Lord Ouseley, who has been a peer since 2001, spoke to students at the College’s Bromley Campus for an hour. He explained the role of the House of Lords and the work that takes place there.
This was then followed by a question and answer session on various aspects of the parliamentary process and life at Westminster generally. Lord Ouseley was asked his opinions on a number of subjects including the number of good role-models for young people, whether or not Britain is a fair society, and his thoughts on equality and inclusivity.
Andrew Slade, Deputy Principal at London South East Colleges, said: “This was a fantastic opportunity for our students to interact with someone who knows the parliamentary system inside out, as it can sometimes seem far removed from their daily lives.
“I would like to thank Lord Ouseley for taking the time to visit us today. I very much hope that our students will now be inspired to look at the many careers open to them within the political and parliamentary world. We may well have a future Prime Minister in our midst!”
London South East Colleges’ student, Scott said: “I found Lord Ouseley’s talk really helpful and interesting today. He’s shed a lot more light on how Parliament and democracy works and Britain’s politics system; something I knew very little about.”
This visit was arranged through the Lord Speaker’s ‘Peers in Schools’ programme, which has been running across the UK since 2007 and has so far involved around 75,000 young people.
This continuing outreach programme sends members of the House of Lords into schools/academies and colleges across the country to give talks in support of the citizenship curriculum.
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