The Ten Commandments

Ann Widdecombe got her ass handed to her in the Intelligence Squared Debate with Christopher Hitchens and Stephen Fry. (This was in 2009 - here's a link to the hour-long debate itself.)

In this clip, she mentions herself how the audience voted against her position at the end of it. So she interviews Hitchens and Fry backstage afterwards, trying to salvage something from the debacle. From this excerpt, at least, she didn't succeed in that.

Well, Christopher Hitchens and Stephen Fry are always great. (They're also right, which does help a great deal.)

I think I posted the debate previously, but I'm not sure. Well, you can always watch it here, if you want. And if you're curious, here's how a Catholic saw it:

I have just witnessed a rout – tonight’s Intelligence Squared debate. It considered the motion “The Catholic Church is a force for good in the world”. Christopher Hitchens and Stephen Fry, opposing the motion, comprehensively trounced Archbishop Onaiyekan (of Abuja, Nigeria) and Ann Widdecombe, who spoke for it. The archbishop in particular was hopeless.

The voting gives a good idea of how it went. Before the debate, for the motion: 678. Against: 1102. Don’t know: 346. This is how it changed after the debate. For: 268. Against: 1876. Don’t know: 34. In other words, after hearing the speakers, the number of people in the audience who opposed the motion increased by 774. [Note: that's an increase of 70%!] My friend Simon, who's a season ticket holder, said it was the most decisive swing against a motion that he could remember.

Yeah, Christopher Hitchens and Stephen Fry did a great job. And as I say, they were also right.