Today, the business of the House of Commons has been taken-over by the UK Youth Parliament, as young people from across the UK and its overseas territories and crown dependencies meet to debate the key issues impacting their peers.
This is the generation has been subjected to sustained cuts in youth service provision, vast changes in education, the restrictions of the Covid-19 pandemic, the worries about what AI may mean for jobs and whether they will ever be able to join the housing ladder. Yet this is also the generation who are critical to delivering the innovation and growth needed to drive the UK’s economy forward.
25 years ago, I was elected as one of the first Members of Youth Parliament. Since then, tens of thousands of young people have engaged in this brilliant organisation, which has been a forum for young people to explore public service, systems of governance and how to balance conflicting priorities, beliefs and cultures. It has given young people a voice and shown that children shouldn’t be seen and not heard. That voice should be helping to drive resource allocation at local and national level, to ensure our limited resources are used the greatest effect.
Photo credit: House of Commons
We all have a duty to listen and act upon the output of this sitting – not least as the government have committed to lowering the voting age to 16 before the next general election.
Perhaps some adults in politics today would do well to remember that it will be this generation of young people who will be deciding the sort of society they will grow old in, the level of tax they will pay and what services they will have available!
My congratulations to all the MYPs participating today and to those helping to mentor them across the country.
