Briefing — the Customs Union debate
Twice a month, the Great Debaters Club hosts a free public debate on a topical issue dividing public opinion as part of the club’s ‘Debating London’ series. Our next one is on the EU customs union and whether Britain should remain a part of it — a question that is not just dividing opinion, but polarising it.
Debate motion
This House Would stay in the EU customs union
When and where
Wednesday 7th March
7.00 pm — 9.30 pm
The Tea House Theatre (see map)
Vauxhall Walk SE11 5HL
Admission
Free to attend and open to all, but advance booking required.
Follow link to book
Why are people talking about this today?
The reason we are debating this question specifically, rather than the broader issue of Brexit itself, is because Labour leader — Jeremy Corbyn — recently announced that a government led by him would negotiate to stay in the EU customs union (or a version of it to be precise), marking the first clear dividing line between his party and the current government on Brexit strategy, although there is still a question mark over how big a difference.
What is a customs union?
In a sentence, it is an agreement between a group of different countries to allow people and businesses to trade freely across their borders without having to pay any extra fees (also known as tariffs). But it comes with a catch.
Members of a customs union must also agree to charge non-members the same fee for trading with them (also known as a Common External Tariff). What’s more, this fee is set by the European Commission, which means that member states cannot make agreements by themselves to trade certain goods with other countries if those goods are already covered by the customs union.
So what is this debate really about?
First and foremost it is about whether Britain would be better off by going it alone and making its own trade deals on goods currently covered by the EU customs union OR by agreeing to follow rules set collectively by EU member state in return for being able to trade freely with them without any extra fees.
Sound familiar?
But it is also about the future of Northern Ireland, which is proving to be a very difficult problem to solve. This is because Northern Ireland has a land border with the Republic of Ireland — who are still a member of the EU.
Normally countries who share a land border, but are not members of the same customs union, have systems for checking goods that enter their territory from abroad — e.g. road-blocks and customs checks at airports and sea ports. But the violent recent history of Northern Ireland means such measures bring up very negative memories and numerous practical concerns. Indeed their abolition was considered a landmark moment for the peace process.
So, anyone proposing to leave the customs union also has to come up with a fail-safe for ensuring this does not jeopardise what remains a fragile peace in Northern Ireland, especially in the context of its current political crisis.
Debate format and speakers
We believe the best way to understand an idea is to have a go at defending it as if it were your own. This is the premise on which on which the Great Debaters Club is run and it applies to understanding ideas that are complicated or unfamiliar, ideas we passionately disagree with, and ideas that we have taken for granted for so long, we have stopped questioning them.
This is why instead of inviting expert guest speakers to do the debating, we train up our own members to do it themselves, giving them a week to prepare (competitive debaters in Britain’s schools and universities are normally given about 15 minutes, before which they don’t even know what side they’re on), and laying on a mock debate for them to test their arguments and receive feedback before doing it for real in front of a live audience.
Crucially, the debaters cannot pick and choose their position and must defend whichever perspective they are assigned, challenging them to research and explore ideas they disagree with and then defend them in public. In return, we make it clear to the audience that each speaker’s stance may not be their own and part of the fun is finding out afterwards where the speakers really stand and if this experience changed their own opinions on the subject.
The panel itself consists of two teams of three speakers, one to propose the motion and the other to oppose it. The first two debaters on each side are given five minutes apiece to speak uninterrupted before taking questions from the audience, during which both sides are allowed to reply.
After a short break, one of the club’s resident debate judges — experienced debaters who have spoken in or judged competitions in the UK and abroad — offers a short analysis of the cases for and against the motion, after which the floor is given to the audience for the next 20–30 minutes to have their say.
The debate concludes with the closing speeches from each side, delivered by their third speakers, after which the audience are asked to vote. The result of this poll is then compared with the outcome of the vote taken before the debate to measure how many people have changed their mind — in 2017 an average of 20% of audience members switched allegiances in each debate.
Finally, a cross-section of audience members with different voting intentions is recruited for a 10-minute post-debate focus group in which they are asked to sum up what they understood to be the positions of each side and explain who they voted for and why. Their feedback is anonymised and then relayed back to the speakers and fellow club members in a write-up of the debate, so they can incorporate it into their preparations for the next one.
The event as a whole is overseen by the club’s Director, Tony Koutsoumbos, who runs the club’s training programme, convenes the post-debate focus groups and writes up the results, as well as moderating the debate itself.
You can find out the dates of all upcoming debates by reviewing the 2018 Debating London calendar here and to learn more about the club’s training programme and upcoming debate workshops, visit our website.
