A Level politics students were fortunate to have the opportunity to speak and ask questions to James Cartlidge, local MP for South Suffolk, discussing major topics prominent in recent news.  

After a brief introduction on how he became an MP, by studying A level politics and then an Economics degree, our pupils posed some excellent questions. These included preparation for the elections, Brexit, the war in Ukraine and the current leadership, all accounting for how these issues may affect society today.  A key topic was with reference to the new immigration policy proposal and the ethical nature of such policies on immigrants and the economy.  

The MP expressed his delight of the question, “do you think that the conservative party could likely see a drop in their voters with the current oil and gas prices?”, providing the response that naturally this would occur due to economic pressures, with members of the public putting blame on government.  

Our Sixth Form pupils were very well engaged and would have gained a valuable insight into the role of the politician and governments leading into their up-and-coming exams, drawing on examples provided by the MP.

Head of Politics, Olly Rowe, commented; ‘It was a pleasure to speak to a serving MP who has experience in government through the pandemic, the EU referendum and working under three different Prime Ministers. Our pupils gained a valuable insight into Mr Cartlidge’s views on local and national politics and were provided with perceptive responses to many thoughtful questions. In addition to this, I would like to thank Mr Cartlidge for giving up his time on Friday afternoon, it really was such a valuable insight into this extraordinary period of international relations and domestic politics’.