BUDDING parliamentarians welcomed their MP as part of their Democracy Week events.

Chalk Ridge Primary School, in Sullivan Road, welcomed Maria Miller MP who gave an assembly to Year 6 pupils speaking about her role as the member of parliament for Basingstoke and democracy as a whole.

The Key Stage 2 children have been studying how the UK's democracy works in preparation for the visit, and had prepared their own wide range of questions for Mrs Miller, probing her thoughts on issues such as the impact of Brexit, how she personally felt about leaving the EU, the environment and. in particular pollution, litter and recycling in Basingstoke.

The MP said: β€œIt was a real pleasure to come along to help launch Democracy Week at Chalk Ridge Primary School, and I was so impressed by how engaged the students were with the issues about parliament and government.”