Herts young politicians attend national sitting
27/07/2010
Six of Hertfordshire’s Members and deputy Members joined over three hundred other young politicians at the tenth annual sitting of the UK Youth Parliament (UKYP) at University of Ulster, Jordanstown, Belfast last weekend.
The four day summit (Friday 23rd to Mon 26th July). included debates on the environment, health, crime and education. The UKYP's three main campaigns this year are Free For All (free university tuition fees) Get On Board (transport provision for young people) and Think Inside the Box (political education in schools.) Other issues topping the agenda include lowering the voting age to 16.
As part of the summit, the Members of Youth Parliament took up the invitation to visit Stormont, and were shown some of the murals representing the different groups in the recent history of Belfast and Northern Ireland.
There was an intense programme of workshops to debate campaigns and issues concerning young people, as well as high profile speakers. Charles Hendry, Minister for Climate Change and the Environment and a long time supporter of the Youth Parliament welcomed the assembly to Jordanstown and answered some fiery questions from young people about climate change and later in the weekend, there was a live link up with Tim Loughton, Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Children.
John Bercow (left) meets delegates
A surprise guest attended the Sitting was John Bercow, Speaker of the House of Commons. He announced the provisional date of 29th October for the planned UKYP debate in the House of Commons.
Hertfordshire's representatives outside Parliament in Belfast, left to right: Tamanna, Hari, Lauren, Chinye, Tiffany and Christopher.
Lauren, MYP from Watford said “It was an amazing experience, to meet so many new people. I learnt a lot about how to speak in public and how to lead discussions. The debates were engaging and everyone was so enthusiastic”.
The annual election for Hertfordshire Members of the UK Youth Parliament will start on January 11 2011 and the candidates are already campaigning for hearts and minds.
The Hertfordshire Members (MYPs) and Deputy Members (DMYPs) of Youth Parliament attending the summit were:
Chinye from Edgware, a student at Loreto College, St Albans
Christopher from Hemel Hempstead, a student at John F. Kennedy School, Hemel Hempstead
Hari from Harrow, a student at Parmiters School, Watford
Lauren from Abbots Langley, a student at Parmiters School, Watford
Tamanna from Hatfield, a student at Bishops Hatfield School
Tiffany from Abbots Langley, a student at Parmiters School, Watford
To see the MYP/Deputy MYP video blogs, click here