In another of our Letters on Liberty series, Dr Mo Lovatt will argue that, 'debating matters because ideas matter’.

'We need to reject the idea that any moral and political question has become a settled fact,’ she says. ‘In fact, it’s important that successive generations have the opportunity engage in the process of democratic persuasion, discussion as well as the chance to consider and freely debate ideas for themselves.’

Using formats like Debating Matters, we must defend the idea that ‘young people should cultivate the cognitive muscles required for dealing with the complex challenges of the adult world. The freedom to debate is the freedom to develop your own moral conscience... Rather than shying away from controversial or difficult topics, we should embrace them and encourage young people to do the same.'

Buy or download her Letter on Liberty on the Academy of Ideas website: Why Debating Matters

About Mo

Mo is also national coordinator for Debating Matters, a debating competition for sixth-form students run by the Ideas Matter charity. She is also the co-convenor of the Buxton Battle of Ideas Festival.

Mo read PPE at the University of Oxford and has a doctorate from Northumbria. She is a lecturer, public speaker and a commentator on TV and radio where she regularly reviews the newspapers or comments on topical issues for GB News, Sky News, Times Radio, Talk TV and BBC Five Live.

Why debating matters...more than ever