Brian Monteith: Let the debate commence and talents shine

The attribute to articulate, the power to persuade and the capability to convince – through a well argued, passionately delivered and inspiring speech that takes account of what others are saying, or even anticipates what they will say before they have even uttered a word – has shaped history down the ages.

The records show that Scots are good at debating and that it has often allowed us to punch above our weight. Tomorrow the Scottish final of the John Smith Memorial Mace, sponsored by Baillie Gifford with The Scotsman as media partner, takes place in this newspaper's Edinburgh office and it promises yet again to be an exhilarating and keenly fought occasion.

Organised by the English Speaking Union Scotland, the winning team of two university students will go to defend the International Mace that Edinburgh University students Sebastian Osbourn and Paul Brown won for Scotland last year.

Debating is no longer the preserve of the ancient universities: ESU Scotland has taken debating beyond the established university and schools' mace competitions and into the junior ranks of first and second years, even running pilot events for primary schools through forward-thinking educational trusts and local authorities.

The ability of debating to engage with pupils and students in subjects they might otherwise find boring has resulted in the Scottish Government commissioning debating packs for teachers and education departments offering courses to help teachers use debating to discuss questions about science, maths and English as well as history and current affairs.

The beneficiaries of such learning through debating are now about to grace Scotland's universities and the prospects for university debates look healthier as a result.

Tomorrow the question of bankers' bonuses will inspire the debaters; who would doubt that within a generation the finalists will not be asking for our votes, managing a FTSE 100 company or producing the news?

n Brian Monteith is chairman of the English Speaking Union, Scotland