On Tuesday 7 June, a group of Lower Sixth Politics A Level students visited the Houses of Parliament. We are extremely grateful to the Parliamentary Education Unit for providing us with the opportunity for a guided tour this historic and working building. Our tour included visiting the House of Commons Chamber, the House of Lords Chamber and the Royal Gallery. The students learned more about both the history of the building and as well about its current functions at the heart of UK democracy. The Parliamentary Education Unit also offered our students a workshop on debating and laws, in which the students displayed their thorough knowledge of the process of parliamentary legislature and their eloquent public-speaking skills.
Before lunch, we had a Question-and-Answer session with Lord Palmer of Childs Hill, Deputy Speaker of the House of Lords, and a member of the Liberal Democrat International Committee. We also met up in Westminster Hall with Matt Warman (OH), Conservative MP for Boston and Skegness, who recounted his experiences as an A Level History student of Mr Simm’s and also why he had supported the Prime Minster in the previous night’s vote of confidence. He talked as well about his busy work as a Member of Parliament in Westminster and in Lincolnshire. We are extremely grateful to Lord Palmer and Mr Warman for giving so generously of their time.
In the afternoon, we watched a House of Commons debate on Standards in Public Life from the public gallery. We saw speeches from among others, the Rt. Hon Michael Ellis, Paymaster General, John Penrose MP for Weston-Super-Mare who had resigned the day before as United Kingdom Anti-Corruption Champion, the Rt. Hon Dame Margaret Beckett, former Secretary of State for Commonwealth and Commonwealth Affairs and the Rt. Hon Chris Bryant MP, Chair of the Commons Committee on Standards and Privileges. The day concluded with a guided tour of Parliament Square and Whitehall by Mr Clark which included looking at the UK Supreme Court building, the Treasury building and the Cabinet Office.