During September and October members of Ayers Explorer Scout Unit from Carlisle attended the LibDem, Labour and Conservative Party Conferences as part of the national Scouts Speak Up initiative. The events give young people the chance to meet MP’s and councillors to discuss issues that affect them, their families and communities. Scouts Speak Up seeks to positively engage the youth membership and the adult leaders who support them in sharing experiences directly with those people that make decision about the communities in which they live. The first event we attended was the LibDem conference in Birmingham. Scouts and MPs had round table discussion on a number of issues including the removal of EMA, the invasion of Libya and the future of nuclear energy. MPs were told by attendees how Scouting has enriched their lives and how they have contributed to their local communities. Duncan Hames, MP for Chippenham and PPS to Chris Huhne, Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change then chaired a Q&A session. He said, “The event was brilliant and is a great example of young people holding politicians to account. The young people who attended asked a number of challenging questions and it was great to see so many Scouts that are so passionate about their communities and who want to tackle such a broad range of issues. Hopefully events like today will be part of an ongoing dialogue between young people and their MPs.” Our Jessie Cassidy said, “Duncan Hames gave seemingly honest and personal responses to our questions. It was refreshing to hear an MP's views without the distortion of the national media". The following Sunday it was back on the train for the Labour Party Conference in Liverpool. The event followed the same format and the guest speaker was Toby Perkins MP (Shadow Minister for Children & Families). In Liverpool, our Andy Clare along with other members of the Unit was joined in discussions by Sir Alan Beith MP for Berwick-upon-Tweed. Many talked about their concerns for the future; how the skills they had learned
in Scouting might help them in future life and how they thought politicians could help them to fulfil their potential. Toby Perkins MP then addressed the Scouts, giving them his views on the future for young people and took questions from the audience, including questions on his views on votes at 16, youth unemployment and the state of the economy. Our Alex Bie said, “I really enjoyed today’s event. I was pleased to see that there were MP’s supporting votes at 16. Politics often feels like it’s something that young people can’t get involved in but today’s event let me put my point across.” Joe Bradley added, “It was also a great opportunity to network with Scouts from all over the UK and hear their contrasting views.” The final event, the Conservative Party Conference in Manchester was packed out by Scouts and MP’s. Special guest Andrew Stephenson, MP for Pendle and vice chairman of Conservative Future, was also joined by Tim Loughton, the Parliamentary Under Secretary for Children and Families. Our own MP John Stevenson also joined in the discussions. Commenting on the event our Abhay Ganga-Nair said, “Our table had several interesting debates on numerous topics. They were mainly centred on young people. We talked about voting age, riots and their consequences on the image of young people. The most heavily discussed topics were the state of education, politics and citizenship lessons in school.” Ashley Wilson added, “It was pleasing that MP’s were listening to young people’s views and it was good to test them out of their comfort zone. It was very useful that my local MP was on my table, which meant I was able to raise local issues and get answers to matters that affect me.” Tim Loughton said on youth engagement, "It's crazy if we don't listen to young people". He also suggested that there should be a "Youth Audit by young people in every community in the UK". Commenting on the series of events Chief Scout Bear Grylls said, “I want members to feel empowered to fulfil their ambitions, valued for their contribution they make and to feel proud of everything they do.” He added, “For all those campaigning for a fairer deal for young people and Scouting I say well done, keep at it and don’t give up. Together, we’re stronger.”