On the 12th of March, Bede’s hosted the European Youth Parliament (EYPUK) Regional Forum at Michelham Priory. It was a day full of constructive and insightful discussions. Crucial topics such as youth violence, needle spiking and toxic masculinity were debated throughout the day. Eight schools from around the South Coast took part and represented a number of different committees.
The first debate took place in the morning; the resolution was proposed by Bede’s. Our resolution promoted the usage of Artificial Intelligence in businesses, while ensuring the protection of people’s data and privacy, and also the protection of people’s jobs from AI. The start of the debate saw Harrison Odendaal supporting our resolution throughout the opening speech. The Committee of Culture and Education then made a speech opposing our resolution and pointed out any flaws that it had. Other committees asked us questions about our resolution which we defended. After answering each question I presented the closing speech, further responding to comments about the resolution and reinforcing the positive points in our resolution. Our resolution unfortunately failed due to the displacement of jobs that AI could create.
The next debate was proposed by The Committee on Transport and Tourism (TRAN) which aimed to reduce the pollution, inflation, displacement and overcrowding which occurs in European hotspots where a large number of tourists visit frequently. They aimed to do this by imposing taxes and denylists. Emilia McLelland made the excellent point that introducing a denylist against tourists exhibiting anti-social behaviour could be problematic as different communities have different values and levels of how polite one must be. After a short break, The Committee on Employment and Social Affairs (EMPL II) proposed a resolution which focused on enhancing care services, supporting care workers, and encouraging workforce participation. During this debate, Melanie Ferretti questioned the many flaws and contradictions their resolution included.
After lunch, James MacCleary, the Liberal Democrat MP for Lewes visited us. He talked about his work and there was an opportunity to ask questions. It was extremely interesting to hear about his views and some of the issues that Parliament has been discussing recently. His insights into current political debates and the challenges facing the government provided a valuable perspective on the work being done at the moment.
The Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs (LIBE I) proposed the first resolution after lunch, which aimed to promote fair treatment, rehabilitation, and successful reintegration of prisoners after their release. We were opposing this resolution and after they had given their opening speech, Emilia McLelland delivered the opposing speech. In this we pointed out that people all over the world are suffering from mental health and she questioned why resources go specifically to convicts and not all over the world. It was also pointed out that in most countries there are education programs for convicts so the funding for these would be needless. This speech caused everyone in the room to see some of the weaknesses the resolution included.
Next, the Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs (ECON) presented their resolution which seeked to promote economic growth, sustainability, technological innovation, and greater educational opportunities across Europe. During the debate Noa Moreno Berrocal suggested there are other areas that countries may want to prioritise their national economic plans on different sectors, especially in areas of conflict. During the last few debates, which were proposed by the Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs (LIBE II) and the Committee on Culture and Education (CULT) the energy in the room was low, so the chairs encouraged us to use any ways possible to be recognised, dancing and singing were adopted as the main techniques to be recognised!
These debates brought EYPUK 2025 to a close, which had provided a chance to debate as a team and work together to ensure everyone had a say and that everyone put their points forward. Harrison Odendaal said, “It was lots of fun debating as a team, and it was very interesting on both the topics that we debated, and also some of the dance moves from the other teams.” Thank you to Ms Webster and Mr Whitaker for organising this amazing opportunity and helping us prepare for it.
