Registered: Nov 2001
Location: Rio de los Brazos de Dios
Posts: 3876

I have just watched part of a program on C=SPAN 1 that has me confused. I did not see all of it by any means and at 4 AM I was not at my receptive best---nevertheless I found what I did see to be of extreme interest.

This program was identified as originating in the Oxford Union and bore the title of "The US and World Peace" The first speaker I heard was a very young man possibly even a high school student identified by a trailer as "The US National Debate Team".
This young man glibly and in a jocular yet serious way extolled the virtues of the US over time in its fight for world peace and listed its lack of territorial imperialistic motivation and took a few
rather sly stabs at Britains Imperialistic past. The young man was dressed formally in black evening dress and black bow tie. The venue for this debate looked remarkably like (but not exactly like)
the House of Commons where the weekly Question and Answer
sessions are taped. Half of the house was filled with bright young students and the other half with dowdy and dour old
Englishpersons. Odd thing--would never happen in an Americabn formal debate--there were frequent questions from the audience on both sides. The presiding officer was dressed in a grey and blue kilt I have not yet looked up in my tartan file but he was obviously a young student also.

The other speakers I heard were identified by trailers as Bob
Alexander-Marshall, Labour Party, House of Commons. and
Louise Ellman, Labour Party, House of commons.

You Limeys have my permission to keep The Honourable Bob. He dubbed Dubya as "an illegal President" and labelled America as the greatest promoter of terrorism in the history of the world
(not even allowing the exception of Genghis Kahn), kept harping on our having killed the President of Chile etc. etc. I would have liked to take up a few issues from the Boer War and the First Afghan War with The Honourable gentleman. But he was a good speaker.

Next The Honourable Louise Ellman spoke and was much more temperate in her views yet nevertheless not wholly contradicting
The Honourable Bob.

I have no idea what I was watching. It seemed to be a mock meeting of the House of Commons, double podium and all. It was most interesting and I wish I had been more alert and had heard more of the debate---if it was a debate.

Anyone else watch it?

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oxsan


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Registered: Aug 2001
Location: Hilbert Space
Posts: 35656

Didn't hear about it. If it was the Oxford Union (ie, the student organisation for undergrads (and postgrads, I guess) at Oxford University), then the speakers that were young would have been indergraduates, I think. It does sounds like one of the debates that they run; sometimes they make the news, but not normally I don't think. The questions from the floor thing would be pretty normal, too.

The Labour guy that you were talking about would also have reviled the British governments that ordered the Boer War and the escapades in Afghanistan, I would bet. Colonialism isn't a terribly popular idea with the labour party.

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Registered: Jan 2002
Location: UK
Posts: 13002

quote:

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Originally posted by oxsan
Odd thing--would never happen in an Americabn formal debate--there were frequent questions from the audience on both sides.

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the technical term for that oxsan is 'giving way'. If you ever watch a debate proper in the Commons (ie not Quetion Time sessions) you will often see someone stand up and then hear the phrases 'will the honourable member give way?' The sepaker will then either give way or possible say 'in a minute if that's ok', then you will hear an interjection that will begin with 'I thank the honourabel member for giving way, is it not true that...... blah blah blah' When he has finshed he sits down and the chief holder of the debate will continue usually addressing the point made and then carry on. Debates generally over here are not competitions in the formal sense you refer to. Hope that clears up the practice

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Registered: Nov 2001
Location: Rio de los Brazos de Dios
Posts: 3876

It certainly does Phil and actually the same is true over here in Congress where the question is "Will the Senator yield for a question?". But I have haven't seen it done in academic circles where audience participation in the debate almost never occurs. I really think that what I was watching was a sort of mock Commons complete with set up questions and all except the youngsters were all on one side in opposition to the other side which contained only Labour Party members.

Despite the gentility of The Honourable Bob's speech he left a bad taste in my mind.

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oxsan


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