Two prominent opposition members of the
British Parliament will take part this Friday in
a Hong Kong project to promote public speaking
and debating for secondary school
students.
Over 80 form four to seven students from 26
schools will take part in the second annual
Summer Workshop, organised by the Hong Kong
Parliamentary Debating Society and this year
sponsored by the British
Consulate-General. The workshop, held at
the Chinese University of Hong Kong, aims to
develop the students’ critical thinking skills,
awareness of current and international affairs
and communication skills through British
Parliamentary Debating.
The Summer Workshop will see top
international debaters teaching the students
advanced debating skills, which they will then
deploy and develop in a nine-round debating
competition. The program will culminate in
the Grand Final Debate on Saturday 29 July at
Hong Kong Polytechnic University, where the four
top teams will debate a topical issue. The
debate will be judged by visiting British
Parliamentarians, Paul Keetch and Nigel Evans,
and the winners will be awarded the Hong Kong
Parliamentary Debating Society Cup.
Nigel Evans, a Conservative Member of
Parliament in the UK for a constituency in the
north-west of England, said: “As a member of the
official opposition in the UK it is our job to
hold the Government to account and force them to
defend their policy decisions. The key
tool to do this is through powerful oratory and
debate in the House of Commons. That Hong
Kong students are learning these skills of
critical thinking and public speaking now bodes
well for Hong Kong’s future political
system.”
Paul Keetch, a Liberal Democrat Member of
Parliament in the UK representing Hereford, an
English constituency on the Welsh borders, said:
“I’m delighted to be back in Hong Kong. In
the UK there is a long history of the greatest
orators becoming national leaders.
Nurturing this talent in Hong Kong is an
important part of developing a sustainable and
mature democracy.”
ENDS
Notes to Editors:
1. On
Friday 28 July, Paul Keetch and Nigel Evans will
speak on the topic: The Value of Opposing
Views in Parliament at The
Helena May. They will
explore the relationship between different
political parties in the UK, and the concept of
the “loyal opposition”. The luncheon
speech and discussion will take place from 12.30
– 2.00pm at the Garden Room, The Helena May,
Garden Road, Central. The event is hosted by
public policy think tank Civic Exchange and
sponsored by the British Consulate-General Hong
Kong. For registration, please click here...
2. The Hong Kong
Parliamentary Debating Society Summer Workshop
will take place from 24 to 29 July at the
Chinese University of Hong Kong. Paul Keetch MP
and Nigel Evans MP will speak at the workshop at
a dinner on Friday 28 July. They will also
judge the final debate on Saturday 29 July, held
from 2-6pm at Hong Kong Polytechnic University’s
Chiang Chen Studio Theatre.
3. The Hong Kong
Parliamentary Debating Society (http://www.fco.gov.uk/servlet/ExternalLinkURLRedirectServlet?linkurl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.hkpds.org%2F&LinkMap=0&linkname=PostHK_HKParliamentaryDebateSoci&referpagename=Press+Releases)
is comprised of members of the English Debating
Teams of the Chinese University of Hong Kong,
the Hong Kong Polytechnic University and the
University of Hong Kong. The Society held
its first Summer Workshop in 2005. They
are working in partnership with the Education
and Manpower Bureau to provide debating training
to students and teachers from over 70 Hong Kong
secondary schools.
4.
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Nigel Evans MP
Nigel is Member of Parliament for the
Ribble Valley. He joined the Conservative
Party in 1974 at the age of 17. He was a
councillor on West Glamorgan County Council
1985-1991. He fought elections in Swansea
West (1987) and Pontypridd (1989) before
contesting Ribble Valley (1991).
Nigel worked as Parliamentary Private
Secretary between 1993 and 1997. In June
1997, after the election and the Conservative
leadership contest, Nigel was appointed front
bench spokesman for Welsh Affairs and joined the
Constitutional Affairs team. In May 1999, he was
appointed Vice-Chairman of the Conservative
Party and in November 2004, he was re-appointed
Vice-Chairman of the Conservative Party, with
specific responsibility for overseeing
Conservatives Abroad and mobilising the
Conservative vote overseas.
Nigel is a member of the all party groups
dealing with music, tourism, manufacturing,
drugs misuse and space group. He currently
chairs All Party Parliamentary Groups on
Malaysia and Identity Fraud. He is also Chairman
of Conservative Friends of India. He is
also a member of the Culture, Media and Sport
Select Committee, which is examining the 2012
Olympics.
Click here for his full biography.
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Paul Keetch MP
Paul Keetch was first elected to Parliament
as the MP for Hereford on 1 May 1997 and was
re-elected in 2001 and 2005.
He is a member of many Parliamentary
All-Party Groups, including the All Party Cider
Group. Paul has always had a keen interest in
defence and in 1999 moved to the position of
Defence spokesman being promoted to Shadow
Defence Secretary shortly afterwards. As a
member of the Liberal Democrat Foreign Affairs
and Defence team, Paul was influential in
defence debates and the stance the Liberal
Democrats took on the controversial Iraq war. He
has worked closely with contacts in the Armed
Forces, the Ministry of Defence and the defence
industry. He is well known for supporting the
rights of members of the Armed Forces in
Parliament and for pressing for reform.
Paul was officially appointed to the
prestigious Foreign Affairs Select Committee in
July 2005. He also serves on the House of
Commons Quadripartite Committee monitoring the
arms trade. Paul is currently a member of
the NATO Parliamentary Assembly and Chairman of
Liberal International British Group.
Click here for his full biography.
