Order! Order!

Our trip to the Houses of Parliament organised by the Politics department, was a way for us to experience the knowledge we gain in class and apply it to the real-life workings of Government.  

We began by taking a tour of Westminster, and heard about the history of the building as well as prominent political events - such as the signing of the Magna Carta. Between seeing the House of Commons and the Houses of Lords, we were informed about protests; exploring how freedom of speech operates and how it influences Government. We were told that MPs are elected to hear our concerns, and that we should be able to reach them at any time – as well as the lobby of Parliament being open for protests for whatever cause.  

We were asked questions about our course content, being able to draw evidence from our textbooks as well as real-life events to delegate points and arguments.  

One of the most interesting parts of the day was participating in a political debate – discussing the key question of whether 16-year-olds should be enfranchised, and as this subject affected us as 16- and 17-year-olds, it resulted in an engaging discussion. By being able to construct arguments for both sides of the debate and do so in the structure of a real political debate, we were given an insight into how our A- level impacts the system.  

The trip was a great way to apply our course, and definitely furthered our interest in the subject especially at a time of such political turmoil. 

Shivleen Y13