Kids Take Over Parliament

On 28 February, the average age in the House of Commons debating chamber was a lot younger than normal. Instead of the usual MPs, the chamber hosted the annual sitting of the UK Youth Parliament: more than 300 11-18-year-olds elected by their peers. 

The debaters are MYPs: Members of the U.K. Youth Parliament. Any 11-18-year-old British resident can be a candidate, or vote for the MYPs. MYPs are elected for two years. Each MYP represents a local authority (a regional council area). Young people in each area can vote, either online, or on paper, often in schools and youth clubs.

MYPs spend their time in office meeting adult elected officials, campaigning and raising awareness of issues important to young people. They create a manifesto for their time in office.

At the Westminster sitting , the MYPs debated five subjects which were chosen from a list of ten in a national online consultation:

• Votes at 16
• Make young people eligible for the National Living Wage (currently you have to be 22)
• Free public transport for young people
• Give young people good quality education on politics and democracy
• Make period products available for free in public places

Lowering the voting age has long been a demand from the Youth Parliament, which was created in 2000. The voting age was dropped to 16 for the 2014 independence referendum in Scotland, and was widely perceived to re-engage young people with the democratic process. It was then also dropped for elections for the Scottish Parliament and local elections in Scotland.

Order! Order!

At the Westminster sitting, all the usual parliamentary roles are played by the MYPs, with exception of the Speaker, who organises the debate. The actual Westminster Speaker, Sir Lindsay Hoyle, presides the debates. MYPs take up roles on the front and back benches, and as clerks, recording the decisions. The MYPs then spend the rest of their term lobbying and communicating about the topics they have chosen to campaign on.

Youth Parliament Firsts

This year's Youth Parliament saw the first ever speech delivered in British Sign Language, by Kristers Lukins, the MYP for North East Scotland. An interpreter voiced the speech for the other MYPs. Kristers, who is also a member of the Scottish Youth Parliament, supported both the motion to reduce the voting age, and the connected one about teaching political literacy. You can watch his speech here.

And 10-year-old Owen Glass became the youngest person ever to address the House of Commons chamber.  Owen comes from Tristan de Cunha, a British Overseas Territory in the South Atlantic. It is situated 2800 km from Cape Town in South Africa and has a population of just 230 and one single school.

Owen Glass took more than a week to travel to London and become the youngest person ever to address the House of Commons.Owen spoke about the challenges of accessing education from his island:
"I come from the remotest community on the planet. On Tristan da Cunha, we are fifteen hundred miles from the nearest neighbours, and a week at sea from the nearest airport.

"I'll have to leave the island to get my training. That's expensive and going so far from home is tough for young people. But I hope the island, and the UK, will support me."

You can read his whole speech on the Tristan da Cunha website.