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Politics, sex and religion all had their place within the newly established Speakers' Comer this year.

The Autumn term saw a dry run. Sunday Times journalist and author, Walter Ellis, explained why and where there was an Oxbridge Conspiracy: opinion was divided on how convincing the audience found his thesis. Croydon South's M.P. and Government Whip Richard Ottaway put his views on the record and spoke both formally and informally on the issues of the moment. Dr Antony Seldon, (biographer of John Major), offered us his own reflections on how history will judge our much maligned Prime Minister and how he has come to know the man himself.

With a glossy term card and a fuller programme, the Spring term saw the formal programme begin. On the first date (29th January) Sir Bernard Ingham reflected on his time as Chief Press Secretary at Downing Street with Margaret Thatcher, providing a characteristically controversial verdict on the personalities and politics of the last two decades to an audience of over 100. (An interview which Sir Bernard gave afterwards is published elsewhere in this edition). After school on the same day, Private Eye editor and 'Have I Got News For You' celebrity Ian Hislop fielded questions from boys about his youth, life as a satirist and answered some more personal enquiries about his friends and foes.

The Spring term also saw Labour M.P. Austin Mitchell speculate on how a New Labour Britain might differ from a Conservative one and articulated his opinions on Europe;

"My views on Europe can be summarised in four words, three of which are 'the European Union'."

Professor Kenneth Minogue of the L.S.E. helped us to make sense of politics and offered a brief history of politics from Aristotle to the present day. The programme concluded with Sir Oliver Wright (formerly 'our man in Washington') reflecting on the world after the Second World War (when he became a diplomat) , his experiences and encounters with Presidents and Prime Ministers during the same period. 

Following on from the visits of Lord Runcie and Archbishop Carey, Bishop Geoffrey Rowell became the third member of the Church of England's episcopate to address Trinity this year. Dr Rowell contributes regularly to The Times and offered his own reflections on the sometimes tense and often misunderstood relationship between Church and State. In contrast, historian of the Empire Lawrence James descended from Fife to Croydon and revealed to us the dual morality of the British in India, concentrating on 'Sex, Thugs and Crime' which he has gathered from his recent research.

The final meeting of the year saw that central political issue of Europe discussed by Conservative Euro-sceptic Iain Duncan Smith M.P., Sir Leon Brittan's PPS Spencer Batiste M.P. and the Secretary of the European Research Group Daniel Hannan. In a wide ranging and highly informed range of talks, the speakers offered their visions of Britain's future with Europe. Some boys were disappointed to find that all three Conservative speakers appeared to be in almost total agreement.

With Baroness Warnock, Lord Blake, Kate Adie and James Naughtie amongst next term's speakers already arranged, Speakers' Corner has a bright and vibrant future ahead.

Nick Watson (Chairman)

Mr Wild

from Trinity School magazine Summer 1996.