A group of members of the Rayleigh Grange U3A group recently visited the Palace of Westminster, to witness the day’s Parliamentary activities from the public gallery of the House of Commons.
The group had a very eventful visit and picked a great day to come and view the workings of the House of Commons. Before going in to the public gallery, the group met with their own Member of Parliament, Mark Francois, to discuss a number of issues with him directly, prior to witnessing the Speaker’s procession. They were then ushered up to the public gallery to see questions to the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, during which they saw Mark answer a question as Minister of State for Communities and Resilience, on the future of the Coastal Communities Fund.
After an hour of questions to the DCLG department, an Urgent Question was raised by the Opposition following on from the Chancellor’s Budget which was delivered the previous week, which was then followed by a Statement from the Prime Minister himself, who reported back after a recent European Council meeting, which focused on the migration crisis affecting continental Europe.
And as if that wasn’t enough, the group were then able to stay on to witness a Statement from the newly appointed Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, the Rt Hon Stephen Crabb MP.
Speaking after the visit Mark Francois said:
“It was a pleasure to be able to host a group from the Rayleigh Grange U3A group to come and view the House of Commons in action from the public gallery and to meet with them beforehand as well. It was great that they got to witness so many things happening in the Chamber during their visit and I look forward to remaining in touch with them and the other U3A groups in my constituency.”
A representative from the Rayleigh Grange U3A delegation subsequently wrote to Mark to thank him for arranging the visit and wrote:
“The whole afternoon was fantastic. We were so lucky to watch such an important session.”