STAFF and pupils at a school in Bourton-on-the-Water were delighted to host a talk from a member of the House of Lords.

Lord Dear met with senior students at The Cotswold School last week to talk about the role and work of the House of Lords, as part of the Peers in Schools programme.

Lord Geoffrey Dear was made a life peer as Baron Dear of Willersey in Gloucestershire in 2006. His visit to the school was to encourage students to engage with the political and parliamentary process.

Lord Dear’s discussion with over 60 students was followed by a question and answer session. The students asked a range of challenging questions, including Lord Dear’s views on gay marriage. He had opposed the same sex marriage bill in the debate of June last year saying it would “completely alter the concept of marriage as we know it”.

Head of Sixth Form Phil White said he was delighted to see the students were fully engaged with important political debates.

“The Year 11, 12 and 13 students engaged superbly with the issues Lord Dear raised and asked extremely interesting and insightful questions,” he said.

Lord Dear described the students and the school as ‘most impressive’ and said he had never previously experienced such thoughtful and pertinent questioning sustained for so long from a student audience.

Visit parliament.uk/lordspeaker for more information.