Every year the House of Lords opens its doors to people from across the UK to take part in a topical debate in the unique surroundings of the House of Lords chamber. This year’s debate will focus on the issue of climate change, exploring how we can reach a sustainable future. As is with previous debates, this will be an intergenerational event, bringing together school students and adult participants to debate the issues.
The debate is planned to be held on Friday, 29th November. However, there is a risk that the event might be postponed to January/February, if the parliament requires access to the chamber.
Prior to the event, the English-Speaking Union (ESU) will run a number of training sessions, known as Talking Days, at the participating schools. The sessions are designed to introduce all participants to the techniques of debate and effective public speaking and the subject. Whilst these sessions are optional for our participants, they do afford the opportunity for you to meet other participants before the event in Westminster, and for the ESU mentors to select a number of pre-prepared speakers, so we encourage you to attend if you can. If you are unable to make one of these sessions, you will still be able to attend the debate day in the House of Lords.
