The US is leaving the Paris Climate Agreement: but does it really matter?
Yes Jonny Garwood On the 7th August 2017, America made clear its intentions to withdraw from the climate agreement enforced by Donald Trump’s predecessor, Barack Obama. Having originally been ridiculed…
Should Black History Month be Abolished?
Yes William Cronk African, Caribbean, and Asian history should form a large part of the history taught in schools in this country. This, sadly, is not the case and modern…
The Big Debate: Torture by the state can never be justified
For The definition of torture is ‘the action or practice of inflicting severe pain on someone as a punishment or in order to force them to do or say something’.…
Big Debate: Do too many students go to university?
Yes (Giles Goodwin): “It’s a good job that new humanities factory opened in Porthcawl” is my usual snarky response to someone informing me that they are off to university to…
The Big Debate: It is selfish to focus disproportionately on terror attacks in the West
Agree Devin Thomas In a world of increased connectedness and supposed solidarity, the fact that terror attacks that occur closer to home are still so much more significant in our…
The Big Debate: Should media be sanitised to protect citizens?
Agree William Singh The classic problem with any motion containing words like “sanitised” is it’s almost impossible to argue that we should censor, but instinctively most people will be able…
The Big Debate: Positive discrimination in employment is unfair
Agree Georgia Grace Undoubtedly we have a problem in this country with cisgender white men having greater employment opportunities than women and minorities. However, implementing positive discrimination is not the…
The Big Debate: We should separate the personal live of actors and artists from their creative work
In Favor William Singh When addressing this difficult subject, it is usually taken as the default position that a reprehensible human being ought not to win an award for their…
The Big Debate: Should degrees with higher funding demand higher tuition fees?
In Favor Libbie Bohlen As a humanities student, I am used to seeing my payments to the University redirected away from my own course. Science students, in particular, seem to…
The Big Debate: We need to privatise the NHS
In Favor Fraser Coppin When the words “privatization” and “NHS” are uttered in the same sentence, it’s not uncommon to see a look of horror and disgust on the faces…
The Big Debate: Drug culture is a detriment to student life
Agree Rodnick Brugnara Every student at our University has had a night out completely ruined by drugs. Maybe not a dramatic overdose or a meth-fuelled altercation, no, but the number…
The Big Debate: Should we protest the results of democracy?
Yes Georgia Grace The aftermath of the 2015 General Election may retrospectively be seen as the beginning of the current protest phenomena we find ourselves in now: protest against democratically…
The Big Debate: The LGBTQ+ movement is now more about image than change
Agree Georgia Grace When I moved to Brighton last summer, one of the many things that excited me about my new home was the prospect of attending my first ever…
Big Debate: ‘Is globalism a failed project?’
Proposition Will Cronk Globalism is a wonderful force which does an extraordinary amount of good for an extraordinarily small number of people. The reason I describe it as a wonderful…
The Big Debate: Should Bob Dylan have won the Nobel Prize?
Yes: Miles Fagge (Theatre Editor) I want to start this by stressing that I am not seeking to argue that Bob Dylan necessarily deserved to win this award more than…
The Big Debate: student politics are frivolous
The Big Debate is a regular Badger feature which brings the spirit of competitive debating to the printed page. Two writers tackle a contentious topic, representing polarised views. They might…
Do history months promote recognition or exclusion?
This month is LGBTQ+ History month, and over twenty events are taking place at Sussex, making it the university’s biggest LGBTQ+ History Month to date. This annual observance has only…
The Big Debate: Should “Jihadi John” have been given a fair trial?
Yes Is bombing the hell out of an executioner really the ‘right thing to do’? An executioner only acts on orders, and this (unconfirmed) killing won’t stop or even slow…
The Big Debate: Should the House of Lords be abolished?
Yes The House of Lords is the UK’s unelected second chamber. Before any legislation can become law in the UK it must be approved by the Lords, even if it…
The Big Debate: Does viewing pornography corrupt our sexuality?
Yes For a start, I am not going to discuss this question by using the term ‘corrupt.’ This word carries all kinds of negative connotations and moral judgements. I am…