An Intern Gives her views!

One of the things that I have been most proud of in my time in Parliament has been my Chairmanship of the Associate Parliamentary Group for Children and Care leavers.

Becoming a minister means I need to step down from the chair, but I remain involved with the group.  

This is a group which is there to look after the interests of children leaving care. An important part of the job is to listen to and learn from children who have been through the system, and work with them to find ways of doing things better.

I have during my 3 years as a chairman of the group, had a number of care leavers come to work as interns with me in Parliament. This has always been a great pleasure.

My latest Intern Ruth Wanjiku has reported some of her impressions of the experience in the APG newsletter .  I think her opinions are very important.

How did you get your place as an intern?

I found out about the internship through my social worker. I thought it

sounded like a good opportunity, so I wrote a letter and applied. My

social worker also wrote a lot about me, about the hard work I had put

into everything. I was then contacted by David and came to meet him.

I told him that I could bring my knowledge to the position. I try to do the

very best in everything I do, and I work really hard.

Had you been to an APG meeting before?

No, although I’m in a group called the Children’s Rights Alliance for

England. We ran the March APG – myself and a group of young people.

This was already arranged before I got the internship. So it was quite

funny when I started working with David and he talked about the APG.

I told him that I was speaking at the next one.

What does being an intern involve?

I’ve acted as an advisor to David, done some research for him,

accompanied him to meetings. It’s very exciting to think that my advice

is actually wanted and is being listened to by an MP.

What have been the highlights during your time atWestminster?

The first week that I came I was overwhelmed, by the surroundings, by

everything. It really opened my eyes and – to be honest – it showed me

that being an MP is not easy. It’s not that easy at all.

Going to see debates in the House of Commons was really

impressive. I actually felt sorry for Gordon Brown, it was like he was

being torn apart, and to this day I don’t like going in there. It just

breaks my heart to see him like that.

Has the intership given you ideas of what you might want to do in

the future?

Within the first week I realised that I would never become an MP! I’ve

always been interested in politics but I want to do something that

actually helps people directly – human rights or international relations.

What could parliament do to make things better for people in care?

One of the main things is to actually listen to young people. We are the

ones on the front line. We’re in care, we’re living it, so we know better

than any MP what’s wrong with the system and what needs to happen.

We feel the effect of every decision they make on our behalf.

Are young people listened to enough?

I’m not sure young people know how to get their voices heard. There

needs to be one person in each authority that young people can go to.

This person should listen and then actually take those opinions

somewhere and do something with them. I think a lot of the time, young

people feel they are being asked, but nothing then happens with the

information they’ve given. We need to feel our voices aren’t just heard,

but are being acted on. You don’t see change very often.

Do you think the APG gives young people a good platform?

I know, from the APGs that I’ve helped David with, that he comes back

with a lot of notes and a lot of information. I’ve helped him to write letters

to other MPs or to other charities to try and take those issues further.

So I know that when a young person or a charity speaks at the APG

their thoughts are being taken and put into action, it doesn’t just end at

the meeting.