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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.”

One of the UK’s leading human rights lawyers gave QE boys some thought-provoking insights into the complex area of British attitudes towards discrimination and the law.

Rebecca Hilsenrath, who is both Chief Executive and Chief Legal Officer to the Equality and Human Rights Commission, was a guest speaker at QE’s Politics Society. Her son, Adam Hilsenrath, (OE 2008–2015) is a former School Captain who won a place to read History at Oxford.

The commission, which is Great Britain’s national equality body, exists to “make Britain fairer…by safeguarding and enforcing the laws that protect people’s rights to fairness, dignity and respect”, according to its website.

Headmaster Neil Enright said: “I am most grateful to Rebecca for visiting us. The boys were clearly very engaged in the discussion that ensued and it is a great strength of the QE community that we can draw on people like her to come in and provide their knowledge, advice and inspiration to the boys. Her insights on the importance of voluntary work and of generally contributing to society accord fully with the tenets of our School mission.”

Ms Hilsenrath began her talk with a story of hill-climbing in Wales, where she thought she could see the top but realised that each time she got there, she had been deceived by the angle and there was in fact much further to go. A similar situation obtained with human rights in the UK, she said.

As the country of Magna Carta, Britain has “a fantastic tradition of leading on human rights and the development of law,” (which is why people in Brussels are so devastated at Brexit, she added.) The UK has done well in dealing with ‘direct discrimination’, but there are still many challenges around ‘indirect discrimination’. This results when groups are adversely affected by factors which, at face value, are not about them, but which particularly affect them. These groups often comprise those who do not enjoy high levels of public sympathy, such as gypsies or transgender people. Even with indirect discrimination, the picture is not altogether negative: there have been significant improvements for some groups as a result of cultural change, including much greater acceptance and equality.

The public, Ms Hilsenrath said, are generally supportive of single-issue matters of equality, but “people are scared of the big picture” and are negative on the advancement of human rights as a whole. There may, she believes, be some correlation between this and periods when Government finances are especially stretched: “People tend to be nastier to each other at these times, to hit out. Unhappiness can be manifested as xenophobia.”

The other important context is the continued prevalence of terrorism in the public and political discourse. The 9/11 attacks happened soon after the Human Rights Act came into full force in the UK. “Debate about human rights has been wrapped up in discussions of terrorism ever since,” she said. The public’s focus has often been on asking whether the country is being too lenient on terrorists, and there is a corresponding reluctance to grant terrorists rights: “It is much easier to give rights to those we like.”

Ms Hilsenrath argued, however, that it is possible both to have human rights and to implement robust measures to deal with terror, since many rights are “qualified” in relation to matters such as national security.

The Equality and Human Rights Commission’s last report two years ago showed big improvements for many, but made clear that there was still work to do. Some groups seemed to have fared worse than others as a result of policy and tax changes. She clarified the organisation’s mission: “We are not aiming for total equality – trying to make two people the same – instead we are after equality of opportunity.”

The boys asked a host of questions covering everything from her views on communism as a tool for trying to make society more equal and whether there should be a codified British Bill of Rights, to whether income inequality is necessarily a bad thing and whether some rights are more important than others.

She also provided some more general advice about working in law and public life, explaining that changing jobs can be a way to progress, as it helps you get a rounded experience.

She stressed the importance of voluntary work and encouraged boys to do as much of it as possible. Helping others was a key theme here: “Everybody needs to do what they can for other people out of love, to reach out and make a difference. Success in life is about being ‘the best you’, and to do that you need to do more than the day job.”

Broadcaster and journalist Jeremy Paxman brought with him his trademark combination of forthright frankness and well-informed opinion when he visited the School. He also brought his dog, Derek!

The 67-year-old question master from the BBC’s University Challenge made his name with his tough interviewing style on the corporation’s Newsnight.

When he came to the QE Politics Society event, the shoe was on the other foot, with boys from all year groups seizing the chance to grill the famous interviewer. However, that did not prevent some boys, including Politics Society Chairman Tej Mehta, from being ‘Paxmanned’ – robustly taken to task for the slant of their questions – albeit in very good humour.

The format of the visit, which was arranged by Head of Politics Liam Hargadon, was a question-and-answer session. Mr Paxman answered questions on a wide variety of subjects, including Theresa May and Jeremy Corbyn, pollsters, the 2017 general election, social media, Donald Trump and, of course, Brexit.

The Headmaster said: “Mr Paxman was typically forthright, proffering honest and entertaining opinions on many of the key issues of the day.

“Such visits give our boys unique opportunities to learn from national and international experts. They also foster our pupils’ skills in asking good questions, which we see as an important aspect of developing boys’ intellectual capabilities – and who better to learn from than the master questioner himself?”

“Through interacting with somebody of Mr Paxman’s stature, they learn to think carefully and analytically, to articulate clearly and to stand firm in their arguments, while remaining willing to listen to differing views.

“I would like to thank him for his visit and also for the surprise visit of his cocker spaniel, who was a big hit with the boys.”