- Mon Apr 25, 2022 4:27 pm
#24594
On the 'debating' issue I speak with some authority as the captain of our school team which won the Evening Standard Schools Debating Tournament in 1964...
The keys are preparation, organisation of an argument, eloquent presentation with points well expressed, staying on topic, summation and anticipation of and response to the objections and rebuttals of others.
He shows little sign of any of that.
He also shows little talent for rhetoric - although when he reads a well crafted speech he can do a decent job if he doesn't deviate. He doesn't think well on his feet, his ad-libs are rehearsed, as we saw in the 'Savile' jibe against Keir Starmer.
Put him against genuinely skilled debaters (Blair, Brown, Starmer) and rhetoricians (Benn, Cook, Charlie Kennedy) and he'd be overwhelmed.
Churchill was, of course, both, which is why he was effective in the House.
The moneychangers have fled from their high seats in the temple of our civilization. We now restore that temple to the ancient truths. The measure of the restoration lies in the extent to which we apply values more noble than mere monetary profit.