sixth-form debating competition
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INTRODUCTION As a new recession begins to take effect and inflation has outpaced wage growth, a wave of industrial action has hit the UK. While many strikes have been in industries accustomed to industrial action, there have also been strikes in essential healthcare roles like nurses, ambulance crews and doctors. This has been divisive, triggering …
Continue reading “Healthcare workers should not be allowed to strike”
INTRODUCTION As a new recession begins to take effect and inflation has outpaced wage growth, a wave of industrial action has hit the UK, Germany and other European countries. While many strikes have been in industries accustomed to industrial action, there have also been strikes in essential healthcare roles like nurses, ambulance crews and doctors. …
Continue reading “DM Berlin: Healthcare workers should not be allowed to strike”
INTRODUCTION Commercial surrogacy is when a woman gets pregnant with another person’s child in exchange for payment from the child’s genetic parents. This is often because the wanting parents are biologically incapable of safely gestating a child themselves. But, in many cases, time-starved, wealthy individuals choose to have a surrogate rather than putting life on …
Continue reading “DM Berlin: The German government should legalise commercial surrogacy”
INTRODUCTION Commercial surrogacy is when a woman gets pregnant with another person’s child in exchange for payment from the child’s genetic parents. This is often because the wanting parents are biologically incapable of safely gestating a child themselves. But, in many cases, time-starved, wealthy individuals choose to have a surrogate rather than putting life on …
Continue reading “The UK Government Should Legalise Commercial Surrogacy”
INTRODUCTION Cancel culture is one of the buzzwords of the social-media age. It describes the view that there is a new assault on freedom of expression and belief, beyond traditional free speech controversies like ‘no-platforming’. Cancel culture is a form of boycott where a person who has shared a controversial opinion, expressed an ‘inappropriate’ viewpoint, …
Continue reading “Cancel culture is a threat to freedom of speech”
INTRODUCTION Since Elon Musk’s acquisition of Twitter in October 2022, further fuel has been added to the debate over the influence of rich media owners on democracy. A self-described ‘free-speech absolutist’, Musk has promised to protect the ‘de facto public town square’ [Ref: Guardian] that Twitter has become. Some have argued this helps support democracy, …
Continue reading “Billionaires owning media companies is bad for democracy”
View a PDF version of this topic guide here. INTRODUCTION In January 2023, it was revealed that the British Museum has been in talks with Greek officials about returning some of the Parthenon Marbles to Greece on loan in a ‘cultural exchange’ for other ancient artefacts. Legal ownership of the marbles would, however, remain with …
Continue reading “Western museums should repatriate cultural artefacts”
INTRODUCTION In December 2020, a group of ex-professional and semi-professional rugby players – including World Cup-winning Steve Thompson, former Wales captain Ryan Jones and former All Blacks prop Carl Hayman – sent a pre-action letter to World Rugby, the Rugby Football Union and Welsh Rugby Union, suing them for failing to take protective action against …
Continue reading “We should accept the risk inherent in contact sports”
Author: Tom Collyer INTRODUCTION Since the Covid pandemic, the battle against obesity and unhealthy lifestyles has been more ferocious than ever. Lifestyle factors were found to have a huge influence over how vulnerable people are to hospitalisation and death if infected with Covid-19 [Ref: Office for National Statistics], and after his own brush with death, …
Continue reading “Unhealthy lifestyles are not the business of government”
This topic guide is a companion to ‘Germany should pay reparations for its colonial past’ INTRODUCTION Although the issue of slave trade reparations has long been contentious, a new wave of the debate began in 2022. Since the death of Queen Elizabeth, there has been scrutiny of her reign and the legacy of the British …
Continue reading “Britain should pay reparations for its colonial past”