I’d like to thank year nine at Lancaster Girl’s Grammar School for presenting their thoughts on current events and topics such as the Cost of Living Crisis, Striking, The NHS and even Brexit!!

I could tell that many of the students had put a lot of effort into researching their respective topics and it is always interesting to hear younger voices speak about these complex issues. I’m always eager to listen to our young people on issues that will directly impact their future and I certainly found these presentations insightful.

Also, I took this opportunity to explain some of the work that I have been doing campaigning on lowering the voting age to sixteen. I managed to ascertain that a large majority of the students agree with me on this. They understand the importance of having their voices heard when decisions are being made about things like local services for young people and because of this, most of them would like to have the opportunity to decide who their elected representatives are before they turn eighteen!