On the first two Fridays of October we were able to organise visits to the Palace of Westminster in London for the current Year 12 A-level Politics groups and also for the current Year 13 groups. The visits, which were not possible last year due to COVID restrictions, involved an excellent multimedia film about ‘The Story of Parliament’ and a guided tour of the palace taking in the Sovereign’s Entrance, the House of Lords, Central Lobby, the House of Commons and the thousand year-old Westminster Hall. Some of the highlights included the gold leaf royal throne in the Lords, standing at the Dispatch Box in the Commons, coming across a procession headed by the royal mace carrying food to the Lord Chancellor’s breakfast and standing above the cellar where Guy Fawkes was discovered. The Year 12s were upset to find that they wouldn’t be meeting Boris in person (most MPs are not in Westminster on a Friday) but were partially placated by being able to stand outside his front door instead (thanks to Mr Walker’s Dad!).Year 12 and 13
