Supreme Court, City Hall and Woking Theatre

At our first stop, the Supreme Court, there was an environmental pressure group protesting outside the building, called ‘FoodRise’. This is a campaign group which dedicates it’s time to decreasing food inequality by addressing the root causes of this, whilst trying to do what they feel is best for both the planet and the people. They were protesting as the Supreme Court must charge up to £10,000 when it’s an environmental case. This inhibits campaigners when trying to hold the government to account in Judicial Reviews. FoodRise were hoping to challenge the government over a trade deal with Australia. However, the government is threatening to charge them millions of pounds as they’re claiming that their case is not sufficiently environmental.

Once inside the Supreme Court, we went on a guided tour of the different court rooms and were given examples of cases which had been in it, such as the ‘Tate Modern case’ – Fearn vs Board of Trustees of the Tate Gallery 2023. I found the design of the building and court rooms particularly interesting; it was modern and thoughtfully designed, whilst also having regular ‘nods’ to the history surrounding the evolution of the current legal system.

We then travelled by boat along the river to North Greenwich before crossing the river to City Hall in London’s famous cable car. The cable cars were a great experience and way to view East London from a different angle. While the strong winds made for a pretty scary experience, it definitely gave us something to laugh about later! City Hall is the home of the Greater London Authority (GLA) and the London Mayor Sadiq Khan. We took part in a workshop, where we discussed all the roles of the London Mayor, and the responsibilities Sadiq Khan holds. We then visited ‘the Chamber’ – where the GLA meetings are held, as well as Mayor’s question time. We were disappointed to learn that we had missed this event by only one day (especially as it only happens ten times a year!). This was my favourite part of the trip because I didn’t have much knowledge of the work of the devolved powers of the GLA, and the staff were really friendly, we even got given complementary hot and cold drinks (the English Breakfast tea bags made the perfect cup of tea!).

In the evening, we travelled to Woking to watch the play, “I’m Sorry Prime Minister”, a comedy which focuses on a past PM. We were given some free time in Woking Centre before the play started, so we all went for dinner. It was really nice to be able to spend time with my friends from the Berlin trip. ‘I’m Sorry Prime Minister’ showed the way the constitution works and how over time, past PMs fade into a distant memory, and the mental and social effect this sudden decrease in power can do to past PMs. We managed to move our seats forward to get a great view of the stage. It was a great treat to be able to spend the evening out with lots of friends.