Debating Matters at the House of Lords

This week, Debating Matters, the competition run by the Ideas Matter charity, will host a day of debate in the House of Lords, taking young people and their ideas into the heart of Westminster.

This Friday – 10 March – sixth-form students from four schools will battle it out for the title of Debating Matters House of Lords Champions 2023. Debating Matters (DM) is arguably one of the toughest debate competitions in the world. With its emphasis on comprehensive research, substance-over-style debating and challenging motions that locate debates in the real world, this competition is part of 20 for 20 - the twentieth-anniversary programme which sees 20 exciting events taking place across the year.

Young people from The Burgate School, Richmond upon Thames College, Havering Sixth Form and Queen Elizabeth’s Grammar School will take part in a series of debates on topics including ‘Skills Gap: too many people are going to university’, ‘Social egg freezing empowers women’, and ‘Tech companies should act to stop online misinformation’.

Members of the House of Lords will take part as judges, including Baroness Chakrabarti CBE, Baron Fox of Leominster, Baroness Bull CBE and Baron Sewell of Sanderstead. They will be joined on the judging panels by DM regulars Tom Bewick, Timandra Harkness, Dervla Murphy, Hilary Salt and Martin Wright. Judges play a crucial role in the competition, asking tough questions that push students to find their best arguments and by offering constructive, critical feedback on their debating skills to help them in future debates. As I argue in my Letter on Liberty Why Debating Matters, the freedom to debate is fundamental to a healthy democracy. Young people should be encouraged to develop the cognitive muscles to deal with the complex challenges of the adult world and to develop their own moral conscience. 

Claire Fox, Baroness Fox of Buckley, who is the peer sponsor of the debate, said:

‘Debating Matters is a competition which prides itself on taking young people seriously, valuing ideas and allowing free debate. Some of the brightest and best students will be taken out of their comfort zone by tackling these topics. I can’t wait to see how the student participants handle the tough, real-life issues the competition provides. I’m delighted to be able to bring the Debating Matters Championship to the House of Lords.’

The event is being supported by the House of Lords Engagement team and the Federation of Awarding Bodies, with winners and runners-up prizes being provided by Hodder Education and Prospect magazine.  For further details, please visit our events page on the Debating Matters website.