December 2022
It was a freezing cold night but a small number of people still attended to determine what was the best invention ever. Various options were proffered to include, Teabags, Duvets, Seats, Washing Machines,the Bessemer Process, Fire, the Wheel and the Flushing Toilet. It was a fun evening with lots of laughter and, by a narrow margin, the toilet was selected as the winner. The members shared in some yuletide refreshments and the Christmas raffle before braving the elements again to get home.
November 2022
At the November meeting, members shared their views on questions of topical interest including if the pension triple lock should be means tested, whether the Prime Minister should attend COP27, will Rishi Sunak remain in office until the next general election, should Harry and Meghan lose their royal titles and do Holly and Phil deserve to be ridiculed for queuegate? There were many diverse and interesting comments made from the floor.
October 2022
The AGM preceded the debate. Topics that were subsequently explored by members included whether screening for genetic selection is wrong and if proportional representation is a more democratic form of government. There was a range of interesting comments from the floor before the vote was taken for each; the first proposal was lost and the second was won.
September 2022
The topics that were debated by members this month included whether positive discrimination is ever justified and should schools be religion free zones. The latter led to an in-depth discussion about psychic phenomena. There was a diversity of free ranging comments from all those present; both proposals lost by a large margin.
August 2022
Members took turns to debate a variety of topics including whether voting should be compulsory, if the freedom of speech means the freedom to insult, whether younger people make better parents and does social deprivation cause crime. There were many thought provoking and interesting comments made but all four proposals lost by a small margin.
July 2022
Attendees were asked to pick at random from cards with the title of a previous debate and with
Propose or Oppose on it. They then paired up with the person who had the card with the same debate
but the opposite position, and with about 5 minutes each way endeavour to persuade the remaining attendees of their position.
Mary and Lee debated –‘It is better to give than receive’ the motion was carried.
Rather ironically ‘Leadership is more important than honesty’ (it was the day before Boris resigned) was debated by Chris and Ann. Chris made a valiant effort but lost that one.
‘Landlords exploit their tenants’ was proposed by Helen but she lost to Jeff’s arguments.
‘Privacy is a thing of the past’ was debated by Diane and Denise
After a tea break and more lively conversation we discussed:- ‘Who would we like to follow Boris’ and then the ‘overturning of the Rowe v Wade judgment in the US’.
All in all a lively meeting.
June 2022
Members took turns to debate a variety of topics including whether criminal justice should focus more on rehabilitation, if ethics is more important than religion, whether all our actions are governed by self interest and if it is wrong to be rich. There were many thought provoking and interesting comments made.
May 2022
The eight people present shared their views on the wealth and relevance of Monarchy, B.P. profits, the rising cost of living, Abortion laws and whether the government should apologise to unmarried mothers who were made to give up their babies.
April 2022
Nine people were present for discussions which ranged from pot holes to Putin and space travel to theology
March 2022
For this meeting we reverted to a formal debate. The motion proposed by Chris Lane was: 'A little learning is a dangerous thing’. He was opposed by Tony Oswick. Jean Cheek chaired the debate.
Chris opened the debate by quoting a poem by Alexander Pope about criticism and drew parallels with the situation in Ukraine where he argued Putin’s lack of knowledge about Ukrainian resolve has led to a dangerous situation. Putin had underestimated the patriotism of the Ukranian people. Similarly did Bush or Blair understand enough about Afghanistan? Again, in the debate on Brexit he argued that some of the claims made showed voters had only a little learning. Did we think we had enough knowledge of Boris or Trump?
Tony took a different angle and asserted there are big questions in life: Where did I come from? Why am I here? Where am I going? At the Debating Society we may learn something not necessarily everything. Children at Primary School learn some basic information and skills such as telling the time, but that doesn’t result in problems. He gave other examples of where a little learning could be useful.
Other members then contributed their views and after break for tea and chat both Chris and Tony summed up with Chris emphasising the risk of relying on a little information, and how Putin had underestimated the unity of the West in applying sanctions.
The motion was carried by 4 to 3 votes.
February 2022
There were 8 keen members who attended this month at Imperial House to discuss the hot topics of the day with 2 apologies for absence.
The first question was on whether ‘Boris Johnson should resign following all the reports on parties at Downing Street?’ Generally most felt that it was pretty disgraceful that there had been violation of the covid prevention measures, at the very least in spirit, even if it was not proved that lockdown rules were broken. One member to maintain balance did try to put opposing views that she had heard broadcast, that many of the public had not stuck completely to the rules in and there were other concerns the media should be concentrating on.
The second question was following the recent report of police ‘banter’ at Charing Cross Station –‘Is there a culture in the police of toxic masculinity or is it just a few bad apples’ Again there was quite a consensus that the various incidents of the last year -killing of Sarah Everard by a off duty police officer- the photographing of Nina Smallman and Biba Henry’s bodies and the latest comments of officers at Charing Cross that these were shocking revelations and, it was commented that the police force can be prone to attract those who want to use, and sometimes abuse power over others.
There was then a general conversation on the feeling that we had been let down by those in authority who seemed to feel that could behave in a way that suited them.
January 2022
It was a very cold start to the New Year but despite the cold and wet weather 7 of us were determined the gather and we were all glad of the tea and coffee on arrival. We then got down to the meat of the meeting. With our new format, more of a Question Time format with anyone submitting questions but all of us having a turn at answering these questions. There was considerable discussion on the 3 topics we argued over.
The first question was in regard to the honour to be conferred on Tony Blair, a knighthood, and the petition instigated by military wives that he should not receive this. Views were a bit mixed but generally it was agreed that all leaders have done some actions that some of the population strongly disagree with.
Our second question was in regard to the 4 individuals who pulled down the statue of Edward Coulston in Bristol and the finding of not guilty, this led to considerable debate as the statue had been damaged no question, but could the motives justify the action, and indeed did we agree with the motives.
Our third question was on the diminishing skill of handwriting – could it die out altogether or perhaps it would remain as a skilled craft?