Should University Budgets be cut?

Politicians have recently said that universities need to cut their budgets but this will mean that there will be fewer places. Cuts need to be made to save money and to help this country out of debt but making these cuts in education will have a huge impact. There are other areas where cuts shoul...more...

Book publishers should prevent E readers from undercutting their books recommended retail price.

Macmillan has won a battle with Amazon, creator of the kindle, on the pricing of its books online. The intent is to try to prevent readers from buying their books online and instead purchase traditional style books. However the lessons of the music industry would seem to imply that in order to p...more...

The US should not cut back its space program.

In the midst of Americas ongoing wars in Afghanistan and Iraq and the need to provide a large stimulus package to get the economy back into shape the US is running up a huge budget deficit. In order to shave a bit off this deficit it has been decided to drastically scale back the space program a...more...

Do men find it harder to raise a child from their partners previous relationship than women?

Traditionally women are considered better with children. Stereotypically they will love and raise a child whether there is a biological connection or not. Men, however, are seen as a little reluctant unless the child is theirs. Yet, nowadays with divorce rates rising and teenage pregnancy still f...more...

John Terry's injunction against the publishing of his affair should have been upheld

Details of John Terry's alleged affair with Vanessa Perroncel (fellow England player Wayne Bridge's former girlfriend) received a temporary injunction from a court of England only for the injunction to be withdrawn eight days later. The argument is between Article 8 the right to privacy and Artic...more...

Smacking children should not be made illegal

Was Margaret Thatcher right when she advocated a return to Victorian Family values? Whilst children definitely should be allowed their own voice, is it not possible to suggest the recent rise in anti-social behavior may be blamed on a lack of discipline at home? more...

The voting age should be lowered to 16 --- Sponsored by the Electoral Reform Society

By lowering the voting age we are more able to engage young people with politics and with the democratic process. This has major long term benefits for political engagement.more...

John Terry's injunction against the publishing of his affair should have been upheld

Details of John Terry's alleged affair with Vanessa Perroncel (fellow England player Wayne Bridge's former girlfriend) received a temporary injunction from a court of England only for the injunction to be withdrawn eight days later. The argument is between Article 8 the right to privacy and Artic...more...

Are Muslims able to Integrate with British Society

Islam, 'like' many other Religions, promotes active discrimination between Believers & Non-Believers as a part of its core doctrine. Unlike the Bible it has never been Reformed. Quranic Quote Surah 3:28 States "Do not take un-believers as friends...". Such divisions in Brit...more...

Are women superior to men?

Women are 'solely' responsible for the propagation and existence of the human race. Now with the creation of artificial sperm, a man's role in the process is void and unnecessary. Statistically:Women live longer on average. Women deal better with stress.Women perform better in school. Women are...more...

Leaders of countries that use extra-territorial rendition should be tried for war crimes

We the proposition define the motion(LEADERS OF COUNTRIES THAT USE EXTRA-TERRITORIAL RENDITION SHOULD BE TRIED FOR WAR CRIMES) as:'Leaders are responsible for the practice,execution and admission/permission of extra-territorial detention.They are wary of the covenants that they or their predecess...more...

We should prize freedom over security and abolish anti-terrorism legislation

“Calling rose by another name does not change its beauty neither smell”… There are quite a few differences between the events in Germany on February 27, 1933, and in the US on September 11, 2001. Where do these fundamental differences arise from? From where else than from the importance of how we...more...

Interest rates on personal lending should be capped by law at 20%

Team South Africa is over the moon to be proposing this most orgasmic of debate motions ;) The context is clear: the world is barely emerging from a banking crisis that caused near-irreparable damage in countless local economies, and the international banking system more generally. The causes,...more...

Assisted suicide should be legal

The Debbie Purdy case in the United Kingdom shows a trend where assisted suicide is a notion that is becoming more common. Moreover, as modern medical technology advances, more people are given the opportunity to live longer than they wish, which results in unnecessary pain because they have no c...more...

There is a good case for stating that there is a God

There isn't a day that goes by where we don't hear about tragedies around the world. Does this mean that a benevolent god is out of the question? The greatest physicists in recent history do NOT reject God.Stephen Hawking and Einstein both vocally and in literature expressed their ideas of a no...more...

Should Channel 4 merge with the BBC?

OFCOM have suggested that Channel 4 merge with BBC Worldwide (the profit making commercial arm of the Corporation) so as to keep the group afloat. This would cover the £100 million per annum that it is said Channel 4 will need to survive. Is this a step worth taking for the good of British telev...more...

Has the release of Abdul Baset Ali al-Magrahi destroyed the 'special relationship'?

The release of the Lockerbie bomber has damaged relations with the US but has it destroyed the 'special relationship'? The relationship has faced far worse than a decision to release one man from jail, which was not even made by the British government - for example, Britain’s refusal to go into V...more...

The EU should return power to national governments

The European Union has taken over a large amount of control over numerous areas of policy, and this is not just the areas that the EU was initially created to consolidate; trade, steel and coal. The EU has expanded into regulation, the environment, business and competition, and increasingly just...more...

Is s.44 of the Terrorism Act 2000 really illegal?

On the 12th January 2010 the court of Strasbourg, the European Court of Human Rights ruled that s44 of the Terrorism Act 2000 was illegal as it contravened Article 8, the right to respect for private and family life. The case was brought by Kevin Gillan and Pennie Quinton who were both stopped an...more...

Was the staging of a homecoming parade for soldiers in Luton as divisive as the protests?

Protests were held during the homecoming of troops from Iraq. Divided local opinions highlight the fact the homecoming parade was staged in a demographically high Muslim area. Are the organisers of the parade just as much to blame for community division as the protestors? http://www.independent....more...