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Lords let in teens to debate issues
A HANDFUL of Hampshire teenagers joined hundreds of young people on the red leather benches of the House of Lords for a session of the UK Youth Parliament.
The students debated university tuition fees, lowering the voting age to 16 and environmental issues in what was only the second time the Lords has been used for a non-parliamentary event.
The 300 delegates to the Youth Parliament, who met to choose which issues to campaign on during the next year, included eight from Hampshire.
One of them, James Binns, who attends Totton College, said he was hoping members would fight to lower the voting age.
The 17-year-old, from the New Forest, told the Daily Echo: "We can pay tax to the Government and they can put taxes up but we are powerless to do anything about it - it's totally undemocratic."
He added: "The Lords chamber is fantastic and I'm really honoured they have allowed us in here to debate."
When it came to their decision, Youth Parliament members voted to campaign on abolishing tuition fees, winning a concession for public transport for people aged under 18 and improving the environment.
The contrast between the teenagers and the usual inhabitants of the House of Lords was stark. Peers, ranging in age from 36 to 95, are not elected by the general public while the members of the Youth Parliament were aged 11 to 18 and had been voted for by 400,000 of their contemporaries.
2:47pm Monday 5th May 2008
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