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13.03.2007

Five Members of the UK Youth Parliament were today given the opportunity to question Prime Minister Tony Blair, Chancellor Gordon Brown and Environment Secretary David Miliband on the government’s draft Climate Change Bill at 10 Downing Street.
Rebecca Musgrove (Durham), Ian Geldard (Durham), Alice Bailie (Norfolk), Francis Nartey (Reading) and Michael Nand (Hampshire) all participated in a question and answer session which was chaired by Newsround’s Lizo Mzimba.
Ian Geldard, who lives in Tony Blair’s Sedgefield constituency, directly questioned the Prime Minister on the government’s plans to improve public transport provision. He said: ‘Where I live public transport is very poor, which means we have to use our car. This isn’t environmentally friendly, but we don’t have much choice.”
Mr Blair responded by saying the government is trying to do more to give power back to local authorities, so that they can have greater influence over the way local bus services are provided.
Other questions focused upon the provision of solar panels for schools and whether companies would be more tempted to relocate abroad if the UK introduces more stringent carbon emission targets.
Speaking after the event, Rebecca Musgrove MYP for Durham said: ‘On the whole, I think the draft Climate Change Bill has got good incentives and hopefully it should work. However, I would like to see the government focus more on improving public transport, especially in rural areas.’
Today’s launch event marked the start of a public consultation on climate change which will continue until 12th June 2007. UKYP will be taking part in this consultation with two or three events funded by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.
For more information about UKYP’s work on Climate Change please contact Kate Parish on 01252 844241 or kate.parish@ukyouthparliament.org.uk
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