Debate Club by Gabe H (Week ending 27/05/2022)

“This house believes that the political system of Britain today has lost touch with younger voters”
 
This week’s debate was one which demonstrated the very best of our debate club, with both sides showcasing phenomenal debating skills.
 
The Proposition, led by Johann G and Oliver L began their argument by discussing the disruption caused by the COVID-19 pandemic as well as the agenda of the Conservative party not allowing for the involvement of younger voters. Whereas the Opposition, led by Jacob B and Adam H suggested that many of the government’s current policies are directed towards young people – The Young Peoples Training Scheme, for example. In addition, many politicians now have social media profiles which allows them to better engage with younger voters.

Throughout the remainder of the argument, the Proposition mentioned that only 9% of young people voted in elections and that many government policies such as those on house prices disfavour young voters. In addition, many schools don’t offer the option for their students to learn about politics or to express their political ideals. On the contrary, the Opposition mentioned the recent school trip to the Houses of Parliament, where the boys were lucky enough to be toured around and introduced to members, suggesting that youth investment is still key. With the recent racial movements such as BLM, many young people have become involved in politics as they view it as a way of striving for equality for all. Finally, they discussed the idea of youth involvement through social media. Several members of the debate club are themselves members of political parties.
 
Onto the closing statements, the Proposition mentioned how out of touch the current Prime Minister is with younger voters, whilst the Opposition focused on young people who are inspired to become MPs and the wave of social media usage within parliament within recent years. In the end, the Opposition was declared victorious in this week’s debate and Johann was made star debater for his excellent ideas and involvement.