Ryan Fisk and Michael Crossely – © University of York Debating Society

The York IV 2019 was won by the team Breaking On A Points Based System (Michael Crossely, Ryan Fisk) from the University of Hull. They won the final out of Closing Government against the Opening Government He taught me LO, he taught me PM, he taught me Pain, thank u, Fred (Craig McDonald, Georgie Friend; Cardiff/Warwick), the Opening Opposition Rafael Shimabukuro memes for woke male feminist teens (Joshua Varughese, Lucie Slamova; Warwick) and the Closing Opposition Manchester QS (Rae Qiu, Yusuf Steel). The motion read “THW prohibit the media from reporting on the mental illness of those accused of crimes”.

The adjudication panel for the final consisted of Mark Wilson (chair), Anita Carroll, Coco Collard, Jess Clunan, Nathanael Clifton, Raghav Mehta and Vincent Koon.

Best speaker of the tournament was Rae Qiu.

The Break:
1. Manchester QS – 11 points
2. He taught me LO, he taught me PM, he taught me Pain, thank u, Fred – 9 points
3. Breaking On A Points Based System – 9 points
4. Rafael Shimabukuro memes for woke male feminist teens – 8 points

The tournament was CA’d by Anita Carroll, Freddie Marshall and Coco Collard. It was convened by Samantha Wilson and David Rowley.

Motions:

R1: Infoslide: Policies of preventing climate change include reducing CO2 emissions, changing energy policy and limiting waste. Policies mitigating climate change include building sea walls, disaster relief mechanisms and altering crops to grow within a different climate – these tend to be quicker and cheaper than prevention policies

Given a trade-off, THW direct environmental policy towards mitigation of climate change, rather than prevention.

R2: Infoslide: A Ulysses contract is a freely made contract that an individual makes with themself, intended to bind them to a future outcome. These contracts have no current legal obligation. Examples include: – documents outlining what medical treatment you want if you become unable to decide for yourself in the future – a pact you make committing yourself to rehab if you fail to quit drinking within one year

THW make Ulysses contracts legally enforceable

R3: THW require all professional football teams to be majority-owned by their fans

R4: Infoslide: Turkey is currently a NATO member and ruled by its president/quasi-dictator Recep Erdoğan. Recent events within Turkey’s history include: -A failed coup by its military and a large scale purge by Erdoğan of the army and his political enemies (2016) -Worsening Western relations, notably US movement of nuclear materials out of the country in 2016 and EU’s 2018 statement that Turkey is moving away from the EU and “accession negotiations have therefore effectively come to a standstill” -Turkish-Russian tensions, notably a Russian plane shot down in 2015. Many of these issues have been smoothed over, but there is still unease. Turkey has active interest within Syria, due to ethnicity concerns (Kurdistan boundaries overlap the country) as well as commercial and religious (Sunni) interests

TH, as Turkey, would heavily align its foreign policy agenda towards Russia

F: THW prohibit the media from reporting on the mental illness of those accused of crimes

jm.