Last Saturday night Neil Madhvani and I went back to school for the 40th Annual Elizabethan Union Dinner Debate. I attend every year having been involved in debating during my own school days.
The pre-debate dinner was, as usual, a rather surreal affiar. Back in the school refectory with 16 and 17 year olds always makes one feel out-of-place. Unsurprisingly the menu was a little predictable – I think it’s only changed twice since the first one I attended, as a pupil in 1997.
This year’s motion was “this house believes that democracy is so good, everyone should be made to have it.” Neil and I were tasked with opposing it. A few hacks at Imperial College Union would probably get upset at some of the arguments I used to demonstrate that democracy is dominated by manipulation of the political process. Nevertheless, we won, convincingly.
Neil has published a photo album of the event. They’re not that great, however, having been taken, with Neil’s camera, by Mr Liam Hargadon who used to be my form tutor.
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