George Eustice MP played the role of ‘Speaker’ in a parliament convened at Weeth School last week as year 6 pupils held a lively debate on the merits of homework. The session was the culmination of the School’s celebration of Parliament Week.
Prior to the debate, George was pleased to answer questions that had arisen from a week spent learning about the way Parliament is structured and how it functions. Questions ranged from how often George meets constituents (every Friday and Saturday) to what happens in the event of a tie in a Parliamentary debate (the Speaker gets the casting vote – usually in favour of the status quo).
The School Hall had been transformed to mimic the Westminster parliament. The Year 6 boys proposed the motion 'Homework should be given, as it is good for your education' with the girls arguing against. Persuasive arguments were made on both sides, but the girls managed to convince seven boys to vote with them, and the motion was defeated by twenty-three votes to seven.
George Eustice said, “I thoroughly enjoyed Chairing a parliamentary style debate at Weeth School as part of Parliament Week. It was very clear that the pupils had put in huge amounts of research into the workings of Parliament and a lively debate ensued. Although the sides were evenly balanced at first, it was perhaps not surprising that seven rebels ‘crossed the floor’ and voted with the opposition to defeat the motion in favour of homework.”