Lord Storey brings the House of Lords to Law lessons

The College’s Law students received a visit from a member of the House of Lords, as Lord Storey came to talk about the role of the upper tier of government and how laws are introduced.

Lord Storey sits in the House of Lords as a Liberal Democrat peer and is the party’s spokesperson on education, families and young people.

Before his appointment to the Lords as a life peer in 2011, Mike Storey was a primary school head teacher and former leader of Liverpool City Council, overseeing Liverpool’s successful bid to become the European Capital of Culture in 2008. He was also central in the creations of Liverpool One and the Echo Arena.

As part of the ‘Peers in Schools’ programme, Lord Storey visited to talk through the systems in place in the House of Lords and the passing of legal Bills, allowing law students to see the practical side of what they learn about in lessons.

A teacher for over forty years, Lord Storey explained how each Lord brings their own brand of specialism to the floor, with his expertise in education being part of the reason for his appointment to the House. He described the different terminology used in the Lords rather than the House of Commons, with voting being known as a ‘division’ and for and against termed ‘content’ or ‘not content’.

Lords are also entitled to put forward their questions to the House, where four questions are addressed each morning. Somewhat surprisingly, and to the amusement of students, a recent question from Lord Storey himself addressed the hit ITV reality show, ‘Love Island’.

He had learned that there had been complaints about the amount of smoking that went on in the show’s edits and whether ITV should make efforts to not use so much footage of potential role models for young people indulging the unhealthy habit. Indeed, one of the first amendments to a Bill that Lord Storey fought for in the House of Lords was making smoking in cars with children or babies inside illegal, with which he was successful.

Students finished the session with questions, but not before they had enacted a ‘division’ within the Lords, simulating a voting process through lobbies with a Lord Speaker announcing the result.

For more on studying Law at Birkenhead Sixth Form College, click here.