EU referendum debate helps students hear both sides

The European Union (EU) referendum which will take place on 23 June has been billed as the biggest political decision of a generation. However, many people are still undecided about how they will cast their vote on that day.

To help our students make informed decisions and to give them an opportunity to hear all arguments we held a lively and engaging EU referendum debate on 22 April. The student led event was set up to discuss whether the UK should remain a member of the EU or leave and was facilitated via a representative panel made up of two students and two guest speakers.

Jenny Rathbone, Welsh Labour Candidate for Cardiff Central and Patrick Osborne, first year French/Politics student and President of Cardiff University Students for Europe represented the choice to stay as a member of the EU while David TC Davies, Conservative Member of Parliament for Monmouth and Alex Moscovici, Final Year Spanish/Italian student and organiser of Students for Britain, Cardiff have chosen vote to leave the EU.

The debate was neutrally chaired by Dr Nick Parsons, lecturer in French Studies and Deputy Head of the School of Modern Languages. Each panel member spoke about the reasons for their decisions which was followed by a Q&A session with members of the 150 strong audience.

Speaking after the event, Alex Moscovici said “It was a delight to be able to take part in the EU debate at the School of Modern Languages. This entire referendum experience is a once in a lifetime chance to shape the future of the UK, so to be able to share my views with my colleagues was insightful and rewarding. Regardless of your point of view on the EU, the entire audience and panel managed to have an enjoyable evening of intriguing discussions, intellectual debate, and amicable arguments. The event was quite simply democracy in action.”