“British Parliamentary Basics”

Opening Government

 Defines the motion

o Giving context to the motion
o Defining the policy
 Argue in favour of the motion
 Respond to Opening Opposition’s Arguments

Opening Opposition

 Define the opposition case

o The clash ( whatever is the opposite of the motion )
 Argue against the motion
 Respond to Opening Government’s Arguments

Closing Government

 Reframes the debate

 Gives further arguments in favour of the motion
 Consistent with Opening Government
o But distinct
 Summarize the whole debate

Closing Opposition

 Reframes the debate

 Gives further arguments in opposition of the motion
 Consistent with Opening Opposition
o But distinct
 Summarize the whole debate
Prime Minister

 Defines the Motion

o What does the motion mean?
 Case set-up
o What does the Opening Government want to do?
o Why does Opening Government want to do this?
o How will Government get to that goal?
 Pre-emptions
o What could opposition say? How will I respond to that?
 Arguments
o Why is this good? (or bad) depending on the motion given

Leader of Opposition

 Case set-up
o What does Opening Opposition want to do? (or NOT want to do)
o Why does Opening Opposition believe that we should be against the motion?
o Counterproposal against the motion
 Responses
o What did Opening Government say? Why were they wrong?
 Arguments
o Why is the motion something you want to go up against?
o What are the harms of this? (Or the benefits of your counterproposal?)

Rebuttals

 Is it true? Were there false claims?

 Even if it were true, why is it still okay? (or why is it still bad?)
 Even if it were true, does it even matter in the debate? (Mitigation)

Deputy Prime Minister

 Respond to Leader of Opposition

o Disprove LO’s claims (or atleast mitigate them)
 Buff up Prime Minister
o LO responded to PM’s speech, so buff it up!
o Even with LO’s responses, why are PM’s arguments still good?
 Arguments
o Why is this good? (or bad) – shouldn’t be the same arguments that Prime Minister is
giving, DPM should have a different analysis (can bring in new examples)
 Weigh it out
o Why does OG’s case win over LO?
Deputy Leader of Opposition

 Respond to Deputy Prime Minister

o Disprove DPM’s claims ( or atleast mitigate them )
 Buff Up Leader of Opposition
o DPM responded to LO’s speech, so buff it up!
o Even with DPM’s responses, why are LO’s arguments still good?
 Arguments
o Why is this good? ( or bad )
 Weight it out
o Why does LO’s case win over the whole gov bench?
o You are the last speaker of the opening half. Make that weighing count.

Member of Government

 Respond to Opening Opposition

o Respond to Deputy Leader of Opposition - and then the whole Opening Opposition Case
 Delineate from Opening Government ( Differentiate or make your side distinct from Opening
Government )
o What did OG argue? What will we argue? How are we different? Why is that important?
 Extend
o Why is this good? (or bad )
o This is an argument, but different from OG.
o A new angle to look at the debate. What did OG miss that you think is important?
 Weigh
o Why does Closing Government’s case win over Opening Oppositon?

Extensions

 A new angle to the debate

 Actor
 Scale
 Impact
 Time
 Analysis

Member of Opposition

 Respond to Opening Government and Closing Government

o Respond to MG primarily
 Delineate from Opening Opposition
o What did OO argue? What will we argue? How are we different? Why is that important?
  Extend
o Why is this good? ( or bad )
o This is an argument, but different from OO
o A new angle to look at the debate. What did OO miss that you think is important?
 Weigh it out
o Why does CO’s case win over CG
o Why does og win over oo
o Why does og’s case win over og (brief lang)

Government Whip

 Respond to Member of Opposition

o You are the only one who can respond to MO
 Provide Issues
o What were the issues in the debate? Why did we win in these issues?
 Summarize and Weigh
o Provide a summary of the contributions of all teams and why yours were the most
important
 Comparatives
o What is your worst case scenario and why is it still better than the opposing team’s best
case scenario?
 No new matter
o No new matter at whip!!! But GW can be forgiven for new matter since Opposition
Whip can still respond to you

Opposition Whip

 Respond to Government Whip

o Respond primarily to GW
 Provide Issues
o What were the issues in the debate? Why did we win in these issues?
 Summarize and Weigh
o Provide a summary of the contributions of all teams and why yours were the most
important
 Comparatives
o What is your worst case scenario and why is it still better than the opposing team’s best
case scenario?
 No new matter at all
o No new matter at whip!! >:((
What are NOT considered new matter?

 New explanations, defences, examples of already made arguments

 New rebuttals

(Speaker’s Note)

 You, buffing it up don’t necessarily mean that you’re giving a new matter but can be considered
a new analysis.
 Rebuttals are not considered as new matter.


What are POI’s?

 15 Second Interjections\
 Can only be raised by the opposing side OF YOUR TEAM
 Can only be raised at the start of the 1st minute and before the 6th minute
 Can be a question, clarification, assertion, etc.