{"id":438709,"date":"2025-09-20T14:22:14","date_gmt":"2025-09-20T14:22:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/438709\/"},"modified":"2025-09-20T14:22:14","modified_gmt":"2025-09-20T14:22:14","slug":"edinburgh-union-the-nen-north-edinburgh-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/438709\/","title":{"rendered":"Edinburgh Union \u2013 The NEN \u2013 North Edinburgh News"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a href=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/nen.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/10\/referendum-flags.jpg?ssl=1\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><img loading=\"lazy\" data-recalc-dims=\"1\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"624\" height=\"351\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/referendum-flags.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-14180\"  \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p class=\"\"><strong>The Edinburgh Union will host its inaugural debate on\u00a0Monday 22 September, with a panel of senior Scottish politicians debating the motion:\u00a0This House Believes Scotland Should Be Independent.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p class=\"\">The debate will feature\u00a0<strong>Fergus Ewing MSP<\/strong>\u00a0and\u00a0<strong>Ben Macpherson MSP<\/strong>, representing the case for independence, opposite\u00a0<strong>Baroness Annabel Goldie<\/strong>, former leader of the Scottish Conservatives, and\u00a0<strong>Daniel Johnson MSP<\/strong>, representing the case against.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p class=\"\">Adding to the politicians, two student speakers will join the debate, taking opposing sides on the motion, and bringing the perspectives of Edinburgh\u2019s student body directly into the discussion.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p class=\"\">The debate, taking place just months ahead of the 2026 Holyrood elections, promises to be a lively and timely discussion on one of the most contested questions in Scottish politics.<\/p>\n<p class=\"\">Founded in 2025, the Edinburgh Union, which is part of the Edinburgh Political Union, is the University of Edinburgh\u2019s newest debating society. <\/p>\n<p class=\"\">It seeks to provide an apolitical platform dedicated to debate and open dialogue. With political and social conversations growing increasingly polarised, the Union\u2019s mission is to develop an environment where ideas can be challenged constructively and where participants from all backgrounds feel empowered to engage in discussion.<\/p>\n<p class=\"\">This semester, the Union will host fortnightly debates in Edinburgh\u2019s iconic Rainy Hall at New College, bringing together speakers from across the political spectrum. Upcoming motions include\u00a0This House Welcomes the Legalisation of Assisted Dying\u00a0and\u00a0This House Believes Traditional Masculinity is Damaging to Men and Society.<\/p>\n<p class=\"\">Each debate will offer audience members, comprising students and academics from across Edinburgh with the opportunity to debate and challenge guest speakers from across the political spectrum.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p class=\"\"><strong>President Finn Tyson said:<\/strong> \u201c<strong>\u201cThe Edinburgh Union seeks to spark open dialogue in the capital, in a way that is not seen anywhere else in Scotland.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p class=\"\">\u201cWe want to give students and staff the chance to engage in-person with big ideas, challenge perspectives, and form their own views through reasoned debate \u2013 all in\u00a0away that reflects the diversity and voice of Scotland\u2019s student population.<\/p>\n<p class=\"\">\u201cMore than a decade after the Better Together campaign\u2019s victory in 2014, public opinion on Scottish independence remains deeply divided. That\u2019s why we\u2019re bringing in outstanding speakers from across the political spectrum to debate the issue \u2013 and to give our students the chance to question them directly.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Edinburgh Union will host its inaugural debate on\u00a0Monday 22 September, with a panel of senior Scottish politicians&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":323012,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8816],"tags":[748,1102,4884,712,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-438709","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-edinburgh","8":"tag-britain","9":"tag-edinburgh","10":"tag-great-britain","11":"tag-scotland","12":"tag-uk","13":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/115237077389385851","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/438709","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=438709"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/438709\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/323012"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=438709"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=438709"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=438709"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}