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Wiltshire's Members of Youth Parliament sit in the House of Commons!

In 2010 the UK Youth Parliament won the right to sit in the House of Commons and debate issues important to them, once a year for the life of this parliament. These young people are the only group of non-MPs eligible to sit on the green benches.

On Friday 4th November, the UK Youth Parliament Second Annual House of Commons Debate was held, and 4 of Wiltshire’s young people were amongst those involved. Ellie Pullen- 15 from Westbury; Jamie Capp- 16 from Amesbury and Chloe Harris-Alba 14 from Malmesbury were three of the Members of Youth Parliament debating in the Chamber, whilst Ellie Vesey-Thompson- 17 from Marlborough, was at the event working as part of the media team.

Ellie Pullen said, “It was brilliant to be sat on those green benches…but the chamber was smaller than I expected it to be! My favourite part of the day was meeting Ed Miliband”

“My favourite part was simply being there…the atmosphere…the chance to be one of the few people to sit in the chamber.” Stated Jamie Capp

The five debate issues covered throughout the day as voted for by over 65’000 young people from across the UK, were; No to Tuition Fees, Yes to Graduate Tax; Make Public Transport Cheaper, Better and Accessible for all; Zero Tolerance towards Bullying in Schools; End Child Poverty and; A Greener Future for Britain.

Chairing the debates was the Speaker of the House of Commons, the Rt Hon John Bercow, a long-term supporter of the Youth Parliament. Also present were Sir George Young- Leader of the House, Angela Eagle- Shadow Leader of the House, Tim Loughton- Minister for Children, Natasha Engle MP, Ed Miliband- Leader of the Opposition, Aled Jones- BBC Radio 1’s Chris Moyles Show and many other MPs who came to show their interest in youth democracy. The debates were also televised Live by BBC Parliament.

“I am so glad BBC Parliament televised the debates, as it allowed all young people to be involved and engaged in the event.” Explained Miss Pullen

After a long session of debating, with various degrees of passion, dependent upon the motion, Members had the job of voting on the favourite motion, which would become the Youth Parliament’s National Campaign for the year. Following the traditional process of division, Members left the Chamber to cast their vote.

Opinions were split “My favourite debate was the ‘No to Tuition Fees, Yes to Graduate Tax’, due to the passion and opinions that were put forward, some very diverse views were presented.” Mr Capp argued, whilst his colleagues thought otherwise Miss Pullen “enjoyed the transport debate most,” as she thinks “it is one of the most important issues for my constituents” In this she was backed up by Miss Harris-Alba who believed “The ‘Make Public Transport Cheaper, Better and Accessible for All’ was the best debate, as everyone had a different view.”

Votes were counted and the top issue as voted for by the UK Youth Parliament, and the new National Campaign for this year was “Make Public Transport Cheaper, Better and More Accessible for all”.

Media Representative Ellie Vesey-Thompson said, “It was really great to watch the Youth Parliament debates in the Chamber. There was clearly a lot of passion for many of the issues, and some really great speeches from representatives across the UK. It is great that young people get this opportunity to express their views, and I believe it is a really important part of youth democracy.”

 

 

Date Posted: Friday 4 November 11

Author: Ellie Vesey-Thompson