| |
Question Time Event at the Queen Elizabeth 6th Form College – 3 April-Report by Conservative Cllr Kate Davies
Date: 08/04/2009
On Friday 3rd of April I attended a Question Time style event at the
6th form college as a panel member. Alongside me at the event were Cllr
Mike Barker for the Lib Dems and Cllr Stella Robson for Labour.
It was a daunting prospect for me as I had not returned to the college
for nearly twenty years and the thought of facing questions from 80
politics students suddenly didn’t seem like the good idea it had when I
volunteered some months earlier.
My worst fears were realised when I was picked to answer the first
question first, however panic over, my brain didn’t freeze and I got
off to a decent start. The questions raised ranged from parking charges
in Darlington to the World Economy. I would like to think I gave good
account of myself and my party during the questioning, Cllr Robson
proved to be a safe pair of hands for the ailing Labour party and Cllr
Barker gave a decent performance although did have to be reminded that
we were not there to canvass for votes when he pushed the point home
about remembering to vote in the forthcoming European elections.
There was a question about proportional representation which proved
very interesting although my favourite was about university top up
fees. Cllr Robson gave a stout reply about not being in favour of top
up fees and didn’t agree with the cap being removed and finished with a
line about not liking the regime we were living under. I couldn’t
resist then reminding all the young people in the room that the regime
we are living under in Nu Labour and they are indeed the party that
introduced the top up fees in the first place. I am not naïve enough to
suggest that any funding scheme for universities would be perfect but
the removing the cap on fees would just result in selection
(social/economic not education based) by the back door.
The questions we were asked were all intelligent and they were asked
freely, there were no gaps waiting for students to ask questions. All
in all I thoroughly enjoyed the event and I was very impressed by the
young people at the sixth form, it is encouraging to see a new
generation of people who love politics and have faith in its ability to
shape our lives.
|
|
|
|
