The Cambridge Union released its Michaelmas 2024 term card yesterday (04/10), with speakers including rapper Little Simz and Nobel Prize winner Dame Jocelyn Bell.

Alongside speaker events, the Union will host two panel discussions exploring ‘Black Voices in the Arts’ and ‘Educational Inequality in the UK’. This comes after the Labour government announced its plans to scrap private schools’ VAT exemption from January 2025 and use this money to increase funding in the state sector.

Addressing the country’s new political landscape, the Union’s Debates’ Officer, Anoushka Kale, said: “I am delighted to be hosting the first No Confidence debate in over 14 years in which His Majesty’s government is not a Conservative one, which will certainly be an exciting way for the new cohort of freshers to interact with the Union for the first time.”

Little Simz is a hip-hop artist who is best known for her Mercury Prize-winning album Sometimes I Might Be Introvert, which also gained her the 2022 Brit Award for Best New Artist

Guest speakers in debates will include Professor Mary Kaldor and John Mearsheimer going head-to-head on whether ‘This House supports the decline of America’ only five days before the US presidential election. The Union’s interest in this election will continue during a watch party on 5 November which will provide drinks around the clock.

The Union will also question whether religion is inherently oppressive towards women, before the twelfth debate of the term evaluates the West’s attitude towards China. This follows talks between vice-chancellor Deborah Prentice and China’s ambassador to the UK about “mutually beneficial cooperation,” after which the University reiterated that it was “not dependent” on China.

The Union has previously faced backlash for some of the figures they invite to speak. In May, pro-Palestinian students disrupted a talk by Peter Thiel at the Union, blocking his vehicles for over an hour and accusing him of “aiding genocide”.

More recently, the Union has come under fire for its ties to controversial Tory donor Frank Hester, who made allegedly “racist” comments about veteran Labour MP Diane Abbott. Union members admitted to feeling “deeply uncomfortable” about his association with the institution.

However, the Union’s President for Michaelmas 2024, Alessio D’Angelo, emphasised that the Union is “a space for all, with an event for all”. He continued: “I can’t wait to see all of you at our amazing events this term, and hope you enjoy attending them as much as we’ve enjoyed preparing them!”.