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Four members of the Youth Parliament represented Northumberland’s young people in an important debate in the House of Commons.
The event follows on from a UK Youth Parliament debate in the Commons last year. This year was the first time that anyone, other than Members of Parliament had used the chamber.
The Youth Parliament members joined over 300 other young people to have their voice heard on a range of topics in a debate in the House of Commons chamber on Friday 29 October
Celebrations were held when the young heard that a vote of Members of Parliament saw a majority of 499 to 21 to allow Members of Youth Parliament to debate in the House of Commons chamber every year for the life of the Parliament.
The young people taking part were Tom Brookes, 16 years, Nathan Van Doorn, 16; Bridget Donaldson, 15 and Charlie Trotter, aged 17. The debated issues included topical issues such as the cost of studying at university, whether sex education for primary school age should be compulsory, job opportunities and whether we should withdraw British troops from Afghanistan by 2012. These issues were voted by 2,500 young people age 11 to 18 years.
The five issues which were debated upon are:
Sex Education – should sex and relationships education be compulsory from primary school age onwards?
University – Should university tuition fees be increased?
War – should we withdraw British troops from Afghanistan
Job Opportunities – should the school leaving age be raised to 18 in order to lower youth unemployment.
Transport – should reduced transport fares for young people be protected from spending cuts?
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