Laura Moffatt MP Tells Year 10 about life after Parliament

Year 10 spent the morning of 17th March with Crawley MP Laura Moffatt discussing life as an MP, and life afterwards.  The Social and Ethical Studies session organised by Ms Simmons, Head of Geography and SES, was aimed at talking to the students about Democracy, the bedrock of our society.

Students learnt about the long hours and high demands of a politician’s life, although Laura made no bones about the state of parliamentarian’s reputation. “I was a nurse before becoming a politician, so I went from a profession with a lot of respect to one that people are quite cynical about.  I can understand people’s frustration with MPs,” Laura said frankly to students, “I did not have to pay any money back,” she added, backing up the claim that Ms Moffatt is the country’s ‘cheapest’ MP.

Students asked a range of challenging questions, from when the troops would be withdrawn from Afghanistan to the state of potholes on Crawley roads.  Answering candidly, Laura explained how the democratic process worked in each of these situations.  Student learnt about the different levels of government, such as district and county councils, and how they could get involved in the democratic process if they wanted to.

When asked what an MP did after they stopped being a politician, Ms Moffatt answered with a smile.  “I’m  considering going back into nursing,” she said, “I was a nurse for twenty-five years, so I am thinking of doing a return-to-nursing course and testing out for myself how much the NHS has changed since I last worked in a hospital.”

St Wilfrid’s has enjoyed rigorous support from Laura Moffatt for many years.  “I’ve always been able to rely on Laura to support our school’s Business, Enterprise and Ethics Specialism, and her input into our Social and Ethical Studies days has been fantastic,” said the school’s Business and Community Manager Ms Myers, “She might be the country’s cheapest MP, but she’s been invaluable to us.”

Many thanks to Laura Moffatt for supporting this event, and our sincerest best wishes for the future.