Reading West MP Martin Salter yesterday laid into a group of Conservative Members of Parliament who were seeking to block proposals to allow the UK Youth Parliament to hold its annual meeting in the Chamber of the House of Commons.

Mr Salter had previously lobbied the Prime Minister Gordon Brown on his wish to change the outdated rules, and allow young people who are members of the UKYP to meet in the Commons chamber in order to give them a taste of parliamentary life. There is a centuries old tradition that only elected members of the House of Commons are allowed to actually sit on the green benches when the Commons is not sitting.

A motion to allow the one-off use of the Chamber by the UKYP was blocked last month by a significant number of right-wing Conservative MPs. This week it has been back on the Order Paper and Martin Salter has been speaking out in favour of allowing young people the unique opportunity of debating from the floor of the House of Commons.

In his speech Martin Salter said:-

“There are times when I am proud to be a Member of the House and there are times when I am slightly saddened. I am sad when young people are patronised and an organisation as worthy as the UK Youth Parliament is traduced in the way that some hon. Members have tried to do. The UK Youth Parliament is an excellent institution. I grew up in the ’60s and ’70s, when young people were energised by the political process. A lot of us feel despair at the lack of turnout and engagement among young people in the party political process and in the general political process. For us, as a Parliament, to be shutting our doors on a small group of young people who wish to participate and engage in our democratic process is disgraceful.”

In a highly-charged exchange with the Conservative Member for Macclesfield, Sir Nicholas Winterton who was opposing the motion, Mr Salter said:-

“One of the pleasures I derived from serving on the Modernisation Committee was seeing how apoplectic the hon. Member for Macclesfield got whenever it was suggested that anything other than an elected posterior should be allowed to grace the leather.”

He added:-

“I have another problem for Members opposite who feel that their traditions, their security or even their very being would be threatened by some young people meeting once a year in this place. The records show that the House authorities have identified the fact that asbestos exists in this building. As you will be aware, Madam Deputy Speaker, they have been considering the possibility of relocating us across the road-I think to the Queen Elizabeth centre-while the work takes place. I am afraid that the traditions of this place may yet be subject to health and safety legislation. When we are away and the contractors are in this place removing the asbestos, goodness knows, treason may happen. A building worker-a working-class person-may end up sitting on the green Benches, and what a terrible thing that would be!”

He concluded:-

“We should be doing everything we can to inspire the next generation of democratic representatives. We should vote in favour of this motion, because it is called progress.”

Speaking after the debate, Mr Salter said:-

“The appalling conduct of “Cameron’s cavemen” on the Tory benches shows just skin-deep the alleged modernisation of the Tory Party really is. However, these neanderthal Tories can huff and puff all they like but will eventually lose as I am confident that after yesterday’s exchanges the Government will find time to allow this debate to conclude and for a vote to be taken. It is a stain on the reputation of the House of Commons that the House of Lords of all places has already proved more modern and more progressive than the Commons by allowing the UKYP to hold its annual meeting in their Lordships’ chamber in May of last year.”

Kate Parish, Head of Programmes at the UK Youth Parliament said:-

“UKYP was concerned at the views expressed by some of the eminent Members of the House yesterday concerning young people’s use of the Chamber. UKYP has already proved that young people can use Parliament to debate sensibly, maturely, and with reverence for the surroundings, in the House of Lords in May 2008 - a historic occasion that truly gave young people the right to be heard, as determined by Article 12 of the UN Convention of the Rights of the Child. It is also a fact that Members of the Youth Parliament have been elected by greater numbers of young people than some adult councillors elected by those aged eighteen and above. These young people have earned, through the democratic process, the opportunity to express their views and the views of the young people they represent at the highest level.”