Vacaru, and Luke Kosky.  The tournament took place on Saturday, March 25^th and was organised by Emma Meadows.

Open Break:

1. Bailey’s white privilege (Bailey Reid, Rebecca Tan) – 10 points
2. Oxford That Shakespeherian Rag (Richard Ngo, Steve Heo) – 10 points
3. Oxford Not Wong (literally – we’re not him) (Teck Wei Tan, Will Prescott) – 9 points
4. London University School College Economics London (Hamish Barker, Aiden Patrick) – 9 points

Pro-Am Break:

1. Make Warwick Debate Again (Nick Zervoudis, Amir Hamza) – 9 points
2. LSE The System (Sarah Tay, Ciara Mitchell) – 8 points
3. Bristol Medical memes for moms against vaccines (Lucy Russell, Jason Palmer) – 8 points
4. Nottingham Trent Yawning Nihilism (Naomi Corlette, Armand Lluka) – 5 points

Motions:

Rd 1: This House believes that all companies should be at least 75% owned by their workforce, in equal shares.

Rd 2: Info Text: Roxxxy, the first humanoid ‘sex-bot’, was developed in 2010. Although, no ‘Sex-bots’ have been sold, the infrastructure and the technology exist to create a sexbot with synthetic skin, capable of learning their owner’s wants and desires. These sexbots are not just used for sex but are also capable of simulating affection.

This House would ban the sale and ownership of sexbots.

Rd 3: Info Text: PewDiePie (Swedish gaming vlogger Felix Kjellberg) is the most subscribed-to channel (53 million subscribers) on YouTube, making millions of dollars every year. His videos are mostly gameplay videos, but also include some vlogs. He has been accused of anti-semitism on multiple occasions. Most recently, he posted a video claiming to be testing a theory that he could pay very little for a pair of freelancers to say and do extreme things. He asks the freelancers to unfurl a banner reading “Death to all Jews” as they laugh about it on camera. He appears to be horrified when they actually carry out the act. Youtube currently demonetises videos that contain offensive material (and other things) on a case-by-case basis, but allows the creator to earn money from the rest of their videos deemed clean.

This House, as YouTube, would demonetise all of PewDiePie’s videos.

Rd 4: Info Text: A pardon is a government decision to allow a person who has been convicted of a crime to be free and absolved of that conviction, as if never convicted. In most jurisdictions, there is no need to admit guilt to accept this pardon.

In Western Liberal Democracies, This House would remove the executive’s power to grant pardons.

Pro-Am Final: Info Text: Individuals are often required to disclose information of criminal history for example when applying for jobs, schooling, and tenancies. This is separate to any requirements under the Sexual Offenders Register or other disclosure requirements.

This House would not require individuals to disclose their criminal record, except when dealing with vulnerable individuals (e.g. schools).

Final: Info Text: Respectability politics refers to attempts by marginalized groups to show their social values as being compatible with mainstream values rather than challenging the mainstream for what they see as its failure to accept the inherent difference between them.

This House believes that marginalized groups should abandon respectability politics.

hh./cmc./jm.