Young people take balanced approach to immigration - 3 Nov, 2008

Under-18s debate the issues with legislators

Under-18s tackled a variety of immigration issues in a secure and structured online debate, Immigration and the UK: What effect has it had on Britain?, organised by the Hansard Society from 29 September - 17 October, 2008 at http://www.headsup.org.uk/

The young people taking part in the forum examined the effect that immigration has had on Britain and put forward the following observations:

• Economic migrants ‘should pay their way'
• They do important jobs which help the wider UK population
• Refugees and asylum seekers should be given priority over economic migrants
• Citizenship tests are ‘hard'
• ID cards for immigrants are a good idea
• Celebrities should not get preferential treatment over ordinary immigrants
• Immigrants are hard workers and encourage Brits to up their game
• More money should go to developing countries to reduce the need for future migration
• Immigrants sometimes get a better deal than British people
• There are cultural benefits from immigration

The Immigration and the UK: What effect has it had on Britain? HeadsUp debate gave 11-18 year olds the opportunity to share their views on immigration and asylum with key decision makers and other young people in a safe and constructive environment. Legislators and decision-makers involved in the forum were:

• Damien Green MP - Shadow Immigration Minister
• Lord Lester of Herne Hill - Member, Joint Committee on Human Rights
• Baroness Miller of Chilthorne Domer - Spokesperson for Home Affairs
• Lord Roberts of Llandudno - Spokesperson for International Development
• Jean Lambert MEP - Member, Committee on Employment and Social Affairs
• Douglas Carswell MP - Member, Joint Committee on Human Rights
• Frank Field MP - Co-Chair, Cross Party Group on Balanced Migration
• Sir Andrew Green - Chair, Migration Watch
• Meg Hillier MP - Home Office Minister

Beccy Allen, HeadsUp Manager, commented: ‘This debate proved very timely as it took place against a background of intense media coverage of immigration issues. The young people taking part were eager to share their first-hand experiences with legislators and decision-makers and revealed a mature and balanced attitude as they examined the facts behind the headlines. They took full advantage of the opportunity to tell politicians what they think, as well as developing their political literacy and creative thinking skills.'

The report of the Immigration and the UK forum - including direct quotes from young people and legislators - is available at http://www.headsup.org.uk/content/default.asp?page=s4_8

For more information contact Virginia Gibbons, Communications Manager at the Hansard Society on 0207 438 1225 or 07812 765 552.

Editors' Notes

• HeadsUp (http://www.headsup.org.uk/) is an innovative website where under-18s debate political issues and processes. The site is a non-partisan, cross-party educational resource that provides a secure, structured and student-centred discussion platform.
• HeadsUp has a number of new features for 2008/09 including a Top Poster Award where the HeadsUp user judged to have the greatest impact on the forum can win a prize of £25 worth of gift vouchers from a range of high street and online shops. The winner of this forum was Rhys Nasrabadi from Nower Hill High School.
• Two ways to register to participate in HeadsUp:
• Young People - If you are under 18 and want to get in on the action you need to complete the Student Sign Up Form.
• Teachers/youth workers/youth group - can register a whole class/school year/group by completing our Teachers Registration Form.

• All HeadsUp forums are open to view and follow the debate. Participants need to register or login to post comments.
• The project is jointly funded by the Ministry of Justice (former DCA) and the House of Commons.
• At the end of the debate, a summary report detailing young people's contributions is distributed to relevant government ministers, MPs, AMs, MEPS, MSPs and selected all-party groups in Parliament.
• 4785 individuals are currently registered with HeadsUp.