Three Members of Youth Parliament have been recognised for their powerful contributions to debates that took place in the House of Commons chamber on Friday 9th November 2018. Each Member of Youth Parliament will be awarded the Paul Boskett Award for their outstanding speeches.
The award was set up in 2014 in memory of Paul Boskett MBE a valued, respected and loved champion of young people’s voices in the UK. Alex McDermott, Member of Youth Parliament for Derbyshire won the award for his opening speech on votes at 16 from the dispatch box of the House of Commons. Cormac Savage, Member of Youth Parliament for South Down in Northern Ireland and Samuel Taylor, Member of Youth Parliament for Blaenau Gwent in Wales were awarded for their backbench contributions. Cormac Savage spoke passionately on tackling homelessness and Samuel Taylor spoke about lowering the voting age to 16.
Commenting on the awards, Amanda Chetwynd-Cowieson, Chair of the British Youth Council, the charity which coordinates the UK Youth Parliament said: “Every year the UK Youth Parliament’s House of Commons debates are exceptional and this year was no different.
“The passion on display in the chamber is yet more proof that young people are passionate about the future of their communities!”
On Friday 9th November 2018, Members of the UK Youth Parliament gathered from across the UK to debate in the House of Commons chamber. Ending knife crime, mental health, ‘equal pay, for equal work’, tackling homelessness and ‘votes at 16’ were all topics of debate. Each topic was chosen in a record-breaking ballot of more than 1.1 million young people. Members of Youth Parliament are due to formally launch their latest campaigns next week.
WATCH THEIR SPEECHES:
DEBATE LEAD SPEECH: Alex McDermott, Derbyshire
BACKBENCH SPEECH: Cormac Savage, South Down
BACKBENCH SPEECH: Sam Taylor, Blaenau Gwent
