On Monday 9th December, Emanuel held its 2019 Election Debate in the school chapel.
The event was very well attended by an engaged and partisan crowd that responded positively to party speeches and asked challenging questions to the pupil party representatives. Mr Davis compered effectively and won the crowd over with some early Bercow-esque “Order!” calls and demands for Mr Keddie to turn his musings into a question format.
Jude Todd-Warmoth and Elliot Powell strove to defend nine years of austerity, claiming financial prudence outweighed the need to help the poorest in society. Sam Reeves and James Ash Vie blamed the increased number of terror attacks in the UK on immigration after a piercing question by Mr Keddie, whilst Sam continued to claim only the Brexit Party could end the deadlock. The Liberal Democrats, represented by Rudi Goodman and Anna Varley, savaged the Conservative Brexit deal and attacked the government on its poor environmental record. The SNP fought gamely for relevance, with Luc Smith defending the success of welfare spending in Scotland as a template for the rest of the UK and Rocco Craven astutely outlining the SNP’s remain credentials. Mr Gaynor tested the Labour Party by asking where the promised public sector pay increases would come from, forcing Julius Bennett to argue in his best Keynesian that public spending will beget prosperity, which led to loud murmurings. The Green Party put up a robust fight as Stella Bullock tore into inconsistencies in Tory promises whilst David Bray nodded sagely.
The outcome of the debate was a reaffirmation of the partisan divide that exists in British politics at the moment, with all parties sticking to their core beliefs with passion.
Mr Nilsson (Head of Politics)