Free Speech
The Oxford Union has long associated itself with freedom of speech, most famously by debating and passing the motion "This House would under no circumstances fight for its King and country" in 1933.
What is generally forgotten (but arguably more significant as an example of the Union's commitment to freedom of speech) is that an attempt was made by several prominent Union members (including Randolph Churchill) to expunge this motion and the result of the debate from the Union's minute book. This attempt was roundly defeated — in a meeting far better attended than the original debate. Sir Edward Heath records in his memoirs that Randolph Churchill was then chased around Oxford by undergraduates who intended to debag him (i.e. humiliate him by removing his trousers), and was then fined by the police for being illegally parked.
More recently, controversial debates at the Union have included "This House Would Abolish the Welfare State" in 2011. The motion fell, but the debate was particularly well-attended on account of the high-profile speaker line-up and current government spending cuts.
Read more about this topic: Oxford Union
Famous quotes containing the words free speech, free and/or speech:
“Free speech is the whole thing, the whole ball game. Free speech is life itself.”
—Salman Rushdie (b. 1948)
“When we our betters see bearing our woes,
We scarcely think our miseries our foes.
Who alone suffers, suffers most i’ the mind,
Leaving free things and happy shows behind.
But then the mind much sufferance doth o’er skip,
When grief hath mates, and bearing fellowship.”
—William Shakespeare (1564–1616)
“One thinking it is right to speak all things, whether the word is fit for speech or unutterable.”
—Sophocles (497–406/5 B.C.)