By Jack Welch, aged 21

IT IS certainly not an everyday occurrence that a member of the general public, let alone a young person that is under 40 (and in my case 21), receives an invitation to debate in the ‘upper chamber’ of the UK.

The last Friday of November was a special occasion for me and the selected guests from all across the UK, for the eighth time so far, to sit in the House of Lords with people of all ages and experiences, to debate one important question: in a digital society, is politics for politicians or is everyone a decision maker?

With over 190 people taking their places on the distinctive red benches, speakers were invited to argue the case if politics is best left to its representatives, if greater consultations were needed when making decisions on the lives of people and, the most radical yet, whether all decisions and elections should go electronic.

From my own experience, though, young people within the UK are not completely apathetic about political debates and have a desire to actively participate within democracy.

For those more mature individuals, it would be a question of to what extent would they be ready for such a dramatic reform in the democratic system.

With representatives across organisations such as UK Youth and the University of the Third Age present, a great number of impassioned arguments came to dominate the afternoon.

I was fortunate to be one of the impromptu speakers called to make a short observation in the chamber, in which I proposed that ordinary people themselves had much more impact and provide a better legacy than politicians may have.

Examples are never too hard to look for – there have been over six million in the first year who have taken part in the e-petitions service in asking Parliament to debate issues which matter to them and websites which challenge politicians around the world, with sites like change.org Pauline Taylor MBE, director of youth work at UK Youth, said why the charity supported the event, saying: “The debate’s topic is something they [young people] could see in their lifetime, and also something that we know young people can offer vital perspectives on.”

With sittings for groups like the UK Youth Parliament now an annual tradition, is it time we ask ourselves if in we need greater access the corridors of power?