Four young people from Leeds took part in an historic event last month, where they took part in a debate in the House of Commons.
Over 300 young people from across the country debated in the House of Commons chamber on Friday 29th October. Members of the UK Youth Parliament (UKYP), aged 11-18, debated issues including the cost of university fees, sex education in schools and war. UKYP are the only group, outside of sitting MPs, who have been allowed to use the House of Commons to debate in it’s entire history. The debate was chaired by Speaker of The House of Commons, John Bercow.
Al Berry (15), Emma Chadwick (16), Poppy Johnson (16) and Poppy-Jo Lumley (17), all from Leeds, are Members of UKYP, as well as serving on Leeds Youth Council. Sonia Sanghera (18), also from Leeds, serves as a Regional Procedure & Guidance Officer for UKYP and helped to plan the event.
Emma Chadwick, who attends Bruntcliffe High School in Morley, was granted the additional honour of being selected out of hundreds of applicants to close the debate on war. The war debate can be found on the Parliament website link below. (Emma’s inspiring speech is at 28:00 minutes into the video)
http://www.parliament.uk/education/special-events-and-programmes/uk-youth-parliament/war-in-afghanistan/
Peter Broderick, Project Worker at The Youth Association, who supported the young people at the House of Commons event said, “The whole debate was a complete triumph! The Leeds’ MYPs took part in a captivating and passionate series of discussions and conducted themselves with maturity and compassion for their peers. The fact that no other group has been awarded the privilege to debate at the House of Commons shows the high regard in which the UK Youth Parliament is held and the value of the hard work being done by the young people who take part. These four young people did our city proud!”
More information on the UKYP House of Commons debate can be found here:
http://www.ukyouthparliament.org.uk/276414/index.html
For further information about Leeds’ Members of Youth Parliament, please contact Peter Broderick at The Youth association on 0113 3070905 or 07989 655317.
