Westbury teen joins annual sitting of UK Youth Parliament

THREE members of the UK Youth Parliament who are from Wiltshire, including a member from Westbury, attended the 13th annual sitting of the UK Youth Parliament in Leeds recently. 

17-year-old Ellie Pullen from Westbury joined 250 other members, (MYPs), from the 26th-28th July.

Members were welcomed by the Speaker of the House of Commons RT Hon John Bercow MP, as well as Pam Warhurst CBE, chair of Incredible Edible Todmorden and Glasgow Girls’ campaigners Emma Clifford and Roza Salih. The annual event also featured a keynote speech from Vince Cable MP, Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills where he explained the system of tuition fees and answered some very well thought out questions from MYPs.

Ellie said, “My favourite part of the weekend was hearing Vince Cable speak because he is the first Cabinet Member to attend the annual sitting and he spoke very well.

“I have learnt more about the European Union and I think this will be beneficial because if a referendum is to be offered on our membership of the EU, young people need to be informed.’

“It was great to speak to other MYPs and find out the best ways that we can work together to achieve our goals.”

Over the three days, the delegates took part in the ‘Big Vote’ and debated issues that affect young people. They also took part in workshops and skill sessions to enable them to better understand the young people in their local areas and get their voices heard on a local, national and regional level. They also voted to decide which topics should be incorporated in the UKYP manifesto.

Following the event, MYPs will vote on which issues from the manifesto will be put to a national ballot of young people aged 11-18 across the UK to determine the UK Youth Parliament’s priority campaign for 2014. The top five topics from this national ballot will then be debated at the House of Commons sitting in November. At the Commons sitting, one topic will be chosen to be UKYP’s priority campaign.

Pictured: Wiltshire MYPs Charles McGrath, Simone  Snashall and Ellie Pullen.