Parliament Trip 2011

On Tuesday 1st March, 28 Lower Sixth Politics students had the excitement of going to Westminster to have a look around Parliament at the invitation of Baroness Sharpe (Liberal Democrat Member of the House of Lords). The day consisted of a tour, a question and answer session with Anne Milton Conservative MP for Guildford and junior minister, and a brief session with Baroness Parminter (newly appointed LD Peer) before going into Lords’ Question Time.

Our tour around the palace included a look inside both houses and was a chance to see the difference between the green benches of the Commons and the red benches of the Lords – it also allowed for Sixth Formers to see bicameralism (an important feature of the UK parliamentary system) in action.

The Q and A session with Anne Milton was very interesting and Anne talked mostly about the difficulties of being bound by collective responsibility now she is in government. We then met  Baroness Parminter, who was made a Peer only in July 2010 and is unusual that she is not only an ethnic minority woman, but also relatively young for someone who sits in the upper house. That said, her expertise on environmental issues makes her an ideal choice for the Lords. Whilst speaking to us in the corridor we saw John Prescott make his way into the Lords, as well as Lord Sugar.

Lords question time was a raucous affair, with Lord Prescott making a very forceful point about the dominance of the Murdoch press.

Our day concluded by walking out of Parliament past Alan Sugar’s famous car, complete with that Apprentice-style number plate ‘AMS 1’. A great day was had by all and a lot was learned about the way in which Parliament functions. Big thanks must go to HBF, RMAS and SLW for staffing and organising the trip, as well as to Baroness Sharpe, who, although could not be there, made the whole day possible.

FTH