Christmas de Leybourne debate – Tasha H.

Christmas de Leybourne debate – Tasha H.

The proposition: Mr Corby, Phoebe G, Mika C

The opposition: Shadrack, Jack M, Mr Johnson

The motion: This House would imprison Father Christmas for mistreating his elves and his reindeer

The debate kicked off with Mr Corby as the opening speaker for the proposition, presenting a solid case with the aid of humorous pictures of elves, including Will Ferrel from the movie ‘Elf’.

Next up was Shadrack, who first outlined his team’s arguments, before moving onto his trademark passionate speech, whilst also hurling attacks and rebuttals to the proposition, already. After some relentless banging of the gavel, Shadrack was finally “encouraged” to sit down and close his argument.

Now it was Phoebe G’s time to shine as 2nd speaker for the proposition, as she spoke clearly and eloquently, putting her English lit A-level lessons to practice, simultaneously defending her team’s arguments and ripping holes in the opposition’s arguments.

For the 2nd speaker on the opposition, Jack M stood up and debated well by turning the proposition’s arguments against them, alongside providing some well-spoken points.

Following was the floor debate, where some hilarious questions were asked regarding the regulations of drunk Santa driving a sleigh and the laws about the performance-enhancing magic dust given to Santa’s reindeer to make them fly.

Now, we move on to Mika C. After some witty answers to the floor debate questions and humourous points, Mika closed the proposition’s argument with the suggestion that if their motion passed and Santa was imprisoned, then Jeff Bezos would be the solution. Now, Jeff Bezos. We can’t forget Jeff Bezos, the founder of Amazon. As with Amazon, Mika argued, you can have next-day delivery all year round, eliminating Santa’s role in bringing presents.

Last, but certainly not least, was the ‘big man’ himself as Sean E called him, Mr Johnson. Speaking very calmly and clearly, Mr Johnson encourages the audience to imagine two scenarios: one where Santa is a kind, old man who brings children presents out of the kindness of his heart, and another where Santa is indeed a hardened criminal. Then, he pointed out that voting for the proposition would either hurt a sweet old man, resulting in no presents for you, or lead to a manipulative criminal on your tail. Neither are good options. Leaving the audience to mull it over, Mr Johnson closes by answering some questions asked during the floor debate, and some points of information from the floor.

Now, it was time to vote! Once all the votes were counted, without the double votes from some, the proposition was declared the winner!

Both sides debated well, resulting in a very funny and festive debate to watch!