Arlott spoke passionately against the motion stating that "It is political commitment and political belief that can make a man think that his opponent's views are so obnoxious that he will abstain from playing any game with him as a protest against what the other man believes. Any man's political commitment, if it is deep enough, is his very personal philosophy and it governs his whole way of life, it governs his belief, and it certainly governs the people with whom he is prepared to mix." The motion was duly defeated by 334–160. Despite their opposing positions over the issue, Arlott was drinking with Wooller in the Cambridge Union Bar shortly after the debate had finished.