Chris Grayling visited Nonsuch High School for Girls to give a brief talk to the students and address any questions or queries that they had on Friday 10th of March. Having previously served as Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice, he is currently serving as Secretary of State for Transport. Additionally, he has been the MP for Epsom and Ewell for over 15 years.
Due his large amount of political experience, there was a very large scope for questions. The students discussed many issues, ranging from local policy to human rights to transport issues and, of course, Brexit. One issue which was mentioned multiple times was the notoriously poor service of Southern rails. For many of the pupils, the issues with the railway have negatively affected their daily lives to the extent that some are no longer able to get to school on time; clearly this has a detrimental effect on their education. Chris Grayling responded to their queries and explained the causes of the strikes and told the students of the action that he had taken to prevent further strikes. He promised a positive future with, hopefully, no more strikes.
Although the event was mainly aimed at helping politics students, there was a very large turnout of pupils from all year groups, many teachers and staff also attended. One year 12 politics student remarked “Speaking to someone with so much political knowledge has helped me understand my course better. Also, it has helped me to understand why Chris Grayling supported the Leave campaign during the EU referendum.”
Overall, the event was enlightening and intellectually stimulating. It allowed the pupils to explore a range of political beliefs and ideologies which are crucial to understanding the current political climate in the UK.
