Exclusive: More Union Speakers Revealed

Image Description: the inside of the Chamber of the Oxford Union. 

The Oxford student has obtained an exclusive preview of the Oxford Union’s planned Michaelmas 2021 term card including guest speakers, debates, and other events.

There will be a mixture of in-person and online events, giving members access to a variety of speakers, from the worlds of sport, politics, film and TV, and music. There is also a possibility that the popular Union Beer Garden, which was open to members in the first weeks of Trinity, might return for the open period at the beginning of term. 

The list of planned speakers is for term is:  

Other potential speakers include political commentator and Pulitzer Prize winner Thomas Friedman, Mad Men, Chernobyl, and The Crown actor Jared Harris, and journalist John Simpson. The term card could also include American politician Joe Kennedy III, The Secret Barrister, and General Sir Mark Carleton-Smith, the current Chief of the General Staff and professional head of the armed forces. 

Panels include a Law Panel with Lord Carnwath, Sir Jeffrey Jowell, and Lord Faulks, a Holocaust Matters Event with Noemie Lopian and Derek Niemann, and a Number 10 Panel with Sir Anthony Seldon and Baroness Fall. For fans of international relations, a China Head to Head with Sir Vince Cable and Michael Pilsbury and a Human Security Panel with Jane Goodall and Jonathan Granoff have been organised. A planned Sport Special Event with Vicky Gosling and Ebony Rainford-Brent has not yet been scheduled.

The traditional Union debates are also expected to be well attended by speakers, including Jacob Rees-Mogg and Layla Moran, who are expected to debate at the traditional No Confidence debate in first week. The traditional Thursday debates take place in the famous Union Chamber every week throughout term. 

The planned debates and their attendees are:

Planned debate motions include “This House Believes there is no Merit in Meritocracy”, “This House Believes that a Citizen of the World is a Citizen of Nowhere”, and “This House Would Still Look to the US for Global Leadership”. Other topics include debating “moving beyond meat” and having had enough of PPE. 

After it was reported yesterday that some of the speakers for the upcoming Michaelmas Term had been leaked, the President of the Oxford Union, Chengkai Xie commented:

“I am looking forward to sharing our Michaelmas Term 2021 Term Card with incoming freshers and our existing members later this week. My committee has worked hard over the summer to put together an exciting term card, featuring a diverse range of individual speakers, an interesting series of debates and special events as well as some great social events to ensure there is something for everyone at the Union.”

The full term card for Michaelmas Term is set to be released on Thursday, and is subject to change.

Image Credit: NATO