A University of Sussex Professor has taken part in a special ‘Select Committee’, as part of a visit by the Sir David Amess UK Children’s Parliament to Speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle’s House, accompanied by David Davis MP on Monday 18 November.

The Sir David Amess UK Children's Parliament is the UK’s first Children’s Parliament for primary school students and was named after MP Sir David Amess, who was murdered in 2021. They made history on Monday by opening UK Parliament Week, and leading a "Select Committee" livestreamed session on animal tourism legislation at 1 Parliament Street, Westminster.

A team of students from Saint Pierre, Leigh on Sea and Glendower Preparatory School, South Kensington, were given the chance to "grill the adult experts" as part of the project’s mission to give young primary school students (7-12 years) a sense of agency and develop their oracy and critical thinking skills through a virtual children's parliament.

Gilly Forrester, Professor of Comparative Cognition in the School of Psychology was one of the expert panel, which also included Legal Hero of the Year 2024 (for Animal Welfare) and CEO of Save The Asian Elephants, Duncan McNair; Ian Redmond OBE from Ecoflix; ; and Mark Jones, Head of UK Policy for Born Free Foundation. 

Questions included Professor Gilly Forrester’s ape research, how various animals can be affected by contact with tourists, whether there are differing types of mental distress in animals, and which animals suffer more from ‘Cruel animal tourism’ than others.

Professor Gilly Forrester from the University of Sussex said: “I am pleased to have been able to share my expertise with the members of the Children’s Parliament as part of the Select Committee for Animal Welfare. These passionate young people are championing the enactment of the Animal Cruelty Tourism act – without further delay. I hope the government is listening.”

The children’s parliament included Child Prime Minister Clark Dearson (11), Child Deputy PM Naila Seetal (10) and Child Chancellor Aryan Shekar (11), as well as other child MPs.

Clark Dearson, the 11-year-old Prime Minister of the Sir David Amess UK Children's Parliament said: "I never thought that I would get this incredible opportunity to properly meet Sir Lindsay Hoyle, such an influential figure in the UK Government and to be able to contribute to such an important occasion like UK Parliament Week. It feels like I am accomplishing something real in my role as Prime Minister."

A video of the event can be found here on the Sir David Amess UK Children's Parliament YouTube channel. 

 This special session of the Children's Parliament continues Sir David Amess's legacy of championing both youth engagement in democracy and animal welfare causes, bringing together these two passionate interests of the late MP.

This work supports the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals: SDG 12 (responsible consumption and production) and SDG 15 (life on land). You can read more about our work on the SDGs here.