Ian Paisley, Lord Brannside, is unfortunately unable to speak to us as scheduled on Friday, 11th November. We have been informed that he has had some emergency meetings scheduled for Friday/Saturday and thus cannot come up to Cambridge.

Our video of General Stanley McChrystal’s speech to the Union, ‘Complexity and understanding in international relations’ is now ready to watch online! If you enjoyed hearing form the former commander of forces in Afghanistan, check out our video of the Head of the British Army, General Sir Peter Wall’s speech as well.

Lord Sainsbury and local grocer Abdul Arain recently sparked debate about supermarkets and their impact on independent traders in the elections for chancellorship of the University. These tensions are discussed by former Tesco CEO Terry Leahy in his talk 'Every little helps: the role of big business in society', given at the Union earlier this year and now available to watch online.

Three more videos of our contentious debates are online! Watch Peter Bazalgette oppose the motion 'This House Believes the BBC is failing the country', see journalists and academics debate the spread of Western liberal democracy and see wether the only path to success is straight.

Although the Union's open period for this year has now ended, you can still get a sense of why the Union is Cambridge's biggest and best student society by watching the videos of our diverse range of speakers on cus-connect.

Our latest online videos include talks from scientists Professor Steve Jones and Baroness Greenfield, an address from Chief Rabbi Jonathan Sacks, 'Untold stories' from Victor Greenberg and Sir Charles Gray, and 'Reflections on life, politics and captivity in Gaza' from BBC journalist Alan Johnston.

For a lifetime of first-person access to quality speakers and contentious debates, join the Cambridge Union Society today.

On the weekend beginning 15 October, five teams from the Cambridge Union Society travelled down to London to take part in the prestigious President’s Cup Competition hosted by UCL. This event, the first of the Michaelmas debating calendar, is considered extremely difficult as it pits those who are new to university competitive debating against each other. Over 200 teams entered and all of our Cambridge debaters did well, with three of them breaking to the semi-finals. Our heartiest congratulations, however, must go to our own Ashish Kumar and Freddy Powell, who won the whole competition.

The deadline to join the Union at a discounted rate has been extended until 25th October! Become a member online before 23:59 on 24.10.11 and save £25 on our normal membership price.

Want to hear from the next Chancellor of the University? Videos and MP3s of all four of the election candidates are available to watch now!

The Union is proud to give students and alumni the chance to hear speeches, meet and question all four of the candidates for the position of Chancellor of the University prior to the elections on Friday 14th and Saturday 15th October.

We will post videos of the candidates' speeches at the Union on Thursday 13th. Check out our chancellorship page for any updates.

Check out our exciting Michaelmas 2011 line-up in our online termcard!

Speakers include Quentin Blake, Sir Roger Moore and Al Murray, and we will debate topics ranging from the existence of God to the dangers of China’s growing global influence. 

We’ve also expanded our impressive range of social events to include dance classes, life drawing and a ceilidh. But don’t worry; the long-standing favourites of the pub quiz and cocktail workshops return for the new year!

A PDF of our Michaelmas termcard can be downloaded here