In a timely debate, held just 24 hours after the religiously motivated incident in Woolwich, the Union considered the question of the nature of Islam.Proposition speaker Matthew Handley started the debate by grounding it in recent events, deploring the previous day's "reprehensible act in Woolwich", a sentiment that he was sure would be shared by Muslims around the world.
Handley continued by separating the religion of Islam from the individuals who "violently hijack faith for violent and maniacal ends" and maintained that the Qur'an has an "overwhelmingly peaceful character."
In the light of the "decade long surge of violence and aggression" against Islam since 9/11, he summarised the debate as a choice between "love and hate and rejection, peace and conflict" and concluded: "I hope you make the right choice."