Sixth Form Politics pupils travelled to Westminster for the A-level The Rest is Politics conference. Before welcoming Rory Stewart and Alastair Campbell, pupils listened to many other speakers – Wes Streeting, Holocaust Survivor Lord Dubs, the Greens’ Deputy Zack Polanski, Richard Tice of Reform UK, and Leader of the Commons Sir Jacob Rees-Mogg. Topics included Gaza, the Rwanda bill, the power of vote and LGBTQ rights, with some highly divisive reactions in the audience.
In the afternoon, Campbell and Stewart gave the floor to student questions, with Campbell discussing the power of social media, his regrets over his alcoholism, and what Blair should have done to the Lords. Meanwhile, Stewart admitted he had hated being a Harvard professor, advising students not to be afraid to reject high-powered jobs!
The debates were up to the minute and hugely relevant for pupils, with some fantastic speakers. Congratulations to Ollie L (Lower Sixth), whose question about education will be addressed in the next The Rest is Politics podcast and a prize for political manoeuvring to Robert G (Upper Sixth) for ambushing Jacob Rees-Mogg in a quiet part of the building.
Teacher of History & Politics Dr Thomson
Related Posts
We welcome the Queen bee to King’s garden! At King’s School Rochester, our bee-autiful keepers Mr. Smith and Dr. Dyer made a beeline back to the garden at Satis House to check in on our honeycomb heroes after a long winter. They were absolutely buzzing with excitement when they discovered our bees were busy, [...]
Pupils wowed the audience with their stunning and moving performance in Oh! What a Lovely War. Performed over three nights (plus two matinees) pupils shared a different perspective on war, telling the truth from the soldiers’ point of view—using song, satire, and dark humour to reveal just how messy, painful, and human war really is. [...]
The General Knowledge “season” is now drawing to a climax, with successes for some of the individuals and teams. In the Senior School our last remaining team of Sixth Formers played St Colman’s College from Newry in Northern Ireland for a place in the National Finals. Despite scoring well on the “Muppets”, Monopoly and Canadian [...]
