David Taylor

It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Betts. I thank my hon. Friend the Member for Bracknell (Peter Swallow) for securing the debate and for his excellent speech. As the Member for Hemel Hempstead, I am proud to support, and want to see continued support for, a nationally elected UK Youth Parliament. That comes from personal experience, from having been elected as a Member of the UK Youth Parliament way back in 2001, then proceeding to be part of the procedures group, as it was, until 2003, and subsequently serving as a trustee of the UK Youth Parliament for a brief period later in that decade. I want to pay particular tribute to Kate Parish and Peter Clarke, two people who were central to the creation of the UK Youth Parliament and certainly provided me with a great deal of support. I really do attribute the UK Youth Parliament, and my experience in it, to my standing here today as a Member of Parliament; it was the start of my journey towards dedicating my life to public service. As we have heard, there are many others who have now followed that path too. When I was first elected to Parliament to represent Hertfordshire—well, for the first time since representing Hertfordshire as a Member of the UK Youth Parliament—I was sad to discover that Hertfordshire, at that point, was not participating any longer in the scheme. Along with other Labour MPs in Hertfordshire, I worked very closely with both Liberal Democrat and Labour councillors on Hertfordshire county council to try to bring it back. I am delighted that Hertfordshire now participates in the UK Youth Parliament again. I had the pleasure of meeting this year’s new representatives, including a gentleman who represents Hemel Hempstead, a few weeks back. I pay tribute to Katie Fineman and Karen Haswell for the brilliant work they do as youth workers in Hertfordshire. The best part of the UK Youth Parliament, as the hon. Member for Newbury (Mr Dillon) and my hon. Friend the Member for Bracknell have touched on, is when it reaches people from diverse backgrounds, particularly working-class backgrounds. I recognise that there is sometimes some criticism around whether it does that, but my hon. Friend the Member for Bracknell eloquently laid out the ways in which it is actually doing a terrific job. The UK Youth Parliament certainly helped me, as someone who had not participated in anything like it before, and it really built my skills and confidence. It is often the first experience many people have of speaking in public, networking and meeting other people. We have to ensure that we do not lose that.