News

Taunton's College preferable to Prime Minister's Question Time

02/05/2012

Mr. Miliband would normally have been preparing for Prime Minister’s questions, but instead he faced 70 students at Taunton’s College today to answer tough questions about youth unemployment, tuition fees, and the state of the country’s economy.

Joined by local MPs John Denham and Alan Whitehead, as well as Councillor Richard Williams, Mr. Miliband encouraged students to go out and vote in this week’s local election: “I want to try and do politics in a different way. You are the voters of tomorrow and it’s important that you believe that politicians can make a change.”

Taunton’s College students were confident in their tough questioning of Mr. Miliband on everything from the financial crisis to the coalition’s changes to housing benefit.

When questioned by humanities student Madi Heal on the thorny issue of EMA, Mr. Miliband responded by saying that the abolition of the EMA was a great shame: “I believe it helped students with travel costs and the cost of books.  However I can’t promise that if we were back in government we would be able to reinstate EMA.”

Ethan Fox asked if Mr. Miliband felt there should be more government involvement in company takeovers.

“There does need to be more protection for British firms, giving them a level playing field. Lots of takeovers of British companies can seem to be from companies hoping to make a quick buck and that is what we’ve got to stop. We must find ways to building for the future.”

After the intense questioning by Taunton’s students, Mr. Miliband spoke to Sky News and the World at One before answering questions from media student Alice Hackett on behalf of the College’s weekly radio show.

Deputy Principal, Matt Atkinson said: "It was a pleasure to welcome Mr Miliband to our college. Our students were excited to have the chance to ask him some really varied and in depth questions. It's a great opportunity for our students to see politics in action and to get their voices heard."

You can hear Mr. Miliband’s exclusive interview on Unity 101 FM, next Tuesday between 2pm and 3pm.