Chris Davis on Afghanistan

I got this email this evening

CHRIS DAVIES'S LIB DEM NOTES ON AFGHANISTAN

The fraudulent elections held in Afghanistan, and the further death andmaiming of British soldiers serving in the country, have forced me to think hard about the situation. I have written to Nick Clegg to give him my views and I want also to share them with readers of these occasional LIB DEM NOTES.

I believe that our troops should be pulled off the front line inAfghanistan. The justifications for their continuing presence seem tovary with the day of the week and the desperation of the advocate. I am not convinced by any of them, and I don't know how we would evenrecognise a 'victory' if it were to be claimed.Our people are part of a NATO contingent involving troops from manynations (though our numbers are second only to the Americans) that hasthe support of the United Nations. But we are easily portrayed as anoccupying force in a foreign land, fighting for one side in a civilwar as crusading imperialists seeking to impose our cultural andreligious beliefs on others. Radical Muslim men rally to the cause of our opponents in consequence.As we seek to avoid casualties we fall back on the use of technologythat allows us to attack and bomb from afar; all too often killing innocent Afghans. Support we may briefly have enjoyed from local people turns to hatred. None of this helps to make Britain a safer place.I bow to no-one in my detestation of the Taliban and the perversion ofIslam they use to justify their suppression of women's rights. I would love to see the country transformed into a benevolent liberal democracy,free from corruption and a champion of liberty. But the recentelections demonstrated how removed that vision is from reality. If weare fighting for Karzai's government are we sure it is a cause worth the effort?

We cannot use the treatment of Afghan women by Afghan men as anexcuse for military intervention any more than we would use it tojustify an attack on a country where genital mutilation is still performed on female children.In any case, genuine defeat of the Taliban may prove impossible whateverresources and lives are thrown against them. Its various localcommanders can withdraw in the face of overwhelming odds, only to returnwhen troop numbers have been reduced. Individual fighters can cut theirbeards, bury their weapons, and pose as hard working farmers – whichindeed is what they may be. The weapons can be dug up again at any time.We can continue to train Afghan soldiers, but the Taliban have a role toplay in the country's future and we should talk with them. Can that be so much worse than dealing with our current allies, the cruel andcorrupt warlords who care not a jot for human rights? Our money atleast buys us some influence with the warlords; perhaps its provisionfor development purposes can also be used to persuade the Taliban tokeep Al Qaida at a distance and curb the worst excesses of theirtreatment of women.To make Britain a safer place we have to win hearts and minds in theMuslim world. We have to address the causes of grievance used by ouropponents to bring people to their side. Our attack on Iraq did usgreat damage. Our involvement in Afghanistan risks doing the same.

The failure of Europe as a whole to address the injustice experienced byPalestinians is a source of anger amongst Muslims that we consistentlyunderestimate. We should learn our lessons.Yes, we must be prepared to use force to defend our values whennecessary, but military action can only be taken when the objective isclear. That is very far from the case in Afghanistan. We shouldnot allow more soldiers to be killed and maimed because politicians hereare too unwilling to lose face, too embarrassed to admit that lives havebeen lost in vain, or too weak to challenge orthodoxy within NATO.Afghanistan has defeated Britain in the past. It has defeated theRussians. The present campaign is not going to result in a triumph forAmerica or its British and other allies. If our troops are to remainthere it should be only to provide support and training for Afghans.They should not be on the frontline.

I would welcome your views.CHRIS DAVIES MEP
11 November 2011

DECISION DAY ON POTENTIAL LIBRARY RELOCATION TO SOUTHPORT MARKET

DECISION DAY ON POTENTIAL LIBRARY RELOCATION TO SOUTHPORT MARKET

The largest group of councillors in Southport – the Liberal Democrats, with two thirds of the council seats – have voiced their unanimous support for the idea of temporarily relocating the town’s library into the currently empty space at the rear of Southport Market Hall during the 3 years of work on the Arts Centre and Library buildings.

Sefton Council’s ruling Cabinet is due to make key decisions about the £15 million Southport Cultural Centre project at this Thursday’s Cabinet meeting (12th November), and one of the most controversial is whether an alternative town centre library should be provided while the major project is carried out.

The 10-strong Cabinet has 4 Liberal Democrats, 3 Labour and 3 Conservative members, so the votes of at least two of the parties will be needed for the relocation plan to be carried.

Councillor Maureen Fearn, Chair of the Southport Lib Dem councillors said: “Liberal Democrat councillors in Southport are firmly of the view that, for the three years during which work is being done to the existing buildings, Southport cannot do without a town centre library.”

“We have looked at every potential site in the town centre and it is clear to us that the only seriously viable option is to use vacant space within Southport’s Market Hall,” continued Councillor Fearn.

“There was a report in the Southport Visiter of Friday 30 October which reported on the support for this proposal. This confirmed our view that using the rear of the Market would be good news for library-users and good news for existing market traders. With the prospect of an extra 150,000 visits a year to ‘Southport’s library within a market’ it is little wonder that market traders have welcomed the idea wholeheartedly – as the Visiter reported.”

“Liberal Democrat councillors in Southport are unanimous in asking the Cabinet to back the option of using space in the Market Hall as the town’s temporary library.”

of interst to our friends in Sefton central

from Lib Dem Voice about Ashcroft. It sounds fishy to me.........................

should the chief executive blog?

Well just to remove any suspense I think the answer is a resounding NO. Nevertheless that was the intriguing suggestion that Tory blogger, (TV pundit, columnist for the Telegraph, Eastern Daily Press and GQ magazine-not to mention Total politic publisher etc etc) Iain Dale made to a local government conference last week.

I was in London for work and found time to attend some of the session at the LGiU conference which was looking at local councils and social media'. John Ball-formerly of this parish and now a Lib Dem councillor in Ealing-was one of the speakers.

Anyway back to Dale who traced the staggering growth of this type of media to the point where all Westminster journalist blog and have twitter and where since 2007 more Christmas greetings were sent via facebook than email.

Some Local authorities have been early and enthusiastic adopters which other lag stubbornly behind hoping the new world can be ignored. Bracknell Council apparently does press releases via twitter, advertises jobs, as well as publishing every expenditure over £500 online thus enlisting and army of citizen scrutinisers.

Even at the basic level of running a website most council's fail. Dale quoted Lib Dem Mark Packs article in Total Politics, sadly he could not resist a 'put down' as he did so. Packs article does lay out the basics and it will be interesting to see how many of the points he makes are covered when we are presented with a new media strategy for Sefton. I am not holding my breath. It will be interesting to see if they pick up on this posting.

One reason frequently given for not adopting these newer forms of social media is that there are some 'nutters' out there. Indeed there are. Stephen Fry's public pondering of giving up twitter because of one of them has been much in the news. dale told the conference that he got scores of phone calls from one critic and low and behold the said 'nutter' put an appearance on the twitter feed projected behind him! It must be said that such folk regularly put in appearances at public meetings and they are to be found on the door steps of the nation as we canvass.

The concern was raised that the new social media tends toward polarisation. Right wing blogs link to other right wing blogs and people can spend their whole time without having to interact with those who take a different view. Apparently this is very prevalent in the US. In the UK things are a little better. Dale felt that there was a 'blogging' community which meant that when the Daily Mail launched a 'homophobic' attack on him people across the political spectrum rallied to his support. I suspect that is true. It is a bit like the community of interest amongst those active in politics. People like Labour's Kevin Cluskey or the Tory Sir Ron Watson and I could easily have a chat about the US presidential election which would be of little interest to most of our elector.

One thing is clear that the impact of this style of social media is nor going away. There is nowhere where a hand held device cannot now be taken. Youtube, photos and podcasts will make much more accountable and the next generation seem more relaxed about the intrusion

There are some upsides. I would love to have had a tape recorder in Sefton's cabinet when the Tories had a collective attention deficit five minutes and demanded to have their anti vote recorded on a motion that had they paid attention they would have voted differently. There are lots of occasions when accountability would be enhanced by transparency that comes with the new social media.

John Balls contribution was to tell of an amazing campaign he organised via twitter. This brought out lots of volunteers most of whom had no previous involvement in campaigning.

So back to Dale's throw away suggestion that the Chief Exec should blog. It was based on the view that the social media age demand personalisation. This is undoubtedly one of the lessons of the Obama campaign where we saw lots of 'personal stories' from voters explaining why they were going to support Obama.

Dale told us that since the Tories had personalised their website so that visitors now have a named individual to ask questions of-a new member of staff called Sam. Since Sam has appeared on the website and people can directly ask him question the number of enquiries have rocketed.

It follows that in this new personalised social media Chief Execs will be tempted to join in. For myself I think it is something that politicians should do. We are accountable at the ballot box. we need to use this media to communicate with our voters AND to listen what they have to tell us. In that context it is sad to note that according to Iain Dale the Total Politics survey could only find 109 councillors to blog-and most of them suffer a fair amount of criticism from their non blogging colleagues.

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.....especially the men of Birkdale.

Remembrance Sunday found me not at the big ceremony in Lord St but at the small War Memorial at St John's Church Birkdale. There was a full congregation. The act of remembrance at which those who have died in the two world wars and conflicts since has the usual two minutes silence-preceded and ended by a trumpet played by one of the choir boys. There followed a recital of the eighty odds names on the War Memorial read by four young people from the church as we remember 'especially the men of Birkdale'. The youngsters stood in the four corners of the church and in the silence all spoke clearly and well. As you hear the list of local names: Rimmers, Wrights, Balls, Whitesides, Heaps and Littlers, it brings home how devastating the loss of life must have been in our community.

When I was a young lad I remember attending similar services in Lillington where we all stood outside around the War memorial. In those days there were many men who wore their medals from the First World War and one or two who served in the Boer War. I particularly remember Fred Warren an elderly man, who sang in the choir, telling me all about going to South Africa as a young man.

Yesterday there were still men who had served during the Second World War who were wearing their medals. Looking around the church there were younger men and women who have served since.

time for action

If anyone wanted an argument for the "Southport Cultural Centre" major refurbishment project it came to me last week. One local resident tells me that they visited the Southport town centre library on Thursday (a rather rainy day as it happened) and was concerned to see that quite a few of the ceiling lights were switched off and anglepoise lamps in place on top of the racking to provide some illumination.They asked the library manager the reason, and were told that the roof leaks to the extent that some of the electrical circuits become unsafe in the event of moderate or heavy rain!

Thanks for all the background on the arrested Tories

Thanks to those of you who have contacted me with information about the arrested Tories and the shenanigans in the local party. I am now clear who to watch and also clear about the role of the foreign 'sugar daddy'. As always; follow the money.....

The curious case of the planning application

Some things just stick in your mind and months later you find yourself pondering why they happened. A year or so ago there was a planning application in for a development by the entrance to Southport's pier. (We have the 2nd longest pier in the country) The application upset many local folk. The officer's report firmly advised rejection.

The minutes say:

Minutes:
The Committee considered the report of the Planning and Economic Regeneration Director recommending that the above application for the erection of a single storey extension to the north east side and rear of the premises and external refurbishment be refused for the reasons stated or referred to in the report.

Prior to consideration of the application, the Committee received a petition from Mr.Brown on behalf of the applicant in support of the application. Councillor Porter was permitted, by the Committee, to speak in support of the application.



So why did two Ainsdale Tories hot foot it up to the planning committee-one (who had a poor attendance record) to act as a substitute and the other to speak in favour of the application which wasn't even in her ward? Very curious. If any of you have an explanation I'd be pleased to hear it. Neither of them declared an interest so I'm sure there is nothing fishy.

More shame for Winterton

Confirmation, not that more is required, that the nasty rightwing moraliser who loves to go on about decent standards is not such an upright toff as he would have folk believe. Todays Independent carries the story:

Natural slap
*Years ago, when the Tory MP Eleanor Laing was speaking in the Commons in favour of lowering the age of consent for gays, she was interrupted by that grand old cauldron of moral indignation, Sir Nicholas Winterton, who demanded that she explain how anyone could justify the "unnatural" things gay men do "in terms of Christian morality".

Sir Nicholas, now 71, and due to retire after a flood of revelations about his expenses, has been outed as the Tory knight of the shire who slapped a woman MP on the bottom in a crowded Commons tea room. Kerry McCarthy, who revealed the incident, has Twittered to say the woman took "a hearty slap".

The woman says that she does not want to make any more of it, dismissing Sir Nicholas as "a silly old man". Sir Nicholas has told the Daily Mirror that he could not "categorically deny" administering the slap but he would have remembered if she had taken offence.

Nothing unnatural there, then, that requires justifying "in terms of Christian morality".

Kew cubs

My colleagues Mike Booth and Fred Weavers went to see their local cub pack tonight-whilst I was stuck on a late dirty,late-running Virgin train out of Euston. They clearly had a good time.

Mike was asked to present badges to some of the cubs. Fred also presented badges to newly invested cubs. Mike told the pack about his role as a councillor, which will be included in future badge work on communities.

The picture shows Mike and Fred with the Kew cubs and their leaders.

I want to vote on the Treaty that took us into Nato

I was watching a Tory MP on the news. He was all puffed up and self important. He was saying how outrageous it is than nobody under 50 had voted on membership of the European community. I got to thinking of all the treaties that we have -which in the perverse logic of the Euro sceptics- contain a loss of sovereignty.

Nobody has asked me if I want to belong to Nato which significantly shares our sovereignty. And nobody North or South of the border has voted to endorse the Union of the parliaments of 1707. How frequently should we have the right to 'recall a treaty'?

The truth is that these sovereignty sharing arrangements significantly enhance our influence. Lots of countries our size have 'independent' foreign policies but they have no influence. The Tory's central foreign policy stance is that they wish to be the US's best friend. For more than half a century the US Democrat and Republican has made it clear that they believe that the UK should be fully part of Europe. This presents a central contradiction for Cameron; he doesn't want to be the sort of friend that the US want for their best friend

One citizen, one vote and all votes equal

Throughout all the campaigns for full citizenship in the southern states of the US, in South Africa and the then Rhodesia the slogan 'one man one vote!' was used. The chartists in the 19th Century were so outraged by the rotten boroughs that allowed some votes to be worth more than others that one of their six demands was that there should be 'equal electoral districts'.

I raise this because talking to a Bootle councillor yesterday he,without a quiver of self doubt, asserted that votes in Bootle should be worth more. His argument was that because of the social deprivation they needed smaller wards.

'We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal.....'

There are many groups in society who are disadvantaged and the thought of 'weighting' their votes would have ridiculous consequences. Do travellers and gypsies get bigger votes, what about new immigrants or higher tax payer (how often have I heard from folk living in mansions that they should get more from the council because of the amount of council tax they pay)? No one citizen, one vote but if they are all to be equal we will need to reform the voting system

Fred does his bit

Fred has not made a lot of noise about this: but he spent several hours recently on a unicycle raising money for the armed forces, along with Billy and David Pullin and Julie manning the buckets. If you would like to donate please visit

www.justgiving.com/frederick-weavers

I've been in London the last couple of days and I have been struck by how many young service men are out selling poppies. Fred is raising funds for those coming home from Iraq and Afghanistan. What ever we think of those conflicts it should not deter us from sending a donation. The service men did not ask to be sent. I know that many soldiers have real concerns about our role in these conflicts. After the news from Afghanistan over the last week it is right that we should debate these issues . Do not use an concerns you may have from sending some money to Help the heroes from the link above.

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portland street cycle way

I've not yet seen the feedback from the consultation around the Portland Street proposal. I have had some very interesting suggested put to me by residents from all sides of the debate. I was heartened to read John Siddle's report in the Visiter which suggests that as a result of the response new proposals are beginning worked on. With goodwill I'm sure that a scheme can be worked up which will benefit the town

Councillor's expences

Birkdale's Councillor Simon Shaw is among the councillors claiming the highest in travel expenses from Sefton Council. This is because Simon is one of very few Sefton councillors who is a member of one of the Local Government Association's Boards or Panels, which meet in London. Simon has been a member of the LGA's Human Resources Panel and associated bodies since 2005 (including substitute member mid-2007 to mid-2009).

The key LGA bodies of which Simon is a member include:
LGA's HR Panel
Local Government Pensions Committee
National Joint Council for Local Government Services
Joint National Council for Chief Executives (also for Chief Officers)It was Simon who, in May 2009, first called for details of Sefton councillors Allowances and Expenses to be published on Sefton Council's website - this was agreed to by the Council's Chief Executive, Margaret Carney.

Details for 2008/09 are available here: http://www.sefton.gov.uk/Default.aspx?page=9702

In the interests of openness, full details of Simon's expenses claims for travel to LGA meetings (by year) are available on the Birkdale Liberal Democrats website, follow the link to Councillors expences. This includes details for the first 6 months of 2009/10. (NB THERE ARE 5 SPREADHEETS TO REFER TO).

Southport Conservatives 'financially unstable'

Checking back through the Electoral Commission on line accounts I see that one of the recently arrested treasurers has been involved as a 'registered' treasurer of the political arm of Southport Tories for some years. In 2006 he was deputy to one Phil King and in the accounts they warn that the Association was heading towards being financially unstable (hence the resigination of the President et al ?)

Anyway look for yourself

Interestingly looking at seats that the Tories have targeted I see that the central party (Ashcroft ?) has provided tens of thousands of pounds to them. As the Independent reports this morning:

In Gordon Prentice's marginal seat of Pendle in Lancashire, the accounts of the local Conservative association show that they spent nearly £82,000 in 2008. That is thought to be just a fraction of the money the Tories have actually sunk into Pendle, because much of the cost is borne by party headquarters. Tony Greaves, a Liberal Democrat peer who lives locally, reckons that the true figure is around £250,000.

There is a similar picture in almost any seat on the Tory target list because these days, it seems, Lord Ashcroft is everywhere – except of course on the electoral roll or anywhere that might make him liable to pay UK taxes.

Compare and contrast as the exam papers used to say, and ponder why?


I understand that Ashcroft demands a robust business plan before parting with any money.

Arrested Tory party Treasurer

For the purposes of the Political Parties Elections and Referendums Act 2000:

Mrs Jackie Glover is Registered Treasurer
AND
Mr Andrew Logie is Deputy Registered Treasurer

More information here

Thanks to all those who have contacted me with information. I shall summarise what is printable later

Police arrests at Tory club, the HQ of Southport Conservatives

POLICE have launched a probe after tens of thousands of pounds went missing from one of the region’s most historic social clubs.

Southport Conservative Club treasurer Andrew Logie and deputy Paul Wilding were arrested and quizzed by officers after an audit of the Bath Street club’s finances revealed discrepancies ...............

The Southport Visiter has a full story. A front page headline: Melt Down at Tory HQ (which we covered in June 08) a little while ago reported the resignation of various officers of the Conservative Association including professional people. The party's accounts warned about the state of the party's finances. It is not clear how entangled the two stories are, rumours have circulated for some while about the cross over between the two separate bodies and the role of key Tories. I am checking to see if the two arrested Tories were involved in the local party's money matters.

Back in June 08 we predicted that there were more revelations to come. I am informed that is still the case..........................

Farewell and good luck

There was a good turn out at the Guest House tonight to wish Erin Harvey good luck and farewell. Erin came to work for our MP and has been a great hit. I covered her attendance at the Bournemouth Conference when she spoke twice very impressively.
Erin is off to work for London MP Susan Kramer. Susan has been a very impressive MP and I'm sure that Erin will prosper working with her.

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Southport Liberals: the First 100 years

Not many constituencies are lucky enough to have a book recording their history over 100 years. Michael Braham's study first published in 1985 is now hard to find. By kind permission of the author Birkdale Liberal Democrats have now published it online. You can find the book on our website. Follow the link on the top left of this page to the website and then click on the button 'Southport Liberals: the first 100 years

Michael tells the story from the time of Gladstone, on to the battles for votes for women and temperance and to the triumph of 1906. He covers the Tory dirty tricks of 1910, the liberal victory of 1923, Cecil Ramage's barnstorming campaign of 1929 complete with campaign songs and photos. After WW2 the revival of the party in Southport-a second place in a 3 cornered fight in 1959, control of the council in the 6o's, second again in 1970 and on to victory in 1987......

Please feel free to download it but if you publish it in any way we ask that

• you acknowledge Michael Braham as the author
• you don't charge
• you don't alter the text
• you tell us about it -email via the website
• you include a link to our website
• you publish these conditions

Thanks

College Close trees

Success! well if you live in College Close you will be pleased. After our complaints about the state of the trees there action is to be take:

Three of the six trees have been highlighted for removal and the remaining three trees will be pruned.

This work is scheduled to take place in December.

Temporary Library

The Southport Visiter carries an important story this morning. I have never had a moments doubt about the need for the council to provide a temporary Library whilst the essential renovation of the Cultural Centre-the Art Gallery, Arts Centre and Library-takes place . I know there are some who think that we can make do with a caravan in a car park like some remote village in countryside. I have never thought that was acceptable. There were over 150,000 visits to the Southport Library last year and frankly anyone who thinks that can be replaced by a trailer somewhere or farmed out to Formby is not listening to townsfolk. Yes, in tough financial times there are going to be some hard questions to answer. Something else will have to give. It is a matter of priorities.

I went on the trip last Friday and at the end it was clear to me there was a stark choice. If we want a temporary Library then the Market site is the only realistic option. It does of course bring real benifits to the remaining market traders. Firstly it brings an immediate fix to the building -upgrading the structure, electrics etc and secondly it brings a massively increased footfall. I guess lots of folk going to the Library will use the cafe there to get refreshment whilst they browse their books.

For the wider Southport residents it gives us a town centre Library that can take all the key facilities and offer a proper service during the closure. This is not a short closure. It is meant to last 30 months. Given my experience with other major building works-especially old buildings like these -it would come as no surprise if the time scale was longer.

Health Service democracy

Congratulations to John Pugh who has used Parliament to challenge the quangos that run our Health Service. Here in Southport the Tory Government forced a botched hospital plan on us forcing and unsustainable marriage of Southport and Ormskirk. There is no local accountability for the quangos that run our Health Service.. A couple of Tory politicians have been involved but nobody else.

As the blog noted recently it is not more consultation we need it is more democracy:

Take the NHS. 1.4 million staff, eclipsed for size only by the Chinese Liberation Army and the Indian Railway. Only accountable to one politician-the Secretary of State. He attempts by the issuing of banal and ineffective targets to micro manage the entire operation even down to targets on how to clean the carpets. His writ is enforce by a vast army of bean counters and by place men and women who sit on his local administration boards. The employ 'link' people to talk to the community so they know what local people want. Well more precisely what some people think of a bright idea the government is keen on. 'You want to spend your money differently to prioritise a children's A&E service? Sorry we are not programmed to respond to that comment, please answer the question you were asked. Do you want round carrots or straight ones.


John's parliamentary Bill confronts the democratic deficit, read on.


Local NHS Democracy




"The local NHS is a huge taxpayer-funded service, affects everyone, is important to everyone, but is sadly totally remote from democratic decision making."



These formed part of my opening remarks when I introduced the The Local Health Services and Democratic Involvement Bill to Parliament last week under the ten-minute rule .



Please take a minute to offer your support. The Bill seeks to require, among other things, Primary Care Trusts to obtain prior approval for their spending plans, involving relevant locally elected authorities. Currently, decisions are made by enlightened, but unelected, quangos or trusts, and they are usually a combination of medical experts and appointees who may or may not bring relevant expertise with them. They decide what drugs are available, which hospitals or hospital departments stay open, where services are, how GPs and dentists shape up, and what after-hours care exists.



All those issues mean a lot to some people part of the time, and much to all people most of the time. We just need to remind ourselves about Children's A&E to appreciate that point.I propose that primary care trusts, as currently constituted, lay before the health scrutiny committees of existing councils, as currently constituted, their annual plans and their big decisions - not for scrutiny or consultation, but for approval, agreement and amendment. I propose a kind of democratic lock on the local NHS: a move beyond mere consultation. I propose a genuine redistribution of power from one existing institution to another existing, established institution. This is such a good idea that I believe that the model has already been embraced voluntarily in some areas.

The rest is on John's website

LOCAL YOUTH REPRESENTATIVE MAKES HISTORY IN COMMONS CHAMBER

It was Southport Area Committee yesterday -of which more, much more later. On a positive note it was good to see our UK Youth parliament rep Ian Goley in attendance. Ian has made a very significant contribution to the Area Committee and is listened to with respect from all sides. This week he is off to Westmister and has sent out the following press release:



LOCAL YOUTH REPRESENTATIVE MAKES HISTORY IN COMMONS CHAMBER

Ian Goley, 17, will join over 300 Members of the UK Youth Parliament in making history this week (Friday 30th October) when they take over the House of Commons chamber. It will be the first time in 300 years anyone other than MPs have debated in the Commons and sat on the green benches. The historic move will see elected 12-18 year-olds from across the country debate issues of concern to young people.

Ian Goley, Member of Youth Parliament for North Sefton, 17 years-old, commented,

“I’m looking forward to the House of Commons Debate. Not only does the decision of MPs allowing us to debate in the chamber show that MPs are prepared to listen, but it gives us the platform to establish what we are campaigning for, and what we represent. Friday will hopefully give us more publicity, and reach out to people who may not be aware that the UK Youth Parliament even exists. Young people do care about politics and the world around us, and Friday is the ideal opportunity for this to be displayed.”


The five issues being debated are -

University education being free
Youth crime and how to tackle it
Free transport for over 60s, but not for young people
Job opportunities for young people
Lowering the voting age to 16


ENDS

Notes to Editors:

1. The UK Youth Parliament debates in the House of Commons chamber take place on Friday 30th October from 11am until 3.30pm.
2. For photographs, comments or broadcast information contact Fiona McKinstrie, Press Officer, on 020 7553 9894/07507 603378 (fiona.mckinstrie@ukyouthparliament.org.uk).
3. Members of Youth Parliament will be available for prerecorded/advance interviews in Central London on Thursday 29th October.
4. For further information about the event and the debate topics please see here http://www.ukyouthparliament.org.uk/252529.html
5. The UK Youth Parliament gives young people a voice on issues that matter to them.
6. 500,000 young people take part in the UK Youth Parliament elections each year.
7. Over 600 young people are elected as Members of the UK Youth Parliament. They work to ensure that the voices of young people are heard at a national, regional and local level http://www.ukyouthparliament.org.uk/


Good luck Ian