On Monday night, Farfield proposed and Oakeley opposed the motion This House would encourage Ukraine to join NATO.

Farfield’s team, consisting of Bruno, Ru and Arthur, argued that Ukraine should be free to join NATO should it wish and that this was the surest way to protect Ukraine from Russian pressure and cyberattacks. Oakeley, made up of Kitty, Mojuba and Eva, countered that Ukraine wasn’t ready to join NATO and that for it to do so would provoke Russian aggression.

This was an excellent online debate in which all six debaters were on top of their material, knew their regional history, spoke with clarity and did particularly well listening to the other team and adjusting their ground accordingly.

The winners – chiefly on the basis of their performance as a team – were Oakeley who now progress to the semi-finals.