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Newly elected ministers, from back, left to right, Acai Duang-Arop, Lorenzo Brewer, Lazeez Raimi, Axel Landin, Noah Popper, front, left to right, Ziyad Ibrahim, Sophie Newgas, Rubina Begum, Sofia Karasinski |
Youth council vows to usher in honest politics
GORDON Brown take note: Camden’s new youth councillors are on the warpath and they won’t take prisoners, claiming – “We’re no slick politicians and we’ll show the adults how it’s done.”
That was the warning shot fired into the council chamber last Wednesday when the youth council met for the first time.
Elected just two weeks ago, the councillors spent the evening vying for the top jobs in the cabinet, with five candidates sometimes competing for the same post.
Lazeez Raimi, announced co-leader of the council alongside Axel Landin, was elevated to the top position after calling for a return to honesty in politics.
In a rousing speech, he said: “We’re models to the government in our honesty – we need to show that to the adults.”
The 36 councillors spent the evening setting out their political stalls on a range of issues, such as crime and education, before 10 were elected into the cabinet.
The youngsters, all aged between 13 and 19, will now meet six times a year, while the ministers can look forward to private tête-à-têtes with their senior counterparts at the Town Hall.
In last week’s New Journal co-leader Axel Landin made one thing clear: he did not want the youth council – so far given one year’s funding of £100,000 – to be a gimmick.
They have promised the 2,000-plus who turned out to vote for them that they will fight to be taken seriously.
Eleanor Bley-Griffiths, vying for co-leader, spelled out why she thought politicians were so out of touch with young people.
“I’m no slick politician, but I can offer you honesty,” she said. “I’m never too proud to admit a mistake or say when I don’t know the answer. Tell me I’m wrong and I’ll listen.”
Nicholas Seaford, 17, told the group he was campaigning for Labour when he was just five years old. He attacked the government for “victimising” young people by introducing the “mosquito” – a machine that makes a high-pitched noise only under-20s can hear, designed to drive them away from trouble hotspots.
Young minister for youth provision, culture and community cohesion, Rubina Begum, gave a lesson in the danger of stereotyping when she spoke out against the focus on sex and drugs in schools.
But the youth councillors may have a fight on their hands in the coming months as they strive to influence policy after only one senior councillor, Flick Rea, turned up to the meeting.
Leisure chief Cllr Rea blamed the low turn-out of her peers on a poor publicity drive, but added she thought two colleagues had attended at the start of the evening.
She said: “It’s important to be positive.
“I suppose [taking the youth council seriously] is bound to be a concern – this is a new departure for Camden but I have every intention of working with the person who shares my portfolio.” |
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