House of Commons latest: Marketing 1, Alan and Jeremy 0

I was honoured to speak in a House of Commons debate last night. The event, organised by The Debating Group, was held in committee room 9, to a full house of around 100. I was standing in for Bill Cash MP, who was called to a debate in the chamber of the house.

The motion, which I was called on to propose, was "A century of marketing legislation restricts everyone while protecting nobody". A tough call, as it turned out, even though many of the audience members were from the Chartered Institute of Marketing, who sponsored the event.

Along with the seconder, speaker and broadcaster Jeremy Jacobs, I felt we put up a good case. However, the opposers, branding expert Robert Opie and legal mastermind Brinsley Dresden, won the vote by a large margin. As a reward, we were all treated to a fine post-debate meal, where the debate continued on a range of marketing issues.

It was a great night, and I can now put a tick in the box "Spoke in a debate in the House of Commons", thanks to the kindness of both the debating society and the CIM.