DEBATES on the hottest issues of the day – rather than celebrity speakers – will be the Oxford Union’s priority this term, its new president has promised.

But alongside high-brow political figures due to speak at the prestigious student debating society, such as MPs’ expenses whistleblower Major John Wick, Culture Secretary Ben Bradshaw and former Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice Lord Falconer, are a few more popular characters.

Over the next eight weeks, Colombian singer Shakira, the late pop star Michael Jackson’s brother Jermaine, nightclub owner Peter String-fellow and former footballers Teddy Sheringham and Sir Geoff Hurst are all set to speak to students.

Union president James Dray said: “The Oxford Union used to be famous for the debates it had and we want to try to get back to that, like the 1933 King and Country debate and the debate we had about joining the European Union the night before the vote.

“We have a big debate on Europe planned, which will include the vice-president of the European Parliament speaking, and another really big one we are having is on the expenses scandal.

“We think that’s going to be quite a controversial and exciting debate.”

In the past, the union has invited contentious figures such as British National Party leader Nick Griffin and Holocaust denier David Irving.

But Mr Dray, a Mansfield College postgraduate, studying for a doctorate in politics, said he did not see the point in bringing stars to the Union’s debating chamber in Frewin Court to make headlines.

He said: “I’m a debater myself and it’s on that platform I was elected. I’m not interested in having things just for the sake of causing a fuss – the Oxford Union is about intelligent debate.

“We’re trying to have debates on the big issues of the day and to do so in a way that ensures we get good debates, rather than people screaming and shouting.”

The Union, founded in 1823, is often seen as a breeding ground for the political leaders of tomorrow. Twelve Prime Ministers have been members of the union, including Tony Blair and Margaret Thatcher.

Mr Dray said: “I want to see serious debates and the people I have invited to speak are mostly politicians.

“When Jermaine Jackson comes, I hope it will be an event celebrating the charitable work of Michael Jackson and his family and remembering his visit to the union in 2001, which people still talk about.”