Report of the 5th Commonwealth Youth Parliament
by William Edwards and Amy Fox
Tuesday, 4th December
The realisation that today, I would be standing in Westminster palace came
when Amy and I were standing on the platform eagerly awaiting the arrival of
our train. On the way to London Amy and I discussed what we were
expecting from this experience and how excited we had been in the days
leading to it. Once in London, we had a slight issue finding the hotel, after
some frantic Google mapping and looking for signs we were going in the
right direction. We arrived at the Tune Hotel and were greeted by
representatives of the CPA who issued our packs and asked us which Party
we would be joining, Amy and I both choose party B. Once we were kitted
out with our ID badges in purple lanyards (which incidentally matched my
tie) and our information packs, we checked into the hotel and made our way
to our rooms. Our accommodation was small but of a very high standard.
Despite having 2 hours to kill I immediately got changed and prepared
myself for what the evening had to hold.
At quarter to six, we departed from
the hotel for the Houses of
Parliament. The short bus trip was
our first opportunity to introduce
ourselves our fellows
Commonwealth Youth
Parliamentarians. We immediately
made friends with two
representatives from Australia and
talked with them on our way to the
palace. Once we arrived at the Houses
of Parliament we were directed to the CPA Room where we were greeted by
various members of the CPA. Sir Alan Haselhurst MP was slightly delayed as
he was voting but arrived shortly after. He gave us a warm welcome and
wished us all the best. After he had spoken we were split into party groups
and briefed on the process the next few days would take, this gave us
another opportunity to get to know some people.
Once we were aware of what we were going to be doing we were all brought
back into the CPA Room for the Governor-General’s Speech from the Throne.
Dr. Nafisa Shah (the Vice-Chairperson of the CPA International Executive
Committee), and Dr. William F. Shija (The CPA Secretary-General) read out the
speech.
After the Speech from the Throne, we went to the renowned Bellemy’s
Restaurant for a Buffet Reception. Both Amy and I had worked up quite an
appetite from the Train Journey and the excitement of being in the Houses of
Parliament, so we were ready to have some food. We were somewhat
disappointed though as what we expected was an array of dished we could
help ourselves to, instead waiters came around and offered bite size food
portions, e.g. lamb curry, fish and chips, and beetroot and goats cheese. The
Reception was a perfect opportunity to get to know people and make some
friends. Amy and I got on particularly well with representatives from
Australia, Scotland, the Falkland Islands and New Zealand.
Wednesday, 5th December
Wednesday started with a breakfast coffee and a chat with our fellow CYP’s
about what the today had in stall for us. We left the hotel at 8:30 and made
our way to the Portcullis House Entrance of the Houses of Parliament. Once
we arrived, we were directed to the Attlee Suit for our first talk of the day.
The session was on the meaning of Governance and why governance
matters. The speakers included: HE Gordon Campbell (the Canadian High
Commissioner), Andrew Lansley MP, and was chaired by Dr. Roberta
Blackman-Woods MP. It was a very interesting talk and raised a lot of debate
in the Q&A session
afterwards. Preceding that
was another talk, this time on
Governance and the
Westminster Parliament,
which again was very
interesting and gave us a
great deal of insight of the
Westminster system. The speakers were extremely charismatic and made the
talk that much more compelling, which can be expected when the speakers
included the Speaker of the House of Commons The Rt Hon John Bercow MP
After a short coffee and tea break we returned to our seats for another talk
in the Atlee suit, this time on the Job of an MP. This was made all the more
interesting as a member of the Swaziland parliament was present and his
speech about the work of an MP in the developing world which really stuck
with us. The difference between his work and that of Andrew Mitchell, MP for
Coldfield had many similarities but it was apparent that Marwick Khumola
had far more responsibilities and this was very eye opening to the
Commonwealth Youth Parliamentarians from more affluent counties.
Following this talk we were briefed on Oral questions in the House of
Commons before we watched Prime Ministers Questions. The Q&A sessions
afterwards were extremely interesting as members from different countries
talked about the procedure in their countries and how it differed to the
Westminster procedure. After watching a very animated Prime Ministers
Questions, we were shown a Clip from the Lords oral questions and saw how
it differed to that of the House of Commons, which showed us how relaxed
and less showman- like it was.
We then had lunch and a time to relax after a very full on morning of talks. It
gave us a time to reflect on what we’d learned and we discussed this over
food with our newly made friends from around the world.
After lunch we had our first Caucusing session which got off to a slow start
as we elected out front bench. William put himself forward to be deputy
leader but was sadly beaten by the representative from Trinidad and Tobago.
We then prepped our Party spokesman for the Youth Press Conference which
awaited up. At three we had another talk, this time it was something we
could all relate to, the role of media and the rise in social media. This is
something we all had something to say on as young people we have a great
idea as to the role social media has in politics. Our final activity of the day
was the Youth Press Conference, which was a great way to end the day. The
topic of a travel duty for domestic flights to fund counter climate change
initiatives was what each representative had to speak about. Everyone got
involved asking questions and scrutinising the party spokespeople.
Thursday, 6th December
Thursday kicked off with an introduction to the committee system and the
vital part it plays in a parliamentary system of government. It was followed
with a committee workshop where we were taught the process of calling
people to committees to scrutinise legislation. The bill we scrutinised was a
Youth Unemployment bill and Chris Rhodes (the library specialist of the
House of Commons) played the part of
a topic specialist who gave an expert
opinion on the bill. We were then taken
to the Gladstone committee room
which had both Amy and I in awe. The
beautiful room was inspirational and we
both immediately wanted to get
involved with procedures. We were here
for the ten minute bills, all of which
raised a lot of debate. One especially
did, the motion that gay marriage
should be legalised around the
Commonwealth.
Once this bill had been discussed and voted on we returned to the Atlee suit
for a talk on the importance and role of the opposition, minority parties and
the workings of a coalition. Jonathon Edwards MP talked about the
importance of being a representative of a minority party in the House of
Commons. William asked him a question concerning the West Lothian
Question. Afterwards William spoke
briefly with Mr Edwards about his
constituency, as his father used to
live there.
Our second party caucusing session
was heated again as we discussed
the party’s position on the
opposition motion which was ‘The
Commonwealth should do all in its
power to protect democratic
entities, even if it means using aggression’. The Party chose to oppose the
motion on the basis that we were a party of peace keeping.
After a spot of lunch we went back to the Gladstone committee room for the
Opposition motion. This was such an amazing experience, the quasiCommons debate got our
blood racing, the excitement
of the procedure coupled with
the anticipation felt before I
(William) spoke against the
motion. After the enthralling
debate in the Gladstone room,
we returned to the Atlee suite
for a talk on the role of young
people in politics. This was
one of the most interactive
talks and the speakers were
Andrew Percy MP, Lisa Nandy MP and Emily Shaw–the representative from
Scotland. As we could all relate to this topic, we all engaged and asked
questions. After this brilliant talk, we were introduced to the topic of debate
we would be debating on Friday ‘Should Universal Education be Free?’
We then departed the House of Commons for Malborough House. The beauty
of this house amazed me and as we made our way to conference room I took
in the breathtaking beauty. We all assembled in the conference room and
had the pleasure of having a talk from the Deputy Secretary-General of the
Commonwealth -Mmasekgoa Masire-Mwamba. Despite being very tired from
a long day, Mrs. Masire-Mwamba captivated our attention with a description
of the importance of the Commonwealth.
Friday, 7th December
The
final
day got off to an exciting start, we were led off the bus and into the Grand
Committee Room. We were debating the youth employment bill we’d
scrutinised yesterday and suggesting amendments. This was an exciting
start to the day as it inevitably got heated and there were very interesting
debates. The session, which was presided over by Joe Benton, was an
amazing way to start the day and really got us excited for the main debate
that came later that day. After we debated the bill and the amendments were
voted on everyone had the opportunity to talk about examples of youth
participation in politics. This gave everyone an insight as to how
participation differed from country to country and really interested us.
After a busy morning of debating, we had a coffee break and then a tour of
the Houses of Parliament. Despite having the tour numerous times before, it
never ceases to amaze me how much of an incredible building the Palace is.
Being told about the building’s rich history never seems to get old. Once the
tour was over, we were briefed on the House of Lords style debate we would
be having after dinner. We were both excited for this as it gave us the
opportunity to speak and no doubt, the debates would be exciting. We then
had our last lunch in the Atlee suite and we began to reminisce about these
few days we’d spent in London and how much of an incredible time we’d
had. After dinner was our final party caucus, which gave us the opportunity
to establish the party line on the motion –‘universal education should be
free’. Everyone who would speak wrote out what they were going to say and
we all embraced this final opportunity to prepare ourselves for the debates.
We had refreshment and had an
opportunity to relax before the
debate and Amy and I used this
opportunity to go over what we
were going to say.
After the refreshments, it was
time to go to the Robing Room
for our House of Lords Style
debate, which was chaired by
Baroness D’Souza. Everyone
assumed their seats and I
(William) began to feel butterflies
in my stomach from anticipation, as it was my turn to speak next. I stood up
and gave my speech on the importance of educating young people and
ensuring everyone can afford education. Once everyone had their
opportunity to speak it was time
to vote. The vote went in favour
of our position –that universal
education should be free. We
then returned to the Atlee Suite
and gathered our possessions as
it was time to head over to the
CPA headquarters at the Millbank
for the farewell reception. We
arrived and were greeted by the
sound of steel drums and a live
African band, which was such an
amazing touch. This was our
final opportunity to talk to the
people we’d made friends with
and spent the past 5 days with.
We vowed to keep in contact with
our newly made friends and the evening ended with everyone being
presented with certificates by the Secretary-General of the CPA, Dr. William F.
Shija.
We would both like to thank the CPA Wales Branch for giving us this
incredible opportunity.
William Edwards
Amy Fox