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A-level Politics students had the chance to see the reality behind their textbooks on a trip to the Houses of Parliament.

Their visit gave them a vivid experience of Westminster life inside and outside the House of Commons chamber, including the opportunity to see leading politicians at first-hand, to watch demonstrations by campaigners on both sides of the Brexit divide and to observe lobbying by former employees of Thomas Cook.

And during an education workshop, the Year 12 boys also had a chance to try their own hand at law-making.

Politics teacher Liam Hargadon, who organised the trip, said: “We have been living through turbulent times, with greatly increased public attention to developments. Much has been said about how important the views of young people should be. It’s vital they understand the opportunities to make their voices heard.”

The weekday visit provided boys with the opportunity to tour the Central Lobby and committee rooms, as well as the public gallery of the House of Commons.

“We saw Theresa May make her first speech in parliament since standing down as PM, talking about legislation to limit abuses within families.”

Others in the Commons chamber included outgoing Speaker John Bercow and Dr Liam Fox, Secretary of State for International Trade until July this year, while among those the boys saw in the precincts of the Palace of Westminster were former Chancellor Philip Hammond and former Labour Cabinet Minister Lord (Peter) Hain.

“The reality of Parliament was on show to the boys; outside Parliament, both sides in the Brexit debate were seeking to make their presence felt. In addition, about 50 members of staff from the recently crashed Thomas Cook travel firm were seeking to lobby MPs,” said Mr Hargadon.

In the workshop, the boys were given the chance to propose a law. They suggested a bigger police presence in schools, partly to provide greater re-assurance and security, but also to help break down barriers between police and young people.

Teamwork, talent and exemplary preparation all played their part in the success of QE’s eight-strong team in the South East Regional Session of the European Youth Parliament.

The Year 12 boys now progress to this summer’s national round of the debating competition for the third consecutive year.

Guiding them to their success at the regional forum hosted by Haberdashers’ Aske’s School for Girls was Academic Enrichment Tutor Helen Davies. “The team put in a fantastic performance head-and-shoulders above their rivals, being described as ‘too keen and too good’ by the chair of the session!” she said.

“Their success was down to solid preparation before the event and also excellent teamwork and the participation of all eight members, who all spoke many times during the session.”

“In addition to defending the resolution which we had been allocated in advance (for SEDE – the Committee on Security and Defence), the boys’ performance also won them the right to make key ‘attack speeches’ on other resolutions over the course of the day.”

The SEDE resolution stated: “Given the discovery of Russian influence on campaigns orchestrated via social media, and the upcoming European elections in 2019, what steps can the EU take to make sure its citizens are correctly informed and to ensure the security of the election?”

In his opening defence speech, Saifullah Shah said: “Russia is seeking to undermine the very fabric of our society by spreading disinformation.” And in his closing defence speech, Chris Hall stated that the ability of disabled and otherwise immobilised people to vote would be greatly enhanced by online voting.

Among the speakers on other resolutions, Ryan Ratnam, at the Committee on Human Rights, addressed the issue of the age at which the Holocaust should be taught in the National Curriculum. Alex Beard gave a summation in a closing speech for the same committee, attacking the complete lack of coverage of anti-Semitism in the resolution, opining that it was therefore not fit for the 21st century. Referring back to an analogy employed by the proposing committee in their opening speech, and contradicting the view taken by them, he said: “This motion is akin to a tricycle – it is childish and naïve. Unfortunately, during the course of this debate, we can see that the wheels of the proverbial tricycle have fallen off.”

The day ended with a highly entertaining ‘French debate’ in which students debated a final motion in a language of their choice, said Miss Davies: Alex Beard contributed in both French and German.

“The boys displayed good teamwork and in-depth knowledge on each of the resolutions debated during the day – the product of their general excellent political knowledge and their prior research,” she said. “The event displayed well the excellent tradition of public speaking and debating which is upheld at QE, as all eight boys spoke extremely well, which set us apart from the other schools.

“It was very nice to see the legacy of QE success within the EYP organisation: one of the key organisers for this event was Aditya Ravindrakumar, of Year 13, who was part of the QE team which qualified for the EYP National Session in 2018.”

The 2019 QE team comprises: Alex Beard; Kieran Dhrona; Deeps Gandhi; Hanif Gofur; Chris Hall; Denis O’Sullivan; Ryan Ratnam and Saifullah Shah.

Also going through to the nationals are the City of London School for Girls.

Leading activist and writer Laura Bates impressed QE sixth-formers with a wide-ranging lecture on modern feminism.

The founder of the Everyday Sexism Project covered topics including definitions of feminism, transgender matters, the approach feminists should adopt to cultures elsewhere and the advice that should be given to young men in relationships with women. She also discussed her new Young Adult fiction book, The Burning.

After an invitation from hosts St Albans High School for Girls, a dozen Year 12 A-level Politics students attended the lecture, accompanied by Head of Year 12 and History & Politics teacher Lottie Coleman and Head of Politics Liam Hargadon. The School has selected feminism as an option within the A-Level Politics core syllabus.

“It was a really excellent talk,” said Miss Coleman. “She was so articulate and informed on the subject of feminism without being dogmatic, making her an incredibly impressive speaker.”

One of the QE sixth-formers, Rushil Shah, praised Ms Bates’ “well-articulated and convincing talk…which was not repetitive or droning at all,” adding that he had been impressed by her use of statistics. His classmate, Leo Kucera, praised her for addressing male stereotypes in society and for “confidently and accurately answering questions”.

Ms Bates started the Everyday Sexism Project website in 2012, five years after graduating from Cambridge with a degree in English Literature. The aim of the site is to document examples of sexism from around the world.

She spoke initially of her own experiences of sexism, including a Cambridge don who wore a black armband on the anniversary of women’s first admission to the university.

To illustrate her claim of the inequality facing women, she cited the fact that there are more men called John leading FTSE100 companies than women!

She stressed the need to discuss sexism and feminism with young men in relationships, saying that the suggestion sometimes made that this is a ‘minefield’ area is actually insulting to young men.

Regarding trans matters and how feminism applies in this area, she pointed out that women are not an homogenous group anyway, so the variety of experience seen among trans people should not be an issue.

Ms Bates felt that it is not the job of western feminists to impose their ideals in other parts of the world; they should instead concentrate on giving feminists from other cultures a platform.

Issues raised in a question-and-answer session after the lecture included:

• Discrimination against women in careers – Ms Bates said that the fact that women have children is not sufficient to explain this away
• Why women and men tend to choose certain careers – her view was that this is due to nurture, such as children being given ‘gendered’ toys
• Workplace gender quotas – the current situation is not a true meritocracy, so quotas are not inherently unfair, she said. They might speed up the process of attaining equality as a short-term step, alongside other measures.

Besides Leo and Rushil, the QE attendees were: Alex Beard; Chris Hall; Senan Karunadhara; Tohgo Kimura; Mehdi Reza Lilani; Aditya Mukopadhyay; Josh Osman; Ryan Ratnam; Oscar Robinson and Teg Singh.

A Brexit specialist from UCL’s European Institute gave boys some expert insights into the current political turmoil in a lecture to Years 10 and 11.

Clément Leroy, a Research and Policy Engagement Associate at the institute, came to QE to explain the background of the recent ‘meaningful vote’ in Parliament and looked at all the major issues involved.

Although he did not, of course, know how things will play out in the coming weeks, he suggested that a ‘no deal’ outcome is quite possible – and even likely – given that this is the default position if a deal is not agreed and approved by Parliament.

Mr Leroy worked on Brexit at the French Embassy in London and on EU economic policies at the French Ministry for Foreign Affairs in Paris prior to his appointment to the European Institute.

Nisha Mayer, Head of Academic Enrichment, thanked Mr Leroy for his visit: “He did a good job of explaining the current situation, bringing some clarity – if not solutions!.

She added: “With wall-to-wall media coverage and lots of material on social media, it is important that we help the boys sort through the ‘noise’ to understand the key facts and issues about matters as significant as the Brexit process. We seek to develop the critical thinking and questioning skills that will equip them to formulate balanced and informed viewpoints, even if they may still respectfully disagree.”

Among the topics Mr Leroy covered during the lecture were the initial referendum, the negotiations, the Irish backstop and the potential outcomes and how we might reach them. Boys also had the opportunity to ask questions.

Best-selling author Tim Marshall told A-level Politics and Geography students about the worldwide renewed rise of nationalism and identity politics in a talk on his latest book.

The former diplomatic editor and foreign affairs editor for Sky News was visiting South Hampstead High School, which invited QE to send along boys with an interest in the subject.

In an early-evening event, he spoke for 45 minutes on Divided: Why we’re living in an age of walls to an audience that included 11 QE boys, as well as QE’s Head of Geography, Emily Parry, Head of Politics, Liam Hargadon and Geography teachers Helen Davies and Nilisha Shah.

Miss Parry said: “In his talk, Tim discussed how we feel more divided than ever and how nationalism and identity politics are on the rise once more. Thousands of miles of fences and barriers have been erected in the past ten years, and they are redefining our political landscape.

“He highlighted how the proposed wall between Mexico and the USA isn’t the only wall which should have our attention, but how many walls and other physical divisions exist throughout the world, such as the wall between Israel and the West Bank and the fence separating India from Bangladesh.

“He argues that understanding what has divided us, past and present, is essential to understanding much of what’s going on in the world today.”

Miss Parry added that he also told a few Geography-themed jokes, including: ‘Where do all pens come from? Answer: Pennsylvania!”

In the Q&A session following the talk, there was a discussion about topics such as whether the rise of nationalism means we are seeing an end to some forms of globalisation. Mr Marshall was also asked whether, in the context of the mass migration movements seen around the world, open borders should exist: he felt that they should not.

At the end of the event, he signed copies of his books, including his 2015 best-seller, Prisoners of Geography.

It was standing room only in the Conference Centre when Mark D’Arcy, the BBC’s Parliamentary Correspondent, gave a talk to the Politics Society.

With boys eager to hear an inside view on the political machinations surrounding Brexit, Mr D’Arcy’s lecture proved a significant lunchtime draw.

Mr D’Arcy who has been a correspondent for Today in Parliament since 2002 and presents BBC Parliament’s political review show, Book Talk, covered the biggest issues of the day in Parliament. He talked about Brexit in depth, touched on how Parliament operates and shared his own experiences as a journalist.

His career has included stints at LWT’s Weekend World and the Leicester Mercury. Since joining the BBC he has also produced, and occasionally presented, Radio 4’s The Westminster Hour.

He told the boys that politics had not been “normal” over the last two years: “It is unusual that you have Cabinet ministers threatening to resign, or actually resigning, almost daily. Politics used to be boring!”

Politics was now split into Brexit and ‘everything else’, including all the usual big issues such as the NHS, housing and education. He added that dealing with Brexit is very complex: “Because of how closely we have been integrated in a whole range of areas over decades, it will take some time to establish new relationships. It’s like trying to unscramble an egg.”

Generally, in politics and government, he said, it is very difficult to make things much better, but easy to make them very much worse. “The first aim of any politician is to avoid the latter!”

Mr D’Arcy said that Brexit is the biggest thing he will have seen go through Parliament, whether the deal is passed or not. He predicted the process will be very difficult because of the Parliamentary arithmetic and the differences of opinion, particularly within the Conservative Party. But he added that Labour is also divided – their strategy seems to wait and try to force a General Election. But would the public want another one? he wondered, adding that General Elections are exhausting for journalists. At this stage, no serious commentator can really predict, with any certainty, how it will all end up,” he added.

The Headmaster, Neil Enright, said: “This was a fantastic opportunity for the boys to hear from, and engage with, an eminent journalist, who is observing first-hand and up-close the unfolding of the key issues of the day at this pivotal point in recent political history. It is also very pleasing that the very active Politics Society continues to thrive.”

Mr D’Arcy went on to talk more broadly about Parliament, paraphrasing a quotation attributed to Churchill that Parliamentary democracy is “the worst system, apart from all the others”.

He talked through the make-up of Parliament and mentioned safe seats and how they give those members a different focus to those in a close marginal. And yet history shows that those in supposedly safe seats may still have a shock at election time, he pointed out.

Other topics covered included the structure and functions of Parliament, including more technical matters, such as statutory instruments and different mechanisms for changing the law. He noted the difficulties associated with the government not having a functional majority – as seen with the recent row and Government climb-down over fixed-odds betting terminals.

“Rebels find voting against their party leadership easier the more they do it,” he said. “It means that the law can be changed against the Government’s will and it can lose its control over the country, which would be fatal for its credibility.”

There was a Q&A session during which the boys pressed Mr D’Arcy on such matters as: what Theresa May’s strategy should be ahead of a potential election; whether Brexit could trigger independence referenda in Scotland and Northern Ireland; whether there is space for a third big party and why he became a journalist. To this last question, he replied that he is fascinated by the human element of the drama: “As a journalist you get a ring-side seat!”

He was also asked who would be most likely to win a Tory leadership election, to which he said it would depend upon the circumstances under which it arose. Any run-off was likely to be between a ‘remain’ candidate (that is to say, someone who would have been in favour of a remain vote in the original referendum, though might now support the UK leaving the EU) and a ‘leave’ candidate, an enthusiastic Brexiteer.

Mr D’Arcy describes himself as a politics nerd, a cricket fanatic, an amateur cook and a Bruce Springsteen fan.

A politics conference at the British Library featuring leading academics and former US national politicians was held on the same day as the American mid-term elections, adding a little extra spice to the proceedings for the QE delegates.

Fourteen A-level Politics students benefitted from the academics’ expert analysis, while also learning from the anecdotes and insights of two former US Congressmen from opposite sides of the political fence.

After widely-reported acrimonious campaigning,  the stateside election results saw the Democrats taking control in the House of Representatives, yet the Republicans strengthened their hold on the Senate.

Head of Politics Liam Hargadon said; “We live in fascinating, exciting, political times and there has been a very obvious increase in interest in political developments. This conference is an exceptional opportunity for students to engage with the leading thinkers in American politics at UK universities.”

At the US Politics Today 2018-2019 conference, Dr Althea Legal-Miller, from Canterbury Christchurch University, spoke on Civil Rights in America, while Dr Andrew Moran, Associate Professor of Politics and International Relations at the London Metropolitan University, titled his presentation The imperilled or unconstrained presidency.

The conference is an annual event which looks at aspects of politics in the United States. This year, as well as the focus on the mid-term elections, the subjects also included developments regarding the Supreme Court. Former Congressmen Tom Petri and Martin Lancaster offered a privileged insight into the workings of the House of Representatives with accounts of their own time as members.

Republican Tom Petri (wearing a dark suit, pictured with QE boys) was the Representative for Wisconsin’s Sixth Congressional District from 1979 to 2015. Known as a moderate, he was a member of The Tuesday Group, an informal caucus of about 50 moderate Republicans. Martin Lancaster (pictured top in light grey suit) is a Democrat who represented North Carolina in Congress between 1987 and 1995. He was subsequently nominated by the then-President, Bill Clinton, for the role of The Assistant Secretary of the Army for Civil Works, a position he held for 18 months.

After the conference, Eshan Patel, of Year 13, said: “This was a unique opportunity to hear directly from the academics who write the textbooks and articles that we read in our classes. I’ve never been to the British Library before, so that, too, was a great experience.”

Sixth-formers enjoyed some traditional food – as well as plentiful helpings of History and Politics – on their trip to Russia.

The party of 30 boys from Years 12 and 13, along with four members of staff, landed in Moscow for a six-day, two-city tour, during which they learned more about Russian life, from the era of the Tsars through the soviet period and up to the present day.

Helen MacGregor, Head of History, said: “It was a great trip; the boys really got into the culture of the country. The visit not only increased their understanding of their A-level History material but also of modern-day politics, including the reasons for the evident popularity of President Putin among Russian voters.”

Among the highlights were visits to Red Square and to the dark marble pyramid that is Lenin’s Mausoleum. “He died in 1924 and the boys have learned so much about him, so it was amazing to actually see him,” said Miss MacGregor. The boys also saw Stalin’s resting place in the Kremlin Wall Necropolis.

In the afternoon they had a guided tour of the Novodevichy Cemetery. Constructed in 1898 its importance dates to the 1930s when it became home to the remains of famous Russians whose bodies were disinterred when Stalin ordered the demolition of the abbeys. Anton Chekhov, Nikita Kruschev and Boris Yeltsin are among those buried at Novodevichy.

In the evening there was a total change of mood with a visit to the HC Spartak Ice Hockey stadium. The group stayed in a hotel for the first night where they partook of traditional Russian fare, namely borscht and cabbage soup. “The boys enjoyed trying the local food, but Moscow’s McDonalds was also a hit,” added Miss MacGregor.

After a second day of sightseeing in Moscow, which took in the Patriotic War Museum and the Metro, the boys relished a game of bowling. They then took the Grand Express overnight train to travel the 800 kms to St Petersburg. “It was so exciting to be whizzing through Russia in the dark to arrive in St Petersburg the following morning,” said Miss MacGregor.

“The boys were blown away by the beauty of the palaces there. So much gold and decoration, including the Amber Room in the Catherine Palace, which had to be recreated after it was dismantled and disappeared during WWII, presumably looted by the Nazis.”

Whilst in St Petersburg, the boys went to a Soviet Arcade Machine Museum where they tried out a selection of old games, including pinball and table football.

On the final morning, the boys went to the Hermitage Museum, which boasts the second largest art collection in the world, ranked second only to The Louvre in Paris. The museum and gallery were founded by Catherine the Great and house a collection of more than 3 million items, although only a small proportion is on public display at any one time.

Miss MacGregor said: “Trips both support what the boys learn in the classroom whilst offering them unique enrichment opportunities. They returned with much greater insight into the topics they have been studying, having had a thoroughly enjoyable experience.”

Media reports about the extent of divisions within the parliamentary Conservative Party over the Brexit negotiations are well wide of the mark, MP Mike Freer told sixth-formers.

The Tory MP and former QE governor came into School to speak to Year 13 in a special assembly and responded robustly when asked whether he thought splits in the party would prevent the Government from winning any vote on Brexit.

“I sometimes feel as if I work at a different House of Commons to what I see portrayed in the media,” said Mr Freer, an Assistant Government Whip and MP for Finchley and Golders Green. He stated that the vast bulk of the Parliamentary Conservative Party supports the Prime Minister, adding that not only had she been a successful Home Secretary, but that she also knew Europe and understood that good deals inevitably happen at the very last minute.

And Mr Freer had another example of how perceptions of British politics can be affected by the media: he pointed out that although the chamber of the House of Commons usually appears quite empty on the BBC Parliament channel, this was because most of Parliament’s work was in fact conducted outside the chamber.

Mr Freer was on QE’s Governing Body when he was as a councillor in the London Borough of Barnet, where he served as Leader prior to running for Parliament. He spoke to the boys about the true role of MPs in the legislative process and about how to effect changes in public policy, before answering their questions on a wide range of political topics.

An MP’s job is to scrutinise the law, not make it, he explained. The law usually comes from the Government, which is the executive. However, there are a number of ways in which MPs can achieve a change in the law, through lobbying, questioning, building consensus, and trying to amend legislation as it progresses through Parliament. One approach is to hang an amendment on to a piece of legislation already tabled – known in the US as a Christmas tree bill. Westminster Hall debates – for which MPs sit in a horseshoe arrangement intended to encourage non-confrontational discussions – provide another opportunity to influence, he said.

Mr Freer recounted how he had secured changes to the law to:

• Make residential squatting illegal
• Remove ‘poppers’ from the list of drugs controlled under the Psychoactive Substances Act 2016 (having challenged the Department of Health’s evidence about their health impact).
• Make PrEP (Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis) available on the NHS. (PrEP is when people at very high risk for HIV take HIV medicines daily to lower their chances of getting infected.)
• Extend the Human Papilloma Virus (HPV) vaccine’s availability to include boys.

“Changing public policy is the most worthwhile thing about being an MP. I’m proud if I’ve stopped one person getting an HPV-related cancer,” he said.

Boys challenged Mr Freer in a number of areas during the Q & A session. He was asked, for example, “how do you reconcile the fact that your constituency voted for ‘remain’ with the Government’s position (that you are whipping)?”

“Easy! I’m a democrat,” he replied, adding that the Brexit referendum was the largest democratic vote in the country’s history and that all should therefore respect its outcome.

There were also questions on his voting record, including one on tuition fees. One sixth-former put a particularly thoughtful question about community relations: how did Mr Freer reconcile religious rights with the rights of other groups, such as the LGBT+ community, within such a diverse constituency. His answer was that trust is built over time as people get to know you as their MP and see you working hard for the local area; this allows you to disagree on particular issues without destroying those relationships.

After the assembly, Headmaster Neil Enright said: “This was a wide-ranging talk and set of questions, which engaged the boys and which will have aided their understanding of the political and legislative processes, not least in terms of gaining an insight into how MPs influence public policy. It is important that our pupils are able to consider a range of political perspectives on the key issues of the day and engage critically with them.”

QE sixth-formers heard from leading cross-party politicians at a day conference that touched upon topics ranging from Brexit to humanitarian issues in conflict zones.

Yet despite all this, there was a single appeal that rang out loud and clear, according to Year 12’s Eshan Patel: “Over the course of the event, one key message was expressed; that young people were vital in politics and were needed for the future of the country.”

Parliamentarians including Commons Speaker John Bercow, Foreign Office Minister Sir Alan Duncan and Labour MPs Clive Lewis and Jess Phillips made the call, making clear that young people were needed “to help increase the work that has already been done towards equality for women and minorities”.

The 2017 A-Level Politics Conference featured talks from currently serving politicians, who also answered the sixth-formers’ questions.

Brexit was a repeated point of focus. Speakers including Labour’s Sir Keir Starmer discussed a ‘soft Brexit’, the importance of access to the single market and matters of economic policy. Tory Remainer Anna Soubry discussed the approach of Theresa May in the negotiation process, standing strongly behind her.

High-profile Conservative Jacob Rees-Mogg (pictured with three QE students) spoke on traditional values within politics, while the Liberal Democrats’ former leader, Nick Clegg, answered questions on the future of his party. Labour’s Chuka Umunna delivered a strong speech on the future of the country in relation to global events, such as humanitarian issues in Syria and Libya.

Overall, reported Eshan, the trip was interesting and provided many fresh insights for the QE boys. “It helped us understand how fragile the Brexit negotiations are, as well as the desired outcomes of the two main parties.” he said.

QE’s Head of Politics, Liam Hargadon, said: ““This was a rare opportunity for students to come face-to-face with national leaders and to address their concerns directly to decision-makers. QE students derive great benefit from this occasion.”