THE YOUNGEST PERSON ever to speak in a British parliament returned to Devon last week and said he would stand for election again in September.

Twelve year-old Ben Walshe from Bere Alston was one of three 'Youth MPs' representing Devon at the first UK Youth Parliament in London.

Ben, a pupil at Tavistock College, told the assembly of 250 young people that he thought YMPs should be elected for two years instead of one in order to get their manifesto implemented.

'We knew nothing about the UKYP when we arrived and the next people voted in will also know nothing about it,' he said at the meeting.

'We should have been given a chance to go through with our ideas. We have made a brilliant manifesto, but the next people could change it all.'

The manifesto will be finalised in about six weeks and sent to all MPs, but it may not be possible for the present YMPs to get any commitments from MPs to act on any of its proposals. Ben said it was up to the members of the UKYP to decide how it should be run, not up to the adults.

He received a big round of applause when he sat down. Most of the others were aged 16-18.

'Some were a bit arrogant and thought I was too immature to understand what it was about, but when they heard me speak they took a different attitude.'

On the workshop on drugs and crime which he attended, he said he was now against the legalisation of cannabis because legalisation could make it 'as common as cigarettes.'

He also argued that courts which dealt with youth crime should have judges who had special training in youth issues.

He was disappointed that very few MPs put in an appearance at the two-day event and he saw no government ministers. 'Some sent their support, but then didn't come.' he said.

But he was pleased with the event as a whole.

'People said that it was very disorganised, but it is a long process and it was the first in the world, so I thought it was pretty good.'

The Youth Parliament was set up to influence MPs in their creation of laws that affect young people. The idea was hatched in 1996 at a conference in Coventry Cathedral and it has been sponsored mainly by the Department for Education.