Tim Loughton Web Chat - 24.03.2010 - Transcript

Shadow Minister for Children and Young People, Tim Loughton MP , joined us for a web chat on Wednesday 24th March at 4.30pm. Below is a transcript of the web chat.

To see the full web chat go to http://www.ukypforums.org.uk/showthread.php?t=5295

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Coruscant: Do you think The Mosquito, or Mosquito alarm, should be made illegal? It discriminates against all young people, if they're committing an offence or not. It further alienates young people and may push them into doing the so-called 'anti-social behaviour' they try to prevent. I'm sure that if such a device targeted adults it would be banned immediately.

Tim Loughton MP: I completely agree and we are not in favour of these devices and have been putting pressure on police and local authorities to ban them. You are right that if there was a similar device to discriminate against pensioners for example everyone would start protesting and going on about abuse of human rights. I have had the boss of the firm who makes them in my office and he made a very poor case to justify them but the problem is that they are now being made cheaply in China and may be available to householders too so we need to be ready for this.

France-22: Will the Tory's let 16 year olds have the vote?

We do not have a official policy on this but my view and that of the majority of other Conservative MPs is that this is not a priority at this time. The problem is that the % of 18-24 year olds who vote is only 37% against 60% for the population as a whole and we need to concentrate on engaging more first time voters who can already vote but who choose not to. If and when we crack that one and the turnout for younger voters exceeds that of the population as a whole then there may be a case to be made for lowering the voting age. I know that UKYP have changed their position on this and there are differing views and our National Citizen Service proposals are all about giving greater recognition and weight to the voice of 16 year olds in any case.

Soozie_Keane: I enjoyed watching you on the Tower Block of Commons. Did the programme change your views at all? And if the Conservatives win the next election, what will you do to give young people more places to go / things to do?

I am really pleased I took part in the Tower Block programme but it was very hard work. The biggest was how disengaged many people on the estate were and yet they are most in need of help and support from politicians and the services they can provide. I was also very shocked to witness the extent of the gang culture in Birmingham which is dominant in so many inner city areas and where the conflict is based on something as arbitrary as a postcode. Often the problem is not places to go but utilising existing facilities better and training up people to provide activities that young people want to do at a time they want to do them and we need to be much smarter here. We also need to improve the terrible negative media images of young people which is why our policies are all based on being ‘Positive for Youth.’

Jamest: More young people are going to university now than ever before. Do you think this is good?

Yes because education is the key to social mobility and securing a good career but university is not the only option and we should also value those people who train on other vocational courses and apprenticeships to become qualifies in other essential trades.

Rootsie: Tim, I had to pay £500 per year to get a bus pass (my own money from my part-time job) to go to college (I'm at Sixth Form). The busses around here are almost always late and are only once an hour at best (there are several long gaps lasting a few hours for no apparent reason). What do you think the Govt. could do to make it easier for people like myself to study at school and college?

Transport is a very important issue for young people especially in remote rural areas. Some authorities offer very innovative schemes as with the free bus passes for under 16s on full time education in London and I think that some councils could do a lot more here. Well done you for getting a part time job and going to college despite the financial challenges and I agree we need to make it easier for other young people to do the same and not be penalised by poor transport and exorbitant costs.

MattBird: On the TheyWorkForYou website it says you “Voted moderately against equal gay rights.” I can honestly say I didn't read to far into this, or your stance, but it stood out to me, and as such I would be interested in hearing an explanation for this view from you directly.

I think this must refer to some very old legislation many years ago and is not accurate. I fully support the creation of civil partnerships and the equalisation of the age of consent for example, as does the Conservative Party so there is no difference between the parties here.

KateChaos: Do you think that PSHE is really adequate in secondary schools today, and has the Youth Parliament's campaign helped improve it at all?

PSHE is a bit of a postcode lottery in schools but the problem is that there is already so much being crammed into the curriculum that something has to give. The UKYP survey on SRE was a really useful wake up call and clearly we need to have much better quality sex and relationship education taught by specialist teachers who know how to communicate effective messages to young people and using voluntary sector expertise where appropriate. But we still have a long way to go.

Daniel Frost: Would you consider encouraging schools to run themselves in a democratic manner, a la Summerhill?

We are very much in favour of giving schools much greater independence to run themselves in the best interests of their pupils and their families. That is why we want the academy programme to go further and faster and let them make decisions for themselves about what is taught and how free of the huge amount of central Government bureaucracy which has made the lives of heads and teachers so difficult and constrained. I do not know every much about Summerhill itself but it is essential that schools equip their pupils with the basics around reading, writing and numeracy and other life skills without which everything else is rather academic.

PoliceStory: What are your policies and plans for virtual schools? 

There is huge potential for virtual learning. In some parts of the country children in care now have ‘virtual head teachers’ who is a real person that helps with homework and gives advice. These are children who really need the extra support as their results are a long way below the national average.

Liam Hannan: Thoughts on Faith Schools?

We want to see more good schools – we don’t mind who runs them as long as they act inside the law and teach about other faiths even-handedly. There are thousands of fantastic faith schools in our country that provide young people with a top-class education – we’d be a bit mad to close them down.

Jamest: Youth unemployment is a big problem in this country. How would you and your party solve this?

This is a big question and not enough room to do justice here with my lousy typing skills but the best way to help young people find employment is by fixing the economy – that’s why George Osborne has explained what we will do to get the British economy back on track. http://www.conservatives.com/News/Sp...mic_Model.aspx
But we’ve lots of other ideas too - like University Training Colleges that focus on practical/vocational subjects for pupils who think that academic subjects aren’t for them.

Austin Sheridan: UKYP would hold elections in Scotland, Wales and NI if it had the funding to do so. Currently UKYP is funded by an 'England only' department. Will you pressure the UK Government to put funding into UKYP elections in Scotland, Wales and NI so that we are equal with English MYPs?

I agree that it is a problem that UKYP is not properly funded in Scotland, Wales and NI although they have things like Funky Dragon in Wales. However UKYP is supposed to be UK wide and I will certainly discuss this with colleagues in the other countries.

Mossad: Considering how safe your seat is, do you feel accountable to your constiuents at all? Considering you could do almost anything and still get elected.

I am never complacent about my constituency and constituents and I am widely recognised as a very active MP in East Worthing. When I first got elected in 1997 I was a marginal seat targeted by the Lib Dems and there were only 3 Conservative councillors left in the whole constituency but by regular hard work we have reversed that and I have active councillors working with me in every ward. I do fortnightly surgeries, regular street surgeries, special surgeries for young people in schools, public meetings, a monthly e-newsletter, a video podcast site (www.telltim.co.uk), a website (www.timloughton.com), an annual report delivered to every house and now Twitter as well. No on e has any excuse for not knowing how to get hold of me and I make myself as accessible and available as possible but it is a 2 way street and people also have to make the event to seek my help as well.

MattBird: If an opposition party had a view that you agreed with, and your own party did not agree with it, would you publicly support the opposition on that matter, or your own party. Please do not even attempt to say that you categorically agree with every policy of your party, as this just cannot be true, you are human.

David Cameron made it very clear when he first became leader of the Conservative Party that we would give credit where credit is due to the Government and be constructively critical where appropriate. I never forget that I was elected not because Tim Loughton is brilliant but because the largest number of my constituents wanted to be represented by a Conservative MP and preferably one who did a good job too. If there is something I fundamentally disagree with my party on then I would have very strong discussions with colleagues in private and it would have to be a very big issue of great importance to my constituency for me then to vote against my party but it can happen. On ‘moral’ issues it is always right that MP s should have a free vote and I would resist any proposals to take that away.

Soozie_Keane: Do you support the UK Youth Parliament's campaign to make political education a compulsory part of the primary and secondary curriculum?

As I said earlier with PSHE the problem is that the curriculum is already full to bursting and if we add yet more things something else will have to be dropped or the whole lot will be diluted. There are other ways of teaching political education as part of history for example or outside lesson times as part of school community engagement programmes or you could always go and join a political party. Again we want to give more powers back to schools and headteachers to teach what they think is best for their pupils.

UKYP: Favourite band? Favourite TV show? Favourite joke?

The Beatles.

Tower Block of Commons or Eastenders when that’s not on as I have watched it since the first episode 25 years ago.

What do you call 2 MPs at the bottom of the ocean? – a good start ! …..no not really.

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