Heads You Win

It was Sasha’s first visit to the Union, but as soon as the two of them walked into the debating chamber, it was clear that Ben was already a fixture. He grabbed two free places on a bench near the front of the room, and immediately joined in the noisy chatter emanating from the benches around them. It only ceased when the Union’s officers walked in and took their places in the three high-backed chairs on a raised platform at the front of the hall.

“The one seated in the center,” Ben whispered, “is Carey. He’s the current president of the Union. I’m going to be sitting in that chair one day.” Sasha smiled, as Carey rose and said, “I will now ask the vice president to read the minutes of the last meeting.”

While Chris Smith read the minutes, Sasha looked around the packed hall and up into the gallery, which was crowded with eager students leaning over the railings, waiting for the debate to begin.

When the minutes had been read and the vice president had sat down, the president rose again. “Ladies and gentlemen, I shall now call upon the Right Honorable Mr. Anthony Wedgwood Benn MP to propose the motion, that this house would not fight for Queen and country.”

As Mr. Benn rose from his place, he was greeted by loud, enthusiastic cheers. Sasha could see, as he looked around the hall, that he appeared to be supported by the majority of students present.

“Mr. President, I’m delighted to have been invited to propose this motion,” Benn began. “Not least because we all know Britain isn’t a democracy. How could anyone claim it is when our head of state isn’t even elected? How can we consider our fellow men and women to be equals in the law, when our second chamber is dominated by seven hundred hereditary peers, most of whom have never done a day’s work in their lives, and whose sole contribution is to turn up and vote whenever their birthright is threatened? Yet these are the very people who can decide if you should go to war with whom they consider to be their enemy.”

Benn’s speech was frequently interrupted by cries of “Hear, hear!” and “Shame!” shouted with equal vehemence, and although Sasha didn’t agree with a word he said, it was undeniable that Benn had captured the attention of the whole house. When he resumed his place, the room reverberated with even louder cheers and cries of shame than before.

Admiral Sir Hugh Munro, a Conservative Member of Parliament, rose to oppose the motion. The gallant gentleman pointed out that if Britain had not fought for King and country in the Second World War, it would be Adolf Hitler who was sitting on the throne in Buckingham Palace, and not Queen Elizabeth II. This was greeted by hear, hears from that section of the audience who’d remained silent throughout Mr. Benn’s speech. Once the admiral had sat down, the two seconders spoke with equal passion, but it still looked to Sasha as if those in favor of the motion were going to carry the day.

He had listened carefully to all four speeches, still amazed that such diverse views could be expressed so openly without fear of any repercussions. In Leningrad, half the students would have been arrested by now, and at least two of the speakers sent to prison, if not shot.

The president rose from his seat once again, and invited members to speak from the floor, before a vote would be taken. “Two minutes only,” he said firmly.

One after another, a succession of undergraduates declared that they would never fight for Queen and country, while others asserted that they would die on the battlefield rather than be subjected to foreign rule. It was after a speech by a Mr. Tariq Ali, a former president of the Oxford Union, that Sasha found he could no longer restrain himself. Without thinking, he leaped up when the president called for the next speaker, and was shocked when Mr. Carey pointed in his direction.

Sasha was already regretting his decision as he walked slowly up to the front of the hall. The house fell silent, unsure which side he was going to support. He gripped the dispatch box to stop himself shaking.