On Monday 17 August Somerset Youth Parliament met with Somerset’s Lord Lieutenant Mohammed Saddiq, Deputy Lieutenant Nicki Gething and Councillor Mike Best, Chair of the Somerset Council.
Our three elected Somerset Members of Youth Parliament, Eva, Blake and Luca were accompanied by Somerset Youth Parliament Advisory Group members; Noah, James and Archie. They had the opportunity to hear about the role of Mr Saddiq and how he is His Majesty’s personal representative for our county – promoting the Crown and community spirit, cohesion and local achievements.
The Lord Lieutenant’s role dates back to the reign of Henry VIII, where they would originally be responsible for local defence and maintaining order (hence the title!) Although the role is more ceremonial today, Mr Saddiq has offered support to youth initiatives, environmental sustainability, and social inclusion projects. He engages with local organisations and charities whilst setting up two charities of his own.
Mr Saddiq, comes from a humble background and is the first in his family to attend university. He’s had a distinguished career in utilities engineering, recycling and renewable energy. He’s made some recognised and significant achievements.
Deputy Lieutenant, Nickie Gething is one of 44 DL’s and took up her role last year. She’s incredibly passionate about young people’s ability to realise their potential and has been a mentor with Somerset charity Promise Works and is particularly mindful about the struggle of some of our most vulnerable and disadvantaged young people.
It was also great to meet with Councillor Best again as he is committed to bringing young people and decision makers together to promote the inclusion of young people’s voice in decision making and encouraging mutual respect and constructive working relationships.
After introductions and a brief overview of the structure of Somerset Youth Parliament, Mr Saddiq opened up a discussion about social media, mental health and AI.
Everyone had varying in-depth perspectives on the topics, sharing views about the dangers specifically in terms of communication, defence/ military / security, relationships, education, work prospects, generational divisions and community cohesion.
Despite the diversity of views, the group all agreed that there are also numerous benefits of being able to navigate the world of communication and technology but at the moment we’re at the mercy of tech giants and business without enough appropriate safe guards to protect community safety and sustainability.
It will be important for governments to catch up, understand the implications of the speed of developments and then be strong enough to confidently challenge corporations, but instead of knee jerk reactions or following trends themselves, they should take a more balanced response on this journey of preparing society for the future.
According to Luca AI “can’t replace original human thought” but if it can’t be reined in and regulated, we could “lose what makes us human,” according to Archie.
The meeting was a great opportunity to network, explore some hot topics which can divide opinion but demonstrated the ability to find common ground collectively, despite people’s diverse backgrounds, experiences, beliefs and concerns. Somerset Youth Parliament are representatives of local young people no matter what their opinion. Its values are centred on democracy, respect, equality and inclusion. If you are interested in joining our group, do get in touch and add your voice to our busy group.
Archie said, “the group just had a really productive chat” and “It was a great opportunity to continue embedding youth voice into local politics”.
Nickie said “Young people don’t just need to be heard; they need to know that their voices can help shape what happens next.”
