It was a bleary eyed set of 6th formers that set out for the station on Monday morning for the annual politics trip with not quite all our belongings (a full set of train tickets were later found on the drive…!) A quick dash for coffee at the station and we all manged to make it to the train.
Upon arrival in London we made our way to Westminster Central Hall which was bigger than expected, holding over 2000 other politics students from across the country even a smattering form northern Ireland.
The first Speaker, who was ironically Mr Speaker, John Bercow gave us an insight into being ‘the champion of the house’ and his other responsibilities as an impartial voice in the commons. He also spoke about the restoration of Parliament’s reputation and the progress that has been made since the 2010 expenses scandal. We found it particularly interesting to listen to an impartial politician discuss such a controversial issue as the expenses scandal. We then heard from Sir George Young: Leader of the House, who is responsible for arranging government business, debated the strength of Parliament under the coalition.
Alan Duncan the Minister of State for International Development came next with some interesting points on international aid in a time of financial crisis and surprised many with the statistic that international development accounts for only around 1% of government spending. He was subject to accusatory and interrogatory questions from the audience particularly in reference to the current round of cuts and the hotly contested issue of whether charity should really begin at home. Of course, he answered them with the diplomacy expected from Minsters.
Nigel Farage the Leader of UKIP and UKIP MEP was up next with some rather forceful words on the failings of the EU and the way in which he has no regrets about potentially splitting the conservative voters. He was particularly vocal about how UKIP could no longer be called a fringe party. It was really interesting to hear MP Jonathon Edwards of the Plaid Cymru party discuss the imposing nature of Parliament on ‘new’ MPs and his views on nationalism and devolution in the UK.
Simon Hughes the Deputy Leader of the Liberal Democrats spent 10 minutes trying to dig him, his party and the rest of the liberals out of a bottomless pit of questions on the student fees and whether or not they have actually compromised their integrity and principles by forming the Coalition Government.
David Blunkett the former Home Secretary, Education Secretary and Secretary of State of Work and Pensions in Blair's government now backbench MP for Sheffield, Brightside and Hillsborough who was followed by Tony Benn who proved to be a very popular speaker and gave a very compelling talk on Labour policy and its new leadership. He had students lining up to ask him questions and received the largest applause by far.
The conference was rounded off by Tim Farron President of the Liberal Democrats and MP who said himself that Tony Benn was a hard act to follow. However he did point out some of the advantages of being in power with the Conservatives and having a coalition but he also spent several minutes assuring us that he did indeed vote against the student fees bill.
We then had a swift journey back to Kings Cross encountering One Direction on top of an open top bus along the way…
We would like to say a massive thank you to Miss Peacock for organising this trip as we all had a wonderful time!
Report by Sarah Good and Jemima McCrystal (Lower Sixth)