The LSE team Line of Control (Hamza Tariq Chaudhry, Mythili Mishra) has won the Manchester IV 2019. Out of Closing Opposition, they defeated the Opening Government Moral Metrics and Shit (Arth Mishra, Josh Ashworth, LSE), Opening Opposition Oxford present and rejected (Abhinav Bathula, Jamie Johnson; LSE/Oxford) and Closing Government something something toxic masculinity (Ciara Mitchell, Cheyenne Ong; LSE). The motion for the grand final read “THBT the scientific community should reject the view that science and religion are non-overlapping magisteria (incl. infoslide)”. The final was judged by Jacklin Kwan (chair), Jason Woods, Joel Richardson, John Karellis, Maurice Coutiel, Rosie Vorri and Valerie Lim Xuan.

The Pro-Am final saw a victory of the Opening Opposition EUDU gets DESTROYED by facts and logic (Jamie Beverstock, Sara Brdnik; Edinburgh) against Liverpool 50% competent at sports (Joe Read, Joshua Forrester) in Opening Government, Oxford A&E (Anagh Agarwal, Ethan Stewart) in Closing Government and Sheffield AV (Victoria Reif-Breitwieser, Andreea Huidan). The debate on the motion “THR the trend of centring self-destructive/antisocial characters as protagonists in media (e.g. Bojack Horseman, Rick and Morty, Crazy Ex-Girlfriend, Sherlock, Mad Men…)” was judged by a panel consisting of Nick Zervoudis as chair, Lucie Slamova, Robyn Lawrence, Sarah Vickers, Spencer Shia, Thomas Creamer and Vincent Koon.

Best speakers of the tournament were Arth Mishra and Ciara Mitchell on a joint first place with an average of 82.40 speaker points. In the novice category, Sophie Maitland reached the first place with an average of 79.40 speaker points.

Open break:
1. Moral Metrics and Shit (Arth Mishra, Josh Ashworth) – 14 pts. | 822 spks.
2. Oxford present and rejected (Abhinav Bathula, Jamie Johnson) – 12 pts. | 806 spks.
3. KCL Toit Nups (Emily Frizell, Seyoung Jeon) – 12 pts. | 803 spks.
4. Timsquirrellsdad.wordpress.com (Tim Squirrell, Julie Davis) – 11 pts. | 807 spks.
5. something something toxic masculinity (Ciara Mitchell, Cheyenne Ong) – 10 pts. | 816 spks.
6. Dubious Esl Status (Cveta Gotovats, Kenneth Foo) – 10 pts. | 801 spks.
7. Line of Control (Hamza Tariq Chaudhry, Mythili Mishra) – 10 pts. | 798 spks.
8. Diagnostics Society A (Mark Oliver Wilson, Charlie Barnett) – 10 pts. | 797 spks.
9. Academia de Ursarie A (Victor Ion, Cosmin Cristea) – 10 pts. | 792 spks.
10. UoBee Gees (Shaq Scott-Davis, Charlie Hegarty) – 10 pts. | 784 spks.
11. Air Marshal Fufu (Suntiparp Somsak, Justin Graham) – 9 pts. | 812 spks.
12. SOAS (Sheraz Qureshi, Sophie Maitland) – 9 pts. | 799 spks. (Pro-Am)
13. Imperial Huxley (Ivan Kapelyukh, James Knight) – 9 pts. | 788 spks. (Pro-Am)
14. I’ve got 99 mechanisms, but backlash ain’t one. (Daan Spackler, Joris Graff) – 9 pts. | 787 spks.
15. What Primary School Kids Like (Ishaan Kapoor, Laura Bramall)- 9 pts. | 778 spks. (Pro-Am)
16. Durham werk (Philip Wright, Austin Seck)- 9 pts. | 756 spks. (Pro-Am)

Pro-Am Break:
1. EUDU gets DESTROYED by facts and logic (Jamie Beverstock, Sara Brdnik) – 8 pts. | 770 spks.
2. Oxford A&E (Anagh Agarwal, Ethan Stewart) – 8 pts. | 762 spks.
3. Sheffield AV (Victoria Reif-Breitwieser, Andreea Huidan) – 8 pts. | 754 spks.
4. Liverpool 50% competent at sports (Joe Read, Joshua Forrester) – 8 pts. | 748 spks.

Judge Break (alphabetical order):
Maurice Coutiel, Thomas Creamer, Dean Foley, Darion Hotan (CA), John Karellis, Vincent Koon, Casper Kurpan, Jacklin Kwan,  Robyn Lawrence (CA), Valerie Lim Xuan, Ethan Marshall, Tudor Musat (CA), Liam Oldrey, Joel Richardson, Prashasti Saxena, Spencer Shia, Lucie Slamova, Sarah Vickers, Rosie Vorri, Dan Wood, Jason Woods, Nick Zervoudis

The tournament was convened by Tyler Bryce who also lead the tab team consisting of Tom Kelly as well as Will Allsopp, Rae Qiu and Ed White as trainees. The chief adjudicators were Darion Hotan, Robyn Lawrence and Tudor Musat. Valerie Lim Xuan and Claire Ho acted as equity officers.

The Motions:

R1: THS civil rights activists using disruptive or violent civil disobedience as a tool of protest (e.g. the Stansted 15, Gilets Jaunes/Antifa movements)

R2: THBT major film studios should substantially increase the number of lead roles for female villains in their blockbuster films

R3: Infoslide: A Unity Ticket in the US presidential elections is a third-party campaign whereby 1 Republican and 1 Democrat become running mates (seeking the roles of President and Vice-President together) and contest the election for the White House against the respective nominees of the Democrat and Republican parties. In the past, John McCain (Republican) said he regretted not picking Joe Lieberman, the Democratic senator, to form a Unity Ticket run for the White House. Recently, there have been calls for Joe Biden (Dem) and Mitt Romney (Rep) to form a Unity Ticket for the 2020 presidential elections.

THS a Unity Ticket by prominent members of the Republican and Democratic parties in the 2020 US presidential elections

R4: Infoslide: Filial responsibility laws impose obligations on individuals to provide a minimum standard of care for their parents, usually when those parents are elderly or otherwise infirmed. This care can include both financial and emotional support.

THW implement filial responsibility laws

R5: Infoslide: “Uncontacted Peoples” are communities that exist largely in isolation from global civilization. Contact is often discouraged because of their poor immunity to common diseases (among other reasons), although safe contact is possible with appropriate precautions.

THBT states should actively attempt to make contact with Uncontacted Peoples and provide them with modern medicine and technology

QF: Infoslide: A primate city is a city in which the majority of the cultural, social, and economic capital in a country is centred. They are often the most populous cities in a given country. Examples include London, Bangkok, Kinshasa, and Lagos.

THBT developing countries should actively discourage the creation of primate cities

SF: Infoslide: For the purposes of this debate, “Radical Freedom” is the view that every person has the power to alter their fundamental beliefs, desires, and attitudes. This is often contrasted with the view that our fundamental beliefs/desires/attitudes are fixed elements of who we are.

TH prefers a world with a widespread belief in Radical Freedom

Pro-Am F: THR the trend of centring self-destructive/antisocial characters as protagonists in media (e.g. Bojack Horseman, Rick and Morty, Crazy Ex-Girlfriend, Sherlock, Mad Men…)

F: Infoslide: “Non-overlapping magisteria” is the belief that science and religion describe fundamentally distinct aspects of human experience, and thus represent two different and equally valid modes of inquiry. According to this belief, scientific inquiry cannot, and should not, encroach on the territory of religious knowledge and experience.

THBT the scientific community should reject the view that science and religion are non-overlapping magisteria

jm.