Photographs

High Rise to Power

MPs urgently need to listen to people facing injustice in the UK if they are to come close to achieving their promises to eradicate poverty.

So when single mums, Lynsey, 23, and Carina, 21, were given the unique opportunity to experience working in Parliament with the Shadow Secretary of State for Wales, MP Cheryl Gillan, they took the chance to speak out about their experiences living on a council estate in Birmingham.

MP Cheryl Gillan, Shadow Secretary of State for Wales:

‘I’ve learnt a very valuable lesson from both of them that standing at a dispatch box and talking about things that are not in your first-hand experience can sometimes end up with a lot of rubbish being talked by politicians. So checking the facts and understanding what happens on the ground is very important. I think politicians should talk more to real people and ask them what their experiences are’.

Copyright © 2010 Jane Baker. All Rights Reserved