Debates finalists: we salute you!

I think I have to say that the result of this years final and the way it was delivered was disgraceful and has really damaged, in my opinion the integrity of the Concern Debates... I will admit that both teams were of a very high standard and support from both sides was excellent, I must say that Gort appeared the stronger of the two teams and deserved to have won the final. Anyone can see, who was at the public forum (obviously not the adjudicators of course) that the many many neutrals within the venue were convinced by Gort's arguements... Secondly, it is clear that the Captain of Sandford Park in his summary brought in new information, this was dealt with in the open forum (which the adjudicators obviously did not see again). The Captain of the Opposition Gort clearly stated that one fifth of Aid reached the Developing World, yet the proposition claimed that she said one fifth of aid didn't reach the developing world and therefore four fifths did....Now whilst one can argue the proposition misheard the Gort Captain's statement, for the Sandford Park team to refute this meant that they obviously agreed with their reasoning which means new information was brought into the Sandford Park Summary...I ask Concern to check was this penalised in the marking sheet? I certainly doubt this... Thirdly and probably the main reason why I feel so upset about this debating final was the Chief Adjudicators Final remarks... He claimed ''It would have been embarassing for Concern had this motion been defeated...thankfully for Concern they have not been embarassed as this motion has passed..'' This statement clearly shows that their was some bias at play here, and some adjudicators had their mind made up before they went in to this debate! I think adjudicators felt that in the final they were now serving the role of representing Conern in their decision rather than being open minded neutral judges...Politics should never enter a debate like this, and it is embarassing For Concern now because it blatantly did.. To make a statement like that truly does smudge the debate, damaging the integrity and great history which the Concern Debates have...I feel so sorry for Gort who really have been robbed and in a way Sandford also I expect Concern to at the very least offer Gort an official apology, which they deserve, for the Chief Adjudicators last remarks and I think, as I am sure many others from many different schools also think, that a review of this debate should take place to insure that the winners were the right ones... However congratulations to both sides for a great debate..I think Concern this time have let both sides down.

Glad to see after 24 years the Concern Debates are still creating controversy! Just to say we wholeheartedly congratulate both teams on making it to the final after a hard slog of 8 rounds, it was a brilliant debate. It was a close result, but it is after all a competition and someone has to win! The winners last night were Sandford Park. We would very much like to thank our neutral, independent, and experienced volunteer adjudicators for their time and effort. We never rig the debates and we don’t mind if the so-called ‘Concern side’ loses - for example a few years ago a team won the Final proposing the motion that ‘Charity is dangerous’.