St. Andrews Day Debating Championships‏

Source: Britishdebate

Dear All,
Yesterday, The Scottish Government, Scottish Parliament and ESU Scotland organised the St. Andrews Day Debating Championships.

A three-round IV took place in the Committee Rooms of the Parliament yesterday and the final took place in the Chamber of the Parliament - the first time the Chamber has been used for a University debate.

We are very grateful to the Presiding Officer, Alex Fergusson MSP, for allowing us to use the Chamber and for chairing the final.

The teams in the final were: Oxford Alba (Cullen & Dewar), GUU A (Tait & Gray), St. Andrews A (Whitbread & Hawkins) and St. Andrews B (Wood & Beadle).

The winners were St. Andrews A (Hawkins and Whitbread) and the runners up were GUU A (Tait & Gray). The best speaker on tab was Rachael Whitbread. The judges for the final were John Duncan, Director of ESU Scotland, Kenny Fleming, Kenny MacAskill MSP,

It was a great turn-out in the final, with well over 100 people, attending. I'd like to take this opportunity to thank The Scottish Parliament for providing events staff throughout the day and for feeding and watering us very generously and The Scottish Government for expanding the one-off debate last year into a tournament. Hopefully, this association will grow over the coming years.

Thank you also to all the judges who helped throughout the day, the audience for the final which helped the ESU make a great impression and, finally, to the speakers who were great throughout.

Best wishes,

Rob Marrs