Kings Inns win Birmingham IV

Dear All

The University of Birmingham IV was held over the weekend of the 11th and the 12th of December. The Birmingham IV traditionally draws the IONA debating calendar to a close for the autumn term and is the last official pre worlds pre tournament for UK and Irish debate circuits.

Congratulations go to Kings Inns A (Patrick Rooney and Eoghan Casey) who won and Richard Lau from Cambridge A for topping the speaker tab.

Also in the final were
Cambridge B (Jack Watson and Jack Gamble)
ULU A (James Prior and Max Kasriel)
Cambridge C (Jo Box and Charlotte Thomas)

The full tab can be found here http://www.britishdebate.com/calendar/

The motions were
(1) THB that refugees fleeing the effects of climate change should be allocated to the countries that emit the most CO2
(2) THB that in the event of the capture of Osama Bin Laden, Ayman al-Zawahiri or any other senior Al Qaeda planners, they should be tried at the ICC, as opposed to any other national jurisdiction
(3) THW ban research into the genetic origins of homosexuality
(4) THW remove prosecutorial discretion and make it mandatory to prosecute all instances of domestic violence irrespective of the consent of the victims
(5) THB that Western governments should fund neighbouring African states to militarily occupy Somalia
(Semi) THB that political correctness has gone too far
(Final) THW prosecute entire religious organisations for aiding and abetting paedophilia

Well done to all competitiors

Best Wishes
Fred Cowell
Chief Adjudicator Birmingham IV 2009