Annual House of Lords Chamber debate

Twenty three students set off early on Friday to travel to London for the annual House of Lords Chamber debate. Boroughmuir represented Scotland’s schools in this years’ debate The debate motion was “How do we increase diversity in Parliament?” Arriving at King’s Cross off the 7.30 from Waverley, we got to the Houses of Parliament just in time to get final briefings and coaching on debating style, voice projection in the chamber. The debate was chaired by the Lord Speaker, one Baroness D’Souza, and lasted for almost two hours hearing a range of opinion from schools in London, Belfast and Manchester and Humanist, faith groups, post-faith groups and from the girl-guiding organisation. Described by the Lord Speaker as “one of the best chamber debates there had been”, it was viewed by all from Boroughmuir as a highly valuable experience. Only Storm Des spoiled things somewhat when the power lines on the East Coast were blown down and our arrival home was delayed by a couple of hours. Well done to everyone and remember, Boroughmuir Debating Club is there for you to benefit from the skill of speech and argument. All welcome!

You can view the video of the debate using this link here.