Youth Parliament set an example
Once a year, the UK Youth Parliament is invited to hold a debate in the Commons Chamber.
And I was asked along to listen in and say a few words.
Some people say that young folk aren’t interested in politics and it’s true that they can be cynical about political parties.
But they care passionately about issues. And they care about one another.
The contrast between a Chamber filled with MYPS (Members of the Youth Parliament) and MPS was stark.
They listened intently to other members.
They kept to time.
They applauded rather than making the weird grunting noises many MPS make to denote approval.
None of this went unnoticed by the Commons door staff who have had to endure adult MP tantrums over the years.
“I’d like to see this lot here every day instead”one staff member whispered to me.
Some kids were there but still questioned whether politics achieved anything. And for them I pointed to the incredible social progress we’d made against the odds.
They knew about the Suffragettes and their struggles against an unyielding establishment.
But many hadn’t realised the relatively recent equality laws passed to protect the rights of disabled people, and to make racial discrimination illegal.
And when I told them that when I was born, gay men could be arrested for holding hands in the street there was an audible gasp.
That day’s debate was about food poverty.
MYPS were outraged that some of their contemporaries went hungry in this, the fifth wealthiest country in the world and there was a vehemence in their condemnation of political leaders who had presided over such inequality.
Because one thing seemed to unite the teenagers who’d come together from every corner of these islands – they were compassionate.
When it was my turn to speak I knew there was one unaddressed issue on everyone’s lips – the bombing of Gaza.
And so I tackled the issue of integrity in politics.
MPS, I argued, had seen their conscience tested in recent days.
My party – the SNP – had proposed a motion supporting a ceasefire. Symbolism matters in politics.
And given our role in the division of the Ottoman Empire and imperial control of Palestine we have a special responsibility to speak about promises we once made and broke.
The Labour Party leadership had threatened any of its MPS with punishment if they voted in the Commons for a ceasefire and I told the story of one of my best friends in the place – a young Labour MP who had defied his whips and was waiting to see what retribution he would face for following his conscience.
He is ambitious, I told the Chamber. But his conscience matters more to him than his career. That’s integrity.
The House rose in a standing ovation.
And in the days following I’ve had e-mails and Direct Messages on social media from kids across these islands – thoughtful, detailed, sensitive communications showing empathy for the students’contemporaries in both Israel and Palestine.
I hope many in the Chamber enter politics.
I have a feeling our future is safe in their hands.