Good luck to Wolverhampton Youth MPs Darram Kooner and Emma Curran who will be taking part in a debate in the House of Commons today (Friday 13 November) as part of Parliment Week.

They will have the opportunity to discuss the issues that matter the most to them in a debate chaired by the Speaker of the House of Commons, the Rt Hon John Bercow MP.

This will be the fifth year the Youth Parliament has met in the House of Commons and Emma said: "I'm really excited to be able to represent the views of our young people on such a large scale and at such a historic place."

Darram added: "It's going to be an amazing opportunity going to the House of Commons where key decisions affecting the country are made to debate to the topics that matter to young people."

Councillor Val Gibson, the City of Wolverhampton Council's Cabinet Member for Children and Families, said: "I am sure that Darram and Emma will do a tremendous job representing the young people of our city in the House of Commons.

"This is a great opportunity for them to have their say on the five key issues that matter most to young people today."

More than 920,000 young people across the UK took part in the Make Your Mark ballot to decide which issues will be debated, with more than 7,700 ballots to cast in Wolverhampton alone.

As a result, the Youth Parliament will discuss paying the living wage to everyone aged 16 and over, mental health, transport, tackling racism and religious discrimination and improvements to the school curriculum.

The debate forms part of Parliament Week, an annual event which aims to build greater awareness, understanding and engagement with parliamentary democracy in the UK. It will be broadcast live on the BBC Parliament channel.

  • released: Friday 13 November, 2015