Every year Members of Youth Parliament (MYPs) get the opportunity to visit the House of Commons to debate the topics chosen at their Annual Conference. It was early on the 28 February that our Somerset MYPs Ellie Bealing, James Lawson and Emma Brown caught a train to London.
This was Ellie’s second event at the House of Commons, so it was an opportunity to compare her experiences and observations. It was clear that there are and have been some major works and improvements to the Parliament site and this was echoed inside the building.
There was definitely a crackle in the air and a sense of drive, energy and unity and with this, obviously comes hope that young people will be able to continue to collectively forge ahead, protect and raise up young people’s voices across the UK and territories! ! Even the Speaker the Right. Hon. Lindsey Hoyle seemed to be enjoying the debates, as did the other Members of Parliament (MPs) from across Parties who supported and spoke on the day. Where there’s hope for our young people, then there’s hope for change, resilience and the future for all of us.
Ellie’s account of the day:
My expectations of the event were high after recovering from last year’s uncertainty about the future of Youth Parliament, but now with fresh leadership and the enthusiasm of the Speaker and the MPs along with the current Members of Youth Parliament (MYPs), meant that I was full of anticipation.
There were several debates throughout the day, two in particular resonated with me – Transport and Period Dignity.
There was a general cohesion between a number of members, on the importance of rural transport as a means of ensuring young people can access education, employment and other opportunities
I enjoyed the fact that MYPs reflected on their own privilege of location (i.e. rural areas/ counties vs London/ City transport and accessibility) along with the Scottish scheme to provide free transport, which models how the proposed implementation and the policy, demonstrated its ability to be successful. I’d hoped there would be more discussed on the link between free transport and climate change, as this is another incentive for greater use of public transport, and I’d also hoped it would have been higher up on the agenda. The debate did focus on one aspect of free transport for young people – accessibility. However, we, the Somerset MYP’s noted its impact on how it could potentially boost the economy by providing opportunities to access services, visitors sites, industry and organisations.
There was also a strong consensus on the importance of Period Dignity by ALL MYPs, regardless of gender – this was refreshing to see and hear as I’d initially had mixed expectations and anticipated some apathy, lack of understanding by some members. I’m glad that there was recognition of the already successful schemes in Scotland and schools and colleges in the UK.
This was arguably the best quality debate with the position of the speakers being clear and passionate. I really didn’t expect that this would be such a successful topic but the obvious unity and enthusiasm by members was inspiring.
DID YOU KNOW – that for decades many girls and women have had no choice but to stay off school, college and work due to the cost and accessibility of sanitary products? As a hygiene necessity, let alone an issue of dignity, these essential needs of girls and women is clearly still an issue, but are not being met. Many believe sanitary products should be free, which is ironic when young people can access condoms and other contraception for free. As this issue affects girls and women only, it becomes humiliating and repressive by nature.
Did you also know that in Youth groups across somerset and some of our schools, free sanitary products are provided!
Ellie
James’ account of the day:
On Friday 28 February, my fellow MYPs and I travelled to the House of Commons to take part in the annual UK Youth Parliament (UKYP) debate. We sat on those historic green benches and debated: votes for 16-year-olds, standardised political education in schools, free public transport for young people, free period products for all, and the increase in the living wage for the under 22s to match that of the over 22s.
The day started with speeches from a few Ministers and the Speaker of the House. I especially enjoyed the Prime Minister’s letter. He seemed to know a lot about the day, which shows he took the time to read and understand our manifesto.
The debates started once the speeches had finished. They started and ended with selected MYPs doing short introductions and debate proposals, which would then be opened up to the floor by the Speaker to encourage all MYPs to try to catch his attention and be chosen to speak – then another selected MYP would close each debate with a summary.
The MYPs general consensus of the standardised political education debate, was that the lack of support for young people at the moment has resulted in a lack of knowledge, awareness or interest in politics but it can also contribute to extremist beliefs. Of course, it would mainly be the responsibility of the education system to help us understand and learn.
Votes for 16 was also an extremely varied and lively debate. Everyone was extremely passionate, and my fellow MYP Emma, had the opportunity to speak and did a great job in representing young people in their areas.
The day ended with some more speeches and A LOT of clapping. It was important to acknowledge the current the Speaker of the House of Commons and Ministers who are part of cross-Party support for voting to allow us to debate.
Overall, I found the debate to be a very valuable experience, and you just need to watch the event to realise that the need for youth voice is becoming ever present!
James
Emma’s account of the day:
Overall, it was a fantastic day but also a very tiring one!! I’ve taken lots of experience from the House of Commons on how to navigate political situations. But it also reminded me to seize every opportunity possible and to put myself forward as a representative – always!
That said, the experience made me realise that even within democratic processes, people can be ‘left out’ and struggle to have their voices heard!
Here’s my reflection on the experience the event –
I left on a train to London this morning, expecting to participate in a wide reaching, inclusive conversation, where every MYP had a chance to talk; but in reality, it became a fierce competition to grab the attention of the Speaker, Lindsey Hoyle to choose the few MYPs who were able to speak.
While all the MYPs who did speak, spoke eloquently and in detail, I couldn’t help but feel sorry for those MYPs who didn’t get the chance to speak on their desired topics. There were five UK wide topics chosen to debate on the day:
- Votes at 16
- National living wage
- Transport
- Political literacy/ education in schools
- Period dignity
MYP’s in the House run diverse campaigns which didn’t make it to the days debate list but we’re all aware of the wider issues for young people and we were all eager to speak on each debate issue!
Throughout the day we met a wide range of MYPs meeting with previous acquaintances or conversing with new people. This allowed us to foster a great, positive community of young people in the House of Commons and Westminster Hall. Throughout each debate, MYPs were picked to speak, and luckily I was randomly chosen to address the topic of the national minimum wage, and the proposal of increasing the minimum wage for under 22s to match the living wage of over 22s. Here is an extract from my speech:
“We do the same work so why shouldn’t we get the same pay? How are we expecting to have a thriving job market with young people gaining independence when young people are being underpaid and treated unfairly in the workplace. This motion needs to be prioritised as young people need to be encouraged into the job market and be involved in a positive working environment as we will be in jobs for a long time. This is a permanent issue which isn’t only for now; your entry into the job market stays with you until you retire forming the basic building blocks to future employment and success.”
You can watch the whole speech here:
Although this didn’t win the priority vote for our next UKYP manifesto, the other topics that were voted for, were arguably as important.
Through the debate, we also got to learn how people from different areas of the UK were affected by the current inequality in the job market.
In addition to our debates, the British Overseas Territories spoke about their lives and education in their respective countries, and the Crown Territories spoke about their lives and the cost of living.
It was fantastic to see many young people represented in different ways through the medium of speaking. ALL young people supported, encouraged and listened to each other respectfully throughout the day!
From the MYP vote in the chamber, our next UKYP focus will be on Votes at 16 years and Period Dignity.
Emma
Somerset Youth Parliament campaigns
In addition to the UK wide campaigns, each Member of Youth Parliament works on a campaign of their choosing during their term. This is supported by their Deputies and the Advisory Group. It allows us to understand what changes young people want to see in the communities they live in and makes sure that those views are heard by Somerset’s decision makers.
To find out more about our Member of Youth Parliament’s campaigns visit our Campaigns page.
