Trinity Term 2010

This House would make Reparations for Colonialism

It has been argued that much of Europe’s wealth today is based on past actions which, by today’s standards, are morally reprehensible. Given that without colonialism the relative wealth of continents would be completely different, should we correct the wrongdoings of history? Or does the passage of generations alter the course of justice?

Proposition:

Lord Parekh - Political theorist. He was appointed a Life Peer in 2000. He was born in India and educated both there and in the UK.

John Newsinger - Professor of History at Bath Spa University. In his book Blood Never Dried, he described the Raj as a ‘regime of torture’ that has been almost ‘completely unexplored’ by historians.

Toyin Agbetu - Social Rights Activist. In 2007 he snuck past security in Westminster Abbey to disrupt a service commemorating the abolition of the slave trade, claiming it was a self-congratulatory exercise for those who promote oppression.

Opposition:

Count Nikolai Tolstoy - Historian, author and  Parliamentary candidate. Chancellor of the International Monarchist League, he is the UKIP Candidate for Parliament in David Cameron’s Witney constituency.

Tiffany Jenkins - the Institute of Ideas. Recently commented that “the pursuit of apologising for the past by politicians...has come to replace a more important debate about what a good society might be like today.”

Phillip Van Der Elst - Author and lecturer. A UKIP candidate for the European Parliament earlier this year, he has written extensively on British foreign policy.