Reading West MP Martin Salter celebrates the arrival of the UK Youth Parliament (UKYP) to the House of Commons. Members of the UKYP will hold their 2009 annual meeting in the Chamber of the House of Commons on Friday 30^th October.

Mr Salter spearheaded the four-year campaign to allow the UKYP access and in February this year MPs voted to allow the young people to use the Chamber’s famous green benches. Youth Parliament Members will use the day to debate the issues that matter to young people from across the UK, and new House of Commons Speaker John Bercow MP will chair the session.

The campaign began back in 2004 when Mr Salter put a proposal on the subject to the House of Commons Modernisation Committee. He faced severe opposition from a group of right-wing Conservative MPs who not only tried to block the proposition, but put forward an amendment which would confine the UKYP to an upstairs committee room instead. In the end the Commons voted 205 to 16 in favour of opening its Chamber doors to the Youth Members.

Mr Salter said:

“This is an historic occasion and a brilliant opportunity, not only for young people to make their voices heard, but for Parliament to listen. I’m sure that the UKYP meeting on Friday in the Commons Chamber will be the start of a new kind of youth politics and I feel very proud to be a Member of the Parliament that had the courage to change itself and open its doors to the next generation of citizens.”

Although Mr Salter can’t be present in the Commons on Friday he will be meeting the Reading Youth Parliament Member Olatunde Seye on Wednesday to give him a few speaking tips on how to get his message across in the Commons.