THE impassioned speeches and cries of “hear, hear” that are normally heard in the House of Commons echoed through a Barrow primary school hall on Friday when independent MP John Woodcock took his mobile mock parliament on the road.

Mr Woodcock, dressed in the garb of speaker John Bercow, presided over two lively debates at Roose Primary School where 21 year six pupils became MPs for the hour-long morning session.

Mr Woodcock opened the session by outlining how business is conducted in the chamber and describing his work as an MP.

Then it was down to the cut-and-thrust of parliamentary debate.

The first motion up for debate was that SATs should be abolished.

‘Prime minister’ Ellie proposed this first motion and set out a powerful argument that was followed by cries of “hear, hear” from her fellow ‘MPs’.

The debate was then opened to the floor and following contributions from both sides of the House the division bell was rung and members walked through their Aye and No lobbies where teacher Mrs Rachael Thomas and Natalie Ardron of Mr Woodcock’s staff acted as tellers.

The result was 16 votes to five in favour of abolishing the tests.

Mr Woodcock gave the children tips on how to frame their arguments before beginning the second debate.

This time the House debated on introducing a ban on keeping animals in captivity.

The debate produced some stirring speeches and when the ‘MPs’ voted, there was an emphatic 18-3 vote in favour of the motion.

At the end of the session Mr Woodcock asked the children if the debates had improved their confidence and whether they had enjoyed the parliament and all the children raised their hands.

Speaking after the session had concluded, Mr Woodcock, said: “I think everyone enjoyed our debates this morning and I would like to thank Mrs Thomas, the children and the school for helping us to stage the mock parliament.”

He praised the children on the persuasiveness of their arguments and went on to say: “I want to encourage young people to learn more about politics and learn that by making good arguments things can be changed for the better.

“We heard some heartfelt speeches combined with persuasive viewpoints and I feel sure some of the children will want to become involved in adult politics a few years from now.”

Mr Woodcock has held a number of mock parliaments at schools across his constituency, with the hope of building children’s confidence and improving their skills of persuasion and how to best outline their points of view.