Question Time 2019 opens up the debate on global current affairs

Butterworth Hall opened its door to host the seventh annual Warwick Question Time event.

Held in one of the largest art centres in the UK, Butterworth Hall at the Warwick Arts Centre set the stage for an evening of interesting debates on current affairs. The popular debating event is organised by the Department of Economics in conjunction with the Department of Politics and International Studies (PAIS) and is very similar in format to the popular BBC television show.

The event attracted over 1,300 students (mostly first year students) and guests who took their seats to watch this year's panel debating a range of current affair topics: starting with the questions on the UK leaving the EU without a deal and the use of toxic language by politicians to fuel populism and conflict; and moving on to talking about the global economic effect of the protest in Hong Kong. The final part of the debate tackled the issues of climate change and whether we should be altering consumer habits to enable long-term sustainability and what can be done to address gender inequalities in society. To see what suggestions the panellists have made, watch the video which will be published on this page soon.

This year, the panellists were:

• Rachana Shanbhogue, European economics correspondent for The Economist
• Stephen Kinnock, Labour Member of Parliament for Aberavon
• Professor Chris Anderson, Professor in European Politics and Policy at London School of Economics
• Alicia Kearns, Conservative and counter terrorism adviser
• Kulbir Shergill, Director of Social Inclusion at the University of Warwick
• Remi Trovo, Year 2 BA (Hons) Politics and International Studies student
• Paula Bejarano Carbo, Year 3 BSc (Hons) Philiosophy, Politics and Economics student

Chairing the panel was Professor Chris Anderson who commented after the event:

"At the heart of every great university is the quest for knowledge. I really enjoyed being part of Warwick Question Time 2019 because you can only find the right answers if you ask the right questions. I thought the panel tackled some important questions - questions that can be uncomfortable - but in a respectful way and through the lens of students and practitioners working at a high level in their respective fields."

Sohaila Abdelaal, a second year Economics student added:

"The Question Time 2019 panel was very diverse which provided a variety of interesting perspectives. There was a great connection between the panellists and the audience members as they discussed gender equality in the workforce and reflected on their personal experiences."

After the event, students were given the opportunity to speak to panellists during the drinks reception that took place in the Oculus. Feedback from students who attended the event said they enjoyed the lively debate and the opportunity to engage with the panel by asking questions and being able to reply back to their answers during the debate. The annual Question Time event forms part of the induction for newly arrived Economics and PAIS first year students at Warwick.

Missed the debate? Watch the full length video online..

For those of you that missed the event or would like to watch the debate again, the full length video is available online. You can also watch previous years of our Question Time debates on our Warwick Economics YouTube Channel.