A BREXIT debate at Shire Hall in Monmouth, organised by Monmouthshire Youth Parliament (MYP), attracted 80 young people recently.

The event was attended by Conservative Monmouth MP David Davies and Labour’s 2017 county council elections candidate for Wyesham Ward, Catherine Fookes. Local sixth-former Beth Handley, who set up MYP, said: “It was fantastic to see so many young people engaged and animated.”

Mr Davies said: “There seemed to be a general agreement that, whichever side of the argument you’re on, it is important to respect the democratic wish of the British electorate who voted to leave the EU.

  “Young people wanted to know when we will actually leave. The government has decided to spend a few months working through issues with the rest of the EU. We will then trigger Article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty, the legal mechanism for beginning the process of rescinding our membership, which the Prime Minister has indicated is likely to happen in early 2017.”

  Mr Davies also condemned post-Brexit hate crimes, saying: “I am extremely disappointed that there have been attempts to link the unacceptable behaviour of a minority of idiots with the 17 million law-abiding people who voted to leave in June.”

Ms Fookes said: “We are entering into a period of great uncertainty and we need clarity on what Brexit will mean for young people and our local economy and businesses. David Davies has been anti-EU for a long time so I was disappointed he didn’t have any plans at all for Monmouthshire in a post-Brexit world. We need our MP, AM and county council to tell us what Monmouthshire is doing to be Brexit-ready. Unfortunately they have not shared any concrete ideas on this issue.

“I urged the young people at the debate to look to the future and to decide what they want and need out of Brexit. I suggested they tell their MP what issues are important to them so he can represent their views in the debates in Parliament.”

Beth added: “The next event will be a student debate on Friday, October 21 where we will discuss whether 16-year-olds should have the vote.”