Sixth Form students question Sir Alan Haselhurst

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With the General Election approaching, the Sixth Form have had the opportunity to meet with and question all the leading candidates in the Saffron Walden constituency. In recent weeks, there have been visits from Mr Peter Wilcock (Liberal Democrats), Mr Roger Lord (UKIP) and Dr Barbara Light (Labour).

The final visitor was Sir Alan Haselhurst, the incumbent Conservative MP and Deputy Speaker of the House of Commons. Sir Alan addressed the Sixth Form and answered a wide range of challenging questions from the students. Sir Alan then visited a Philosophy and Ethics lesson, which provided students with the opportunity to apply some of the ethical theories which they have been studying in their A Level course. Students were able to discuss with Sir Alan some of the ethical issues which have arisen during his time in parliament, such as capital punishment, faith schools, euthanasia and decisions to go to war. Mr Yates, Head of Critical Thinking, commented that, “Because Critical Thinking is only possible in a society which values freedom of speech and democratic politics, it was inspiring to witness the interest and engagement in political debate among our students in their questioning of these politicians.” Dates for the mock election will be announced shortly.