Pupils from Cardinal Heenan High School took part in a debate hosted by Prime Minister Keir Starmer at No. 10 Downing Street. The event, part of Comic Relief’s Red Nose Day 2025 partnership with Debate Mate, saw young people debate the motion: “This house believes that youth leadership is the best way to tackle the world’s most pressing issues."
The Debate Mate programme, designed to encourage young people to engage with global issues, brought together teams of students from Cardinal Heenan High School in West Derby, and Sacred Heart School in Camberwell, London. After months of hard work and competition from schools across the UK, the winning pupils last week found themselves debating at the heart of the UK's government.
The pupils were also given the rare opportunity to meet and quiz Sir Keir directly. The pupils asked questions ranging from, “What were you like at school?”, “Do you get nervous when you are going into a speech?”, “Where do you go for lunch?”, and “What skills do you think are most important for debating?"
As he introduced the debate, the Prime Minister said: "Welcome to my house, but it’s also your house and it’s been inspiring to meet you all, and I'm certainly going to be watching the debate to see if I can pick up any tips for Prime Minister's Questions.
"This is all about the skills for debating, but they are also really important skills for life, the ability to say what you think, to be confident, to work in a group, so this is a really wonderful opportunity. I’m really proud you are here."...read more