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January 2020 – election implications

On Monday, 6th January, the Sylvans debated the motion:

This house believes that the new Conservative government will provide the decisive leadership required to steer the UK in the coming years.

It was proposed by Ross Hunter and opposed by Ewan McGaughey.

The proposer built an argument around the need to protect the economy from continued political indecision related to Brexit, which he blamed for significant weakness in the UK economy.  In particular, he highlighted the need to secure a future trade relationship with the EU post Brexit in order to provide certainty to the business community, and the focus the new government is putting on this issue.  The new Conservative government took a decision on the Brexit divorce settlement, rightly or wrongly, to move the process forward, and voters indicated a strong desire to bring the issue to a close.  He also argued that further indecision – if there had been a hung parliament or Labour government – would have been harmful to the economy.  He encouraged the Labour party to elect a strong leader to reinstate effective opposition to the new government, which had been lacking under Jeremy Corbyn.  

The opposer robustly attacked Boris Johnson’s and the Conservatives’ recent record in office, arguing that Boris cannot be trusted.  He shared charts which he indicated showed that life expectancy, wages, transport affordability and other measures had declined since the Conservatives took power, drawing a clear picture of the impact on UK society as a result.  Air quality under Boris Johnson as London mayor was not focused on, even though it constituted a public health emergency.  As for the election, he argued that the Conservatives were dividing the country through Brexit in order to win power, and treating the public as a cash register by driving up bills.  He then put forward a series of six tests to the house, asking if the Tories would improve the country, in a rousing cry urging the house to support the Labour party.  He also provided an alternate vision of leadership, comparing the likes of Desmond Tutu to Tory ‘rule’ by pushing others down.

Floor speeches focused heavily on attacking Tory policies across a number of areas, including on climate change, workers’ rights, public services, and several others.  A few speakers went back to the motion and pointed out that the government would not need to succeed or even do the ‘right’ thing in order to satisfy the motion, only to provide a clear course going forward.  

In the final vote the motion was defeated.

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