Our Man in Westminster

Anyone who thinks that young people are disengaged from politics and current affairs should have been at Homewood School last Friday when we had a Question Time session with sixth formers devoted to the European Referendum Debate.

The panel consisted two people with firm positions on the subject; me in favour of remaining, and Steve Bell, a Conservative activist from Sussex who wants to leave, and three representatives from business and academic life who were not as publicly committed.

These included Richard Lavender from the Kent Invicta Chamber of Commerce.

You can always tell when an audience is genuinely engaged and the flow of questions was constant throughout the session, covering a wide range of issues from university co-operation across the EU to immigration and who actually gets to vote in the Referendum.

There was a good deal of support for reducing the voting age to 16.

Indeed the debate continued after the session was over, with several students wanting to talk to me in particular about the environmental aspects of the debate, which I have found to be a big issue for young voters in this campaign.

We took a vote at the end, which looked to me about two-thirds to one third in favour of remaining. (If you think I am a biased reporter, I can refer you to Paul Francis of this parish, who was playing the role of David Dimbleby to ensure fair play).

The one message which everyone on the panel could endorse was that those 18-year-olds in the audience who were entitled to vote should certainly make sure they register and then turn out on June 23.

This may well be the most important vote they cast for the next 40 or 50 years, so they should not waste it.