Chief Minister Lyndon Trott faces an on-air quizzing by Alex Falla, centre, and Jordan Rosamond, both 14. The Elizabeth College students’ questions were, he said, as good as any he had faced at this week’s Treasury Select Committee session. (Picture by Daniel Guerin, 0601561)
AN OLD Elizabethan took to the airwaves on Old School FM yesterday. Chief Minister Lyndon Trott was the guest on the fourth and final day of the college’s broadcast which was set up as part of activity week for Years 8 and 9 students.
The job of grilling the island’s premier politician fell to 14-year-olds Alex Falla and Jordan Rosamond. Alex said he had found Deputy Trott easy to interview.
‘I was quite nervous at first but some people told me he was a good guy to chat to,’ he said. ‘It was really good fun and we got more confident the more we got into it.’
Jordan said Deputy Trott had given answers that were good for radio.
Subjects ranged from the island’s waste situation and the off-island role of the chief minister to Tottenham Hotspur’s chances of winning next season’s Premier League.
Initially Deputy Trott said Tottenham would win the title and it was only a matter of by how many points, but he soon retracted that and said the best they could hope for was to finish fourth.
Jordan cornered the politician by asking him if he had ever been punished during his time at the school between 1975 and 1980.
Deputy Trott conceded that he had.
‘I could have coped with cleaning the toilets with a toothbrush but I hated running so one Saturday afternoon I was made to run around the school,’ he said.
The punishment had been warranted, he said, as he had cheeked a teacher.
Deputy Trott, a member of the Elizabeth College board of directors, said it had been a privilege to be interviewed and the questions were good.
‘There were a couple of potential bear traps but I think I just managed to come through it unscathed,’ he said.
‘The quality of questioning at a Treasury Select Committee hearing at Portcullis House that I attended on Tuesday was about the same.’
College head of business studies Barney Clarke said he was proud of his students. ‘They did really well for their first interview and with a room full of adults too, the pressure was really on and it must have been stressful,’ he said.
‘But they were listening to what was said and holding a conversation – it was not just a question and answer session.’
Article posted on 4th July, 2008 - 1.00pm
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