November 2018 – 150th Anniversary

On Monday, 5th November, the Sylvans debated the motion ‘this House believes the United Kingdom’s constitution is strong.’

It was proposed by Paul Carroll and opposed by Tony Koutsoumbos.

Both our main speakers provided weighty contributions to begin the debate.  The proposer provided a broad overview of the historical development of the UK’s constitution, and argued that its strength is firmly rooted in its flexibility and longevity, evidenced by its survival through a multitude of wars and other crises.  The opposer contrasted this with a clear view that government executives are taking power from Parliament, and that the state of flux of key elements of the unwritten ‘constitution’ – in particular Northern Ireland, separatism in the devolved nations and Brexit – is affecting the capacity to govern the country.

We then had a series of impassioned floor speeches, including a few in historical costumes borrowed from Dr Johnson’s House!  This brought the room to life and, as in the best Sylvan debates, examined the topic from all sides.  A number of speakers reflected on the flexibility of the unwritten constitution, and how it can be interpreted by modern politicians, rather than hypothetically as ‘founding fathers’ would do.  At the same time, other speakers strongly argued that with such a constitution, the strength of the country is only as good as the current crop of politicians in government – a potentially risky proposition.  There were several mentions of ‘muddling through’ and indeed that the UK’s constitution is no such thing! Some speakers touched upon Brexit and its impact on the Union, and criticised referenda and direct democracy as means of government.  Though Brexit currently dominates the news media, it did not dominate this debate, and the Sylvans maintained a focus on the broader issue throughout.

The final result was closely balanced, and ultimately saw the motion defeated by the narrowest of margins.