Halton Borough Council’s Member of Youth Parliament, Ewan Jago went to the UK Youth Parliament Annual Sitting ensuring that Halton’s young people had a say in the group’s policy making processes.

More than 250 Members of Youth Parliament from across the UK gathered at Hope University for the UK Youth Parliament’s 17th Annual Sitting to debate new policies and campaigns for the year ahead.

The sitting helps young people pushing forward their vision for a better country and a better world. There are no political parties or adversarial opposition at UK Youth Parliament, but everyone has a vote and emphasis is on persuasion, consensus and researched arguments.

The three-day residential was opened by Vimla Appadoo who told the sitting about her experiences volunteering with the Holocaust Educational Trust.

John Bercow MP, Speaker of the House of Commons, who has spoken at every Annual Sitting since his first election, also addressed the sitting of Members of Youth Parliament.

The Speaker gave an impassioned speech about the importance of young people having a voice.

To close the sitting, Margaret Aspinall CBE, Chair of the Hillsborough Family Support Group told her story and gave a speech about the importance of the perseverance and fighting for justice.

During the weekend issues such as support for young carers, improving healthcare services, supporting EU nationals post-Brexit and protecting the LGBT+ community all gained momentum following debates on new policy for the manifesto

Ewan Jago and his colleagues from Halton Youth Cabinet will be busy in the coming weeks making sure there is a strong turn out amongst Halton’s young people in the annual UK Youth Parliament Make Your Mark ballot which will help decide the body’s national campaigns for the coming year.

Ewan, aged 14 years, said “Being able to meet up with all my fellow MYP’s from across the UK was brilliant. We all got to share ideas, make plans and learn a lot about each other but more importantly put real focus on how to make the lives of the UK’s youth better.

“I’ve come away inspired to make sure that Halton’s young people are seen, heard and listened to and I will be working hard to ensure that they are well represented in this year’s Make Your Mark ballot.

“I can’t wait to meet up with my fellow MYPs again at the House of Commons in November to help decide our national campaigns for the coming year.”

Halton Borough Council’s Executive Board Member for Children, Young People and Families, Cllr Tom McInerney, said: “It’s fantastic to see young people so involved in politics. ”

For more information about UK Youth Parliament, and how young people can get involved in youth voice here in Halton contact Halton Youth Cabinet on enquiries@haltonyc.com, call 01928 240 406 or check out the website www.haltonyc.com

in decision making in the borough and beyond, check out www.haltonyc.com

For information about Halton Youth Cabinet and the UK Youth Parliament in Halton please contact: enquiries@haltonyc.com

Check out more from Halton Youth Cabinet on the web at HaltonYC.com, on Facebook and Twitter @HaltonYC: @HaltonYC.

Halton MYP elections are run by Youth Addaction behalf of Halton’s Children’s Trust and Halton Borough Council as part of an on-going commitment to improve opportunities for all children and young people