sixth-form debating competition
To access our archive of Topic Guides, please click here.
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”
INTRODUCTION The issue of social egg freezing has increasingly appeared in the news over the past decade as technological advances, celebrity endorsement and corporate cooperation make the procedure more widely known and available. Friends star Jennifer Aniston made headlines in late 2022 for confessing that she wished she had been told to freeze her eggs …
INTRODUCTION Today, more than half of 18- to 30-year-olds go into higher education, reaching a famous target set by Tony Blair 20 years previously when he was prime minister [source: Independent]. The Tony Blair Institute (a think tank set up by Blair) has published a report arguing that this number should be even higher: 70 …
Continue reading “Skills Gap: too many people are going to university”
INTRODUCTION Arguably, climate change, and the environmental problems that will occur as a result, are the most pressing issues that humankind faces. The outcome of the COP21 climate talks in Paris in 2015 was hailed as a momentous deal, in which countries pledged, among other things, to cap emissions, and seek to limit temperature rises …
Continue reading “Technological progress will not solve society’s environmental issues”
INTRODUCTION In May 2021, the government introduced the Higher Education (Freedom of Speech) Bill. The bill strengthens the legal duties on higher education providers in England to protect and promote freedom of speech and academic freedom [Ref: Department for Education]. The impetus for such measures is the belief that ‘cancel culture’ is undermining free speech within …
Continue reading “The government should impose a duty of support for free speech in universities”
INTRODUCTION On 8 January 2021, Twitter permanently suspended the account of the former president, Donald J Trump. Although this final decision was provoked by Trump’s tweets before the riot at the Capitol building two days before, he had already been in trouble with social media companies for a variety of messages, particularly those loudly claiming …
Continue reading “Tech companies should act to stop online misinformation”
Updated: March 2021 INTRODUCTION In June 2020, in a response to the Black Lives Matter protests and the toppling by protestors of a statue of Edward Colston [Ref: BBC], the Mayor of London set up the Commission for Diversity in the Public Realm [ref: Wikipedia]. The aim of this commission is to ensure London’s monuments, plaques …
Continue reading “Monuments to controversial historical figures should remain”