Tiphereth foundation students visit Scottish Parliament.

On December 17th, Tiphereth’s Foundation Students were invited to visit The Scottish Parliament. This visit was facilitated by Foysol Choudhury, Member of the Scottish Parliament, who extended this invitation following his visit to Tiphereth a couple of weeks before. This was a great opportunity for all of us to to discover more about the workings of the Scottish Parliament.

We arrived at the Parliament at 10:15 and went through the airport-style security check. This should have been pretty straight forward, however, two of the Foundation Students were carrying pocket-knives with them. Lotta had a precious knife to her, which was a gift to her from her Godparents, and had it with her for many years. Unfortunately, the blade was 1cm longer than what is legal in the UK and it had to be confiscated and destroyed.

A tour of the Parliament was booked for us for 10:30 which was very informative. We walked around public areas of the building, learned about the history of the Scottish Parliament and discovered information about the Spanish architect, Enric Miralles, who unfortunately died before the work was completed. During our tour we also had the opportunity to visit the main chamber, where the debates take place, take photos, and ask questions.

Following the tour, Foysol Choudbury came to greet us and had a brief conversation before we went back into the Chamber, where all Members of the Scottish Parliament (MSPs) can meet to debate and make decisions. We had to opportunity to sit in during FMQs (First Minister Questions), which is a 45-minute question and answer session with the First Minister. It was very interesting to observe this session and get a better understanding of how the Scottish Parliament works.

Ioannis Cholevas