Debate: This House Regrets the Welfare State
About this Event
Welcome to London's new and exclusive debate society where the style is formal but the passion unbridled, as we delve into the current and philosophical issues of our age.
The motion for the next meeting is: This House Regrets the Welfare State
Dress code: smart attire
Join libertarian author and comedian Dominic Frisby, founder and director of the Ayn Rand Centre, Razi Ginzberg, and LibDem Councillor Rachel Bentley, and Dr David Sexton, in a debate that will touch on both the moral and pragmatic aspects of the welfare state.
We invite you to test the motion, challenge assumptions, and share your views during the Q&A.
Tickets include a free drink at The Tea House Theatre – hot, cold, soft, or alcoholic.
DRESS CODE: Smart attire (shirt and tie expected)
OUR SPEAKERS:
Proposition:
Dominic Frisby
Dominic Frisby is a libertarian author and comedian, perhaps best known by many for his many satirical songs (check them out on YouTube), but he has also written several books, most recently The Secret History of Gold.
He hosted Money Pit with Jason Manford on Dave and appeared on BBC Radio 4's Moral Maze to discuss the morality of comedy and has been a prolific voiceover artist since 1993. In 2025 he appeared in Grooming Gangs Cover Up, a 100% verbatim drama based on the judge's sentencing remarks, telling the true story of one of the UK's most infamous Pakistani rape gangs. His satire is strongly influenced by his libertarian philosophy.
He will be proposing the motion.
Razi Ginzberg
Razi Ginzberg is the founder and director of the Ayn Rand Centre, an organisation dedicated to promoting Rand’s philosophy, Objectivism, in the United Kingdom. He runs a weekly discussion group on the philosophy of Ayn Rand in Central London, and similar groups in towns and cities across the country.
Mr Ginzberg has chaired panels on the topic of free speech in the UK and the US, and regularly organises talks, panels and debates featuring intellectuals from the UK and abroad. He hosts the online podcast The Daily Objective.
He will be proposing the motion.
Opposition:
Rachel Bentley
Rachel Bentley has been a councillor and Deputy Leader of the Southwark Liberal Democrat Opposition Council Group since May 2022. In 2024 she was the Liberal Democrat candidate for the parliamentary seat of Bermondsey and Old Southwark.
Ms Bentley has spent 16 years living and working overseas, in Japan, the USA and South Africa, advising governments, families, businesses and charities on many matters, including job creation and land use.
She is an experienced campaigner on issues such as safe, affordable and secure housing for all, support for small businesses, period poverty and electoral reform, as well as championing the environment by planting trees, campaigning against pollution in the Thames and tackling the blight of litter and fly-tipping.
She will be opposing the motion.
Dr David Sexton
David Sexton is an experienced debater, a former President of 104 London Debaters and a member of the Agora. He currently works as a management consultant for Biotechnology companies (principally therapy developers) and holds a PhD in Biomedical science from the University of Edinburgh.
Besides his interest in science, Dr Sexton is also active in Amnesty International and is a passionate advocate for the post-war Welfare State, in particular the NHS.
He will be opposing the motion.
Agora Debate Club is a unique debate club in London that allows you to debate on the side you feel most strongly in favour of. Unlike other debate clubs, we do not assign you a side, instead you choose the side and you argue your own case without the need to coordinate your argument with the other debaters on your side.
Votes will be taken before and after debates, and the side with the greatest swing in its favour, is declared the winner.
We adhere to the Chatham House rules, which means that it is strictly forbidden to name any speaker, whether a debater or anyone else, if you share any statements made during the debates outside of the meeting.
Formality and ceremony are central to our debates to engender respect for opponents and audience as well as to provide a framework for true passion.
We aim to meet six times a year for debates on current or philosophical issues.
The name "Agora" comes from the ancient Greek word for the marketplace and town square where debates were held. A debate is an expression of the marketplace of ideas, and as we believe in the free trade of ideas, the name Agora Debate Club perfectly expresses what we are all about.
Our logo has three pillars, each representing one of the basic values the club is based on: Reason, Logic and Free Speech.
Each pillar has two ends, six in all, representing the six gatherings we aim to have per year.
Join us and experience the thrill of rational Enlightenment discourse in the heart of legal London
Where is it happening?
Event Location & Nearby Stays:
GBP 9.99
