One of the many co-curricular things I have really enjoyed being involved with here is, of course, the amazing, ancient and skilfull art of debating.
Over the years I have learned simply by taking part a lot about how it is all meant to work and have been genuinely privileged to see and hear young people turn this difficult and sometimes delicate business into a real art form.
A lot of it has to do with not only being able to speak well in public, but also and more importantly, to be able to marshall and present arguments on the hoof and off the cuff. For this reason it is rightly termed a life skill of the utmost importance. This combination of quick thinking and analysis and competent communication makes it so.
So tonight is the grand final of our grandest competition in debating – the Macleod – after the great Iain Macleod, an Old Fettesian who just happened to become Chancellor of the Exchequer before his premature death at only 57 in 1970.
For such an auspicious occasion we have before the House the interesting and particularly challenging motion: “This House would intervene militarily to assist rebels in Syria.”
Now, where to begin…?
