The competition was formidable, including Charterhouse, RGS, Winchester, Eton and other leading schools.

After an introduction which included a discussion of which personal pronoun debaters wanted to be referred to by, the competition began. The first motion was ‘This House would require MI6 and the CIA to assassinate dictators and warlords’.

Tormead were in first Opposition and made some strong points about prison and other alternatives to assassination.

The second round motion concerned the compulsory sharing of parental leave and Tormead were this time in support of the motion. Tormead made some effective points about the need for both parents to bond with their child and how this proposal would help this process.

Tormead faced some very strong opponents from Charterhouse Upper Sixth debaters, and despite a strong performance, unfortunately, were not selected for the national final.