UKYP 2017

The UK Youth Parliament met in the House of Commons today to discuss the top voted issues in the Make Your Mark campaign. Members of UK Youth Parliament (MYPs) attended the Annual Sitting, representing different regions and countries across the UK.  It was an honour to be part of the Welsh group and thanks to Young Wales for organising the two-day residential.  

The top 5 issues discussed were: Protect LGBT+ People; Votes at 16; Work Experience Hubs for 11-18 year olds; Transport; and A Curriculum for Life.  After hours of debates, with myself speaking about A Curriculum for Life, we voted for the national and devolved campaign priorities for 2018.

National priority - Votes at 16
Devolved priority - Curriculum for Life

Overall, it was an amazing experience and it was so interesting listening to MYPs talk about issues important to them and their constituents.  I, along with the other MYPs will try our hardest to make progress within these topics, especially as these two were also among the top voted issues within the Vale of Glamorgan.

UK Youth Parliament debate

It's not every day you get to sit and debate in the House of Commons! Not wanting to sound too clichéd but it is quite literately a dream come true for me. Today I attended the UK Youth Parliament (UKYP) annual sitting and represented young people from the Vale of Glamorgan.  There were nearly 300 Members of Youth Parliament (MYPs) present, all representing young people from across the UK.  I travelled up with other MYPs from Wales so thanks to Children in Wales for organising this!  

The whole debate was chaired by John Bercow, who is a champion of young people's voices in democracy and gives great support to the UKYP. We debated the 5 top issues of the Make Your Mark ballot, issues that affect young people right across the UK including; Votes at 16, Cuts to the NHS, A curriculum to prepare us for life, Tackling racism and discrimination and Improving transport. All the MYP's debated in a very fair and thoughtful way, debating complex issues in an astute manner that impressed all of the prestigious visitors that included some MP's.

As voted for at the end of today's debate, the national UKYP priority for 2017 will be lowering the voting age to 16 and 17.  The devolved priority will be a Curriculum to prepare us for life. I can't wait now to get back to the Vale (hopefully soon but London traffic is awful) and raise awareness of the outcomes from the debate with everyone at the next Vale Youth Forum meeting.

VOG Members of UK Youth Parliament

Although the Youth Cabinet is a voice for young peole in the Vale of Glamorgan it's important that the views of young people in our area are taken into account outside of the Vale.  A lot of decisions are made that affect young people at the National Assembley for Wales and also at the UK Government in Westminster. 

Did you know that young people from the Vale can get involved in decision-making at Westminster too? This is called the UK Youth Parliament.  Please watch our video for more information.