London MYPs experience ‘a feeling of pride’ on lead up to UKYP House of Commons debate

London’s MYPs may be used to seeing the Palace of Westminster as part of their city, but that clearly isn’t having any effect on the excitement!

The UK Youth Parliament in London can’t wait for all the other regions to join us in the House of Commons to debate on 4th November; we may not have far to travel, but London has still been making plenty of other preparations for the big day and the enthusiasm is un-missable.

Krishan Ladva (Hounslow) feels “not only a sense of excitement, but also a feeling of pride to be able to sit and represent young people”, while David Hall (Greenwich) sees the debate as “an amazing opportunity to prove our worth as the UK Youth Parliament and amend the negative stereotype young people often receive in the media”.

Everyone in the region is passionate about the purpose and value of the annual event; Lillian Lovatt (Sutton) describes it as “a great step forward in involving young people in the democratic process”, whilst Rebecca Maynard (Ealing) comments that “it shows that our contribution to democracy is being taken seriously by the government”.

Boroughs across London have been researching the five debate topics and preparing questions to ensure that London can contribute as much to the debate as possible. As Media Rep for London I wish the best of luck to everyone taking part on the 4th from all regions, and especially to Robert Littleton (Barnet) who will be closing the debate on “zero tolerance towards bullying in schools” on behalf of London – see you all then!

Xavier Hussain

Xavier Hussain, DMYP Barnet
London Media Rep

Wiltshire to join over 300 Members of Youth Parliament to debate at the House of Commons on 4th November 2011

L-R front: Ellie Pullen, Frankie Haugh
L-R back: Jamie Capp, Ellie Vesey-Thompson, Chloe Harris-Alba

Wiltshire Young People to Debate in the House of Commons

Wiltshire’s Members of Youth Parliament will be debating in the House of Commons on Friday 4^th November, with over 300 other young people, in the UK Youth Parliament’s Second Annual Commons Debate.

Ellie Pullen (West Wiltshire)-15 from Westbury; Jamie Capp (East Wiltshire)-16 from Amesbury; and Chloe Harris-Alba (North Wiltshire)- will be heading to London next Friday to debate 5 different motions chosen by young people across the UK:

1. ‘Make Public Transport Cheaper, Better and Accessible for All’
2. ‘No to Tuition Fees, Yes to Graduate Tax’
3. ‘Zero Tolerance towards Bullying in Schools’
4. ‘End Child Poverty’
5. ‘A Greener Future for Britain’

Ellie Pullen, 15, said, “I’m most looking forward to being able to sit in the House of Commons Chamber. It is important for young people to have this opportunity, as they cannot participate in general or local elections, so it is a chance for them to have their say. I believe that ‘Make Public Transport Cheaper, Better and Accessible for All’ is the issue most important to the young people in my constituency…I feel most passionate about this, and would most like to speak in this debate- I already have my argument lined up!”

She was backed up by Jamie Capp, who stated “I am looking forward to the chance of expressing the views of the young people I represent on a national scale; our opinions matter too. Hopefully events like this will make it more common practice to ask for and listen to the views of all young people”.

Over 65,500 young people took part in the ballot to select these motions, and the opportunity to do so was promoted by members themselves, encouraged by a bit of friendly regional competition. It was revealed on Thursday that the South West, which Wiltshire falls under the umbrella of, was the winning region with the best representation of young people, both on ballot numbers and percentage of engagement.

Frankie Haugh, Deputy Member of Youth Parliament – who was also involved in promoting the ballot in Wiltshire – was delighted that the South West came top in widespread representation, and explained “I am very pleased with the amount of people that voted in the ballot, it means we can get a broader perspective and represent young people more successfully”.

I am Deputy Member of Youth Parliament for Wiltshire, and Media Representative for the South West and will be joining Ellie, Jamie and Chloe in Westminster. I believe the opportunity that the Youth Parliament have to Debate in the Commons Chamber once every year is really important for youth democracy. The event and all the work that goes into it is also a great example of all of the positive things young people are doing, and it is key that we get this shouted about in the media, rather than the negatives.

Ellie Vesey-Thompson

               

By Ellie Vesey-Thompson, DMYP Wiltshire
South West Media Rep

The End of the UKYP Annual Sitting

MYP’s gathered for the final time on Sunday afternoon at the Closing Ceremony of this year’s Annual Sitting. The vibe of the room was thrilling with many MYP’s now feeling empowered to help make a difference to the lives of young people following the weekend’s workshops and debates. Abiodun Olatokun, MYP for Birmingham, described the atmosphere as ‘Adrenaline Fuelled’ and that the ceremony ‘Projected a promise of an exciting weekend where a lot had been achieved’.

MYP’s thanked all those who had made the weekend a big success as without them the event wouldn’t have been plausible. It’s so important to have people who support the organisation and it’s great to see so many with a passion for improving the lives of young people.

We were honoured to have Natascha Engel MP deliver a closing speech and remind us of the importance of our role. She praised UKYP on it’s good work and set the challenge to ‘Up the Ante’ in order to fully flourish as an organisation. She has been a valued part of Youth Parliament for many years and become an inspiration to many MYP’s and the devoted support she shows is vital to helping the UK Youth Parliament have an effect on Government. Natascha left us with a final thought of ‘Don’t let anyone ever tell you your too small to make a difference’ which is a thought that will hopefully stay with many MYP’s as they battle to make change.

By Madison Rogers, Staffordshire

The Big Vote on the final day of the UKYP Annual Sitting

Vigorous voting took place on the final day of the Annual Sitting as MYP’s decided on their new policies for the UK Youth Parliament’s Manifesto. Workshops had taken place on Saturday morning, to whittle down what MYP’s thought the top issues affecting young people were. These issues were then pitched by a spokesperson and voted on by all MYP’s using electronic voting pads and mirroring the democratic process of Parliament.

The energy and enthusiasm displayed in the room was incredible and the responsibility of voting was felt by many people. Feargal Murphy, MYP for Northern Ireland, said: ‘Updating the manifesto allows MYP’s to keep their mandate relevant to their constituents. Representing the people who voted for us is a fundamental part of our role and one that has to be at the forefront of MYP’s minds when voting.’

This vote isn’t just about creating paper that shows what we believe but about settling objectives, guidelines and motions for MYP’s to uptake and deliver on. It upholds the dependability that young people have on us to implement change and an important part of showing people what were campaigning for and our stance on real world issues.

MYP’s tweeted on Twitter throughout the big vote about the proceedings and there were over 10,000 tweets in that hour and a half alone about Youth Parliament.

Most motions were passed and will be fabricated into our new manifesto that will become the bible for many MYP’s and help them to bring about positive social change for young people. The big vote is just the start of the big and better future that we as UKYP hope to create for young people.

By Madison Rogers, Staffordshire

UKYP Annual Sitting Newspaper 2011

UKYP Annual Sitting Newspaper 2011

Click the link above to check out the newspaper written by the four UKYP Annual Sitting media reps:

Colson Smith, 12, Yorkshire and Humberside
Ellie Vesey-Thompson, 16, South West
Maddy Rogers, 16, West Midlands
Razzia Gafur, 16, North East

Let us know what you think!

A Sweet interview with the Minister

Children's Minister Tim Loughton MP

Anyone who has ever had a meeting with Tim Loughton MP at the Department for Education, will be well aware of his stash of Jelly Babies, always promptly brought out and passed around. Many Members of Youth Parliament have had this privilege and so we were very conscious of the amount of Tim’s sweets the UKYP must have consumed as a whole. We therefore decided to provide a small amount of re-stock, and presented the Minister with a packet of Jelly Babies at the beginning of his interview with the media team, as a small thank you for his support to the Youth Parliament.

Children's Minister Tim Loughton MP addresses young people gathered at the 11th UK Youth Parliament Annual Sitting

The interview itself went very well, he was very chatty and keen to answer any questions. It was very evident that continuing to support the work of UK Youth Parliament, and to raise it’s profile is something Tim feels very passionate about. He seemed very keen to increase levels of engagement with wider groups of young people, and strongly encouraged MYPs to broaden their contacts; to include those young people who, on the whole, tend to be less engaged.

The question which appeared to cause Tim the most trouble in answering was our

Minister for Children and Families Tim Loughton MP

final question of “If you could be a fly on the wall, who’s wall would you choose?”. This required so much thought that the Minister had to get back to us with the answer, via Twitter, some time later.

His answer was: “Ellie well done on the interview and thanx 4 jelly babies. On reflection perhaps I should be a fly on Rupert Murdoch’s wall now.”

Written by Ellie Vesey-Thompson, 16, Wiltshire

Ethics debate: Chicks in Politics

Both male and female MYPs gathered for the ‘Chick in Politics’ workshop. The aim of
the session was to debate and explore the question: “Are Women Treated Fairly in Parliament?” Discussions arose and the workshop began, soon to be interrupted by our special guest speaker, Fozia Parveen, a female politician.

Fozia Parveen answered some tough questions surrounding both her gender and her race, and where that leaves her in parliament. Parveen spoke of how it’s only you as a person that can get you to where you want to be, and that barriers can be overcome as you grow in confidence and passion.

The workshop concluded with a ‘House of Commons style debate’ in which the room was split into two sides – one who believed the answer to the initial question was ‘yes’, and one who believed the answer to the initial question was ‘no’. This debate as with any other involving UKYP members who have a great passion and determination for what they believe in, consisted of very good points coming from both sides and gave everyone in the room an insight into the topic from the alternate perspective to their own.

Written by Razzia Gafur, 16, from North East of England

Ethics debate: Fair-trade and the Environment

The second workshop I went to on Saturday was ’Fair-trade and the Enviroment’.

The pg’s started of with the 2 trues and 1 lie game.

The first project was to answer a question ”Does fair-trade truly benefit western civilization?”

They wrote it on a post it note and then we had a vote on what they had writen and took it in to acount.

Then they went in to a House of Commons style debate about the topics.

There was very good debating going on thoughout the room.

Harry Smith, 13, MYP from the East of England was against fair trade. He said, “I am against fair trade because not all of the fair trade products are nice and the farmers don’t get alot more than they did anyway.”

Nadeem Miah, 16, MYP from London, Tower Hamlets said this was ”Another usefull day I woke up for”

Amy Duffy, 17, MYP from East Midlands said “The weekend so far has been really good. I’m looking forward to the debate later, and meeting some more new people”

Karishma Shah, 15, MYP from Leictershire said ” This workshop has enabled me to view fair trade from a different light and see how it helps those from third-world countries get more for their produce. “

The debate was brillant and there were some very good things being brought up.

Written by Colson Smith, 12, Yorkshire and Humberside

Ethics debate: Ethics in Politics

Does ethics exist in Politics?

What is right and Wrong? Ethics draws the line of morality between right and wrong and should be at the forefront of parliament in every decision made and debate that
takes place. A heated debate around ethics took place with measured arguments being fired from both sides.

Powerful opening statement were given by both sides, the young people argueing for gave a strong argument that a code of conduct is in place to ensure ethical decisions are made that all MP’s follow but this was opposed by party politics becoming MPs’ concerns not the issues that their constituents care about.

Consultation is a big part of UK Youth Parliament to find out the issues that really matter to young people in the UK

The debate was further inflamed by points being made from both sides and Ryan Barnes, MYP for Warrington North, said “The idea of political eithics was interesting and thought provoking”.

From the debate it was voted that ethics does exist in politics but the real question
that needs answering is if its good or bad ethics?

Written by Maddy Rogers, 16, from Shropshire

Manifesto: Home Affairs

The PGs began the session with a quick explanation of what a Manifesto is, as well as explaining how the UKYP Manifesto can help the organisation, including who gets sent a copy – the Prime Minister, the Deputy Prime Minister, MPs – and how it can be used to help in campaigns.

The current UK Youth Parliament manifesto hasn’t been updated since 2009, having had a change of government since then it is necessary we maintain the significance of the manifesto, by keeping it up to date and relevant to current policies, priorities and affairs. The importance of this was later highlighted when a list was shown of some of the issues that the previous manifesto failed to discuss, including drugs and immigration.

The group were then shown how to produce a good manifesto statement, and the key features to include when creating one. The need to create strong, convincing arguments and statements was highlighted, in order for members to feel confident in presenting them to key figures and governmental groups.

A short discussion followed, based on some of the elements of Home Affairs, such as whether we should give prisoners the right to vote. On one hand, it was argued, prisoners who are set to be released during the term of the government should be able to vote, as they will be directly affected by issues, but those with longer term sentences should be denied the right, as they will not. A response to this was that such a policy may over complicate things, if someone has been imprisoned for a crime, however serious, it is
still a crime, and by doing this they lose the right to be included in society.

“I think the session went very positively, with MYPs looking
at a number of issues within, for example, the criminal justice system and the
support for rehabilitating prisoners.” Said Josh Harsant, PG.

MYPs then broke in to smaller groups to start developing
their own statements based on a subject relevant to Home Affairs of their
choice. This was followed by a feedback session, where some Members of Youth
Parliament shared their statements with the group, before being split into new
smaller groups where they discussed the statement they had written, where one
had to be eliminated. After further rounds of elimination, the 4 statements to
be voted on were relating to rehabilitating young offenders, antisocial
behaviour and what it is, access to the justice system, and reforming anti-social
behaviour and how we can reduce this. These were then shared with the group and
then voted on, with the top two being chosen to take to the Big Vote. The
winning two were related to rehabilitating young offenders and access to the
justice system.

“It was clear that the MYPs had a passion for what they were
discussing, and it was a pleasure to work with them!” explained Josh.

Written by Ellie
Vesey-Thompson, 16, Wiltshire