Cambridgeskip 658 Posted February 27, 2015 Share Posted February 27, 2015 So over here in the UK we have a TV show called question time on a Thursday night called Question Time. A selection of politicians together with a couple of journalists appear live on tv to field questions from the great British public. It's compulsive viewing and I know some of my scouts sit up late to watch it! Anyway we have a general election here in May and given this we have invited the candidates for the Cambridge parliamentary seat to come in at the end of March to filed questions from the scouts (aged 10-14). We've asked them to put their questions in advance, Partly to make sure we give the candidates the most interesting questions and also to make sure we filter out the comedians! Below are the questions submitted so far. Just wondering what people make of them. Personally I'm quite impressed with them! What do you think about stopping immigration? What is your parties strongest policy? What are your policies on making education more engaging for children? Are you going to get rid of any green areas for building? What are your views on current university fees?* Do you agree with the 20mph speed limits? How are you going to help schools that are under performing? Would you give them more resources? Why is homework important? What are you going to do about youth unemployment? What do you think of the voting age?** In each parties eyes, what would be their dream community be? Is the age limit to enter the army too low?*** Why are the NHS waiting times so long and how are you going to prevent them getting worse? What are you going to do about the unemployment rate/homeless rate? Why have the GCSE grading’s in core subjects changed so much?**** What do you think about making helmets whilst riding bikes compulsory? In Cambridge there are too many traffic lights, could you change them to a few pedestrian crossings? Overall, what do you most want to change? Should University be free? What are your views on gay marriage being legalized in the UK? Do you think that it is a good idea to pull out of the EU? Why? And if so how would it affect us? How tense is it during elections? If you win, what would you do to change the country? Why can’t we vote? Do you think we care about politics? Are you going to make more care homes for the elderly? *currently max of £3000 per year ** currently 18 although 16 year olds were allowed to vote in Scotland independence referendum *** currently 16 although they cannot be deployed to war zones till they are 18 ****exams sat at 16. Core subjects = Maths, English and Science Link to post Share on other sites
qwazse 4342 Posted February 27, 2015 Share Posted February 27, 2015 Thanks for the window into the minds of British youth! I'd love for my scouts to read this. (The youngest in our troop is 13.) Link to post Share on other sites
Cambridgeskip 658 Posted February 27, 2015 Author Share Posted February 27, 2015 Qwaze, feel free to use and abuse those questions. I'm still waiting for some kids to submit theirs so I'll add to the list in due course. Link to post Share on other sites
scoutldr 726 Posted February 27, 2015 Share Posted February 27, 2015 Proponents of a US National Heath System take note. I would venture to say most US teens don't have a clue unless it involves Snookie, The Bachelor, MTV, or the latest video game. Link to post Share on other sites
JoeBob 606 Posted February 27, 2015 Share Posted February 27, 2015 More impressive is that British teens are aware of health care issues. They are still too young to have been exposed to much illness. Link to post Share on other sites
Cambridgeskip 658 Posted February 27, 2015 Author Share Posted February 27, 2015 I think that awareness of healthcare issues is a local thing. Cambridge is a small city, population of around 160000 plus around 30000 students. It does though have one of the country's biggest teaching and research hospitals in the form of Addenbrooks. In addition it is the heart of the pharmaceutical industry in the UK. Many of the kids in the troop have got parents who are doctors or researchers or have friends or neighbours who are. Hence there's a much higher awareness of issues surrounding health among them. Link to post Share on other sites
Scouter99 265 Posted February 28, 2015 Share Posted February 28, 2015 My initial thoughts are: "It's party's or parties', not parties." Good questions overall. Link to post Share on other sites
Moggie 12 Posted March 8, 2015 Share Posted March 8, 2015 [quote=*currently max of £3000 per year I think you'll find that the current fees are £9000/yr Cheers Gareth Link to post Share on other sites
TAHAWK 1420 Posted March 9, 2015 Share Posted March 9, 2015 It's a matter of scale. Link to post Share on other sites
packsaddle 753 Posted March 9, 2015 Share Posted March 9, 2015 TAHAWK, I'm curious as to how that is related to the original post. Anyway, citation please? Is this related to the work of Don Easterbrook? Link to post Share on other sites
TAHAWK 1420 Posted March 9, 2015 Share Posted March 9, 2015 My poor effort was merely to say that when numbers come up in discussing "issues," the scale, or relative value, is important. Otherwise Disraeli's famous observation about statistics may apply. How many times, for example, do we see retail price or income statistics with no correction for inflation? Thank you for the reference. In doing a google search, the chart came up, as did many others that relate to a dispute about what caused the "Younger Dryas cooling." Esterbrook seems to be on one side. A good deal of passion seems to be involved. See: http://wattsupwiththat.com/2012/06/16/younger-dryas-the-rest-of-the-story/ Most of it is beyond my understanding without far more knowledge. Link to post Share on other sites
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