The open final of the Astana Debate Union Online Tournament 2020 was won by LSE HC (Hamza Chaudhry, Ciara Mitchell) in Opening Opposition, speaking against GUU A (Emma Chan, Julie Nyerges) in Opening Government, Trying to get my ducks in a row (Lucy Murphy, Miri Muntean) in Closing Government, and Short and to the point (Neta Portal, Miriam Kalman) in Closing Opposition on the motion "THP the rule of the governing AI, with elections on priorities over, traditional representative democracy." The final was chaired by Hadar Goldberg, judging alongside Tin Puljic, Alicja Filbier, Dana Green, and Ron Leizrowice. The top speaker ...

The Central European Cyberspace Open 2020 has been won by We're used to no audience debates (Tin Puljić, Lovro Šprem; Zagreb) in Closing Opposition, speaking against UDS Trivium GDS LDU Chronos Coalition (Joris Graff, Daan Spackler; Utrecht/Nijmegen) in Opening Government, Bristol A (Ron Leizrowice, Timothy Lo); in Opening Opposition, and This house would stay in this house (Hadar Goldberg, Ido Kotler; Tel Aviv) in Closing Government on the motion "THBT all countries should implement legislation similar to the US Defense Production Act to combat the Covid-19 pandemic." The adjudication was chaired by Emily Frizell. Judging with her were Joona ...

[caption id="attachment_33123" align="alignright" width="225"] The Winners of the Cork IV 2017 bringing the christmas cheer - © Matt Hazell[/caption] Cambridge (Alasdair Donovan and Matt Hazell) won the Cork IV 2017 from Closing Government on the motion From behind a veil of ignorance, THW rather be born in the City of Omelas than a city in this world where you would have an average standard of life (eg: London, Dublin, Amsterdam, etc). They won over TCD Hist SD (Daniel Gilligan and Sam Browne) in Opening Government, TCD RR (Ronan Daly and Rory O'Sullivan) ind Opening Opposition and TCD Phil B (Eoin O' Gorman and Christopher Costigan) in Closing Opposition. The final was chaired ...

The Cambridge IV 2017 preliminary rounds concluded similar to the Oxford IV, with Tel Aviv AD again breaking first, this time on 13 points. Dan Lahav again topped the open speaker tab - this time accompanied by Darion Hotan of KCL A, both averaging an 83.6 that begged belief. Dan Lahav was once again the top ESL speaker. Xavier Redmond, of Oxford RK, was the top novice speaker with an average of 79. In the final round, Tel Aviv AD (Ayal Hayut-Man, Dan Lahav) won from Opening Government defending the motion that "This house believes that it is always immoral to ...

Tel Aviv L&H (Dan Lahav & Ayal Hayut-Man) won the first ever UCD Law Soc IV from Opening Opposition on the motion "THBT the Catalonian Government should have cancelled the independence referendum after it was ruled unconstitutional".  [caption id="attachment_32806" align="alignright" width="400"] Tel Aviv L&H (Ayal Hayut-man and Dan Lahav ) - © UCD Law Soc[/caption] They debated against We Gonna Rokc Dwon Two Dyslexic Avenue (Cian Luddy & Caoimhe Meaney, UCC Philosophical Society) in Opening Government, I'm fine. It's fine. We're fine. (Chris Costigan & Amy O'Sullivan, TCD Philosophical Society) in Closing Government and Bailey orders Asian Teck-a-Wei II: The Chopstick Chronicles (Bailey Reid, KCL &  Teck Wei Tan, Oxford) in Closing Opposition. The ...

[caption id="attachment_31538" align="alignleft" width="152"] Winners of the Liverpool IV - Owen Mooney (left), Skye Brettell (right) - © Bethany Garry[/caption] Congratulations to GUU Bush (Owen Mooney and Skye Bretell, Glasgow) for winning the Open Final of the Liverpool IV 2017. They won the final from Closing Government defeating The unwarranted irrigation extension (Michael Davidson and Cameron Cross, Edinburgh) in Opening Government, Never Speak At Your Own Competition (Jack Stanley, Strathclyde, and Patrick Collins-Price, Liverpool) in Opening Opposition, and I came here for Lucy Murphy because I love her. That is all (Dafe Orugbo and Daire O’boyle, Maynooth) in Closing Opposition on ...

[caption id="attachment_31345" align="alignright" width="163"] Winners of the Manchester IV Open Final 2017: Owen Mooney (left), Eileen De Souza (right) - © Craig McDonald[/caption] Congratulations to the three winning teams of this year’s Manchester IV! The Open Final was won by GUU Clubs of alcohol and depravity (Owen Mooney and Eileen De Souza) in Closing Government. They defeated Oxford HC (Jure Hederih and Louis Collier) in Opening Government, UCL Janeway (Martin Devenney and Leo Yung) in Opening Opposition, and Edinburgh Nevertheless, She Persisted (Ethan Silver and Nishith Hedge) in Closing Opposition on the motion “This house believes that militaries in new democracies should ...

[caption id="attachment_31212" align="alignright" width="300"] Winners of the Swansea Open 2017: Liam Dodd (left), Ieuan Skinner (right) - © Craig McDonald[/caption] The team "Alternative Facts A" (Ieuan Skinner & Liam Dodd, Swansea) won the final of the Swansea Open 2017 from Closing Government. They won over Birmingham That’s So Rosie (Tommy Cave & Rosalie Butcher) in Opening Government, Generic Team Name (Sophie Johnstone, Cardiff, & Ryan F., Hull) in Opening Opposition, and The Craig David Comeback Tour  (Craig McDonald, Cardiff & David Larke, Nottingham Trent) in Closing Opposition on the motion “THR the rise and domincance of aspirational narratives in western politics“. The final was judged by Paige Skinner in chair, together with Marcus Lea, Joe Osbourne, Megan Thomas, ...

The cancellation of a public debate in Oxford on the topic "This House believes Britain's abortion culture hurts us all" caused a controversial and emotional debate in the United Kingdom. After Tim Squirrell, current president of the Cambridge Union Society, published an article in the students' newspaper "The Tab," saying, "it’s about time we recognised that and started thinking responsibly and considerately about freedom of speech," he was exposed to hostilities. Tim allowed us to republish his latest article from his blog "Squirrelling the Motion" that reflects on the ongoing discussion. Besides offering an overview on the events of the ...