Amnesty Remembrance Day debate

On 11 November, Remembrance Day was commemorated with a Sixth Form debate on the arms trade organised by the school’s Amnesty International Group.

The group, which is part of the Harrogate and Knaresborough branch of Amnesty International, invited two teams of sixth formers to take part in the debate. The motion proposed was: ‘This house believes that the best way to commemorate Remembrance Day is to abolish the Arms Trade’. The team which proposed the motion consisted of Sarah Woon, Amy McNamara and Becky Wilson, while Tessa Plews, Manassa Ramesh and Laura Kinnear formed the opposition team. The debate was chaired by Anna Tilsley.

The first speaker for the proposition was Sarah Woon, who spoke eloquently about the effects of war and why it is important to uphold our human rights. The counter argument by Tessa Plews raised the issue of the negative economic effects of a cessation of the arms trade. The discussion was furthered by the remaining team members on both sides and then questions were taken from the floor.

The debate was attended by a large audience of staff and pupils from all year groups and was observed by two members of Bardsey Debating Society – Andrew Hamilton and Alan Pease, who acted as judges and gave feedback after the debate. Both were very impressed by the standard of the arguments presented as well as the questions posed from the floor. Andrew Hamilton said: ‘All those involved should be congratulated.’ Alan Pease said: ‘I have watched debates in Parliament and I think you did a lot better job here!’