Year 13 student's powerful speech at House of Commons

On Friday 28 February, Year 13 student, Manel, who is currently studying A-Level English Literature, History and Politics, had the honour of attending the first House of Commons sitting for the 2024-26 term as the Member of Youth Parliament for Brent, where they debated and voted on the UK Youth Parliament's top policy priorities.

Below is an extract from Manel in her own words about how she prepared for this moment.

As part of the UK Youth Parliament's policy process, we debated the top five topics (which we narrowed down from 200+) for the new UKYP manifesto for the 2024-26 term - 'Shaping Our Future, Today Not Tomorrow'. The aim of the day was to select our two UK priority campaigns for 2025; one devolved campaign and one reserved campaign.

The motions were:

16 and 17 year olds should be allowed to vote in all elections and referendums, accompanied with more political education throughout school.
That the National Minimum Wage for every worker under 22 be raised in order to match the National Living Wage for those over 22.
All public transport should be free for young people.
All young people in the UK must have access to a standardised level of political literacy and democratic education to improve engagement in politics on a local, national and international level and to develop critical thinking skills.
To establish period dignity, there should be free, accessible, good-quality period products available in public spaces for everyone.

It is important to note that there were over 250 members of Youth Parliament present, alongside other young people from British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies who came and spoke, whilst only 30 minutes could be allocated per motion. This means just under 30 young people can speak per motion (a less than 50% chance of me getting chosen to speak overall).

In order to speak, you must 'catch the speakers' eye by bobbing/waving your interest at the end of every speech. So I prepared a speech for each motion, hoping to be selected for one of them.

Luckily, I was chosen for the 3rd motion - all public transport should be free for young people. Though this may not 'seem' like a massive issue in London, it genuinely is and was something I was able to shed light on.

My speech focused on how the cost of transport disproportionately affects young people who are already facing social inequality and financial hardship, especially how young people in Brent (and other constituencies) are moved away from their schools due to a lack of social housing but then must pay in order to complete their qualifications. This is an issue all across the UK, and it was so incredibly important to recognise that access to education should not be limited by financial barriers, as this undermines social mobility.

It was an absolute privilege to not only attend this historic event, but also be selected to speak and represent my peers on a national scale. I am looking forward to our next sitting in November!