As part of Parliament Week, A Level Politics students were given the exciting opportunity to meet and question our Rushcliffe MP, Ruth Edwards. Whilst Ms Edwards is a Conservative MP herself, there was a wide range of
political beliefs and stances within the room which allowed for many interesting and challenging questions to be asked. Some of these questions were directly linked to the students’ A level politics course- from discussing parliamentary scrutiny to Scottish independence and the use of referendums – whilst other questions were more focused on current political issues we are facing today, including immigration, the Autumn Statement and the premiership of previous PMs.
Ms Edwards began the discussion with asking us about the how to deal with the arrival of migrants on the South coast and conveyed both her personal thoughts as well as her party’s view on the current migrant crisis which caused much debate about provision and treatment of refugees and asylum seekers. The students also discussed controversial political figures in the Conservative Party – Matt Hancock, Suella Braverman and Liz Truss. Ms Edwards was clear in stating her disagreement with both Ms Braverman’s use of language and Mr Hancock’s widely publicized appearance on I’m a Celebrity, as well as restating her long standing commitment to Rishi Sunak.
Ms Edwards acknowledged valid concerns raised by students regarding a proposed British Bill of Rights and how that would affect the protection on LGBTQ+ rights and promised to raise these. Ms Edwards also expressed her affinity for our constituency and her hope of keeping her seat in Rushcliffe in the ‘precarious’ world of politics!
This was overall a superb opportunity for students to gain a deeper understanding of how our representative in Parliament engages with a wide political agenda and we were grateful for her time and allowing us to share our own thoughts.
