Gordon Brown Gets Grilled!
Gordon Brown sat comfortably in his shiny brown chair, glanced around and smiled. He was going to be in the hot seat today, being questioned by BBC school reporters from all the capital cities of Great Britain.
Eight students, arrived at 10 Downing Street to interview Mr Brown. Only ten days ahead of filing their articles
for the BBC School Report News Day on Thursday 26
th March. We were lucky enough to representing London.
We caught the train to Westminster and were whisked into the BBC studios in Milbank, to prepare questions with the other six students. We spent time refining our questions, practicing interview technique and getting to know the other students.
After a short walk to the entrance of Downing Street and we had to be checked by security. Once through we stopped to take pictures outside the famous black door of Number 10. We were really surprised to see how many people were walking in and out of house and how regularly they did it. The house was not what any of us expected. From the outside it was very deceiving; it looked small, but once you enter through the legendary door of number ten, everything changes. Alex explained to the BBC camera crew, who were with us, “It is a lot bigger than anyone thought it would be and we found out it joins all the way to number 12!”
The house was very elegant; we just couldn’t believe where we were standing and it left us feeling over-whelmed and speechless.
The interview with Mr Brown took place inside the Cabinet Room. We were quite nervous, as there were video cameras filming, as we asked our carefully planned questions. Putting on a brave face, Alex questioned the Prime Minister, asking if it was possible to have a Great British Football team for the 2012 Olympics and if they did, would it bring the four nations of the United Kingdom closer together. I took the opportunity to ask him what makes him proud to be British, as London has become a very multi-cultural place. Also, I pressed him to find out what his favourite meal is!
Mr Brown’s answer to Alex’s question was, “I want there to be a Great British Football team. It would be really good to hold the Olympics and have a football team. It also would be great to win a gold medal, all the matches would be held right round the country and I would like Sir Alex Ferguson to be manager as he would be quite a good one.”
He then told me, “I am proud to be British, as I see so many young people from different backgrounds being able to talk together, work together, do things together that’s why London is a successful multi-cultural city with people from diverse backgrounds getting on well with each other. But also I am proud to be British, as I think 
we stand for very important values. If you saw Comic Relief then you would know how generous British people are. The 21,000 schools involved with Comic Relief raised money for causes not just in Britain, but in Africa as well, so the generosity of British people is important. Even in a difficult year, where things are difficult for people, more and more money was being raised from schools all over the country, so I think you contribute to the greatness of Britain. It is the people that make Britain great, it is not the institutions, it is the people, what they do and how they learn together.”
We had a very enjoyable time, and felt it was a huge privilege to be able to experience this once in a lifetime opportunity. It was great to be able to participate in BBC School Report.
By Nimmi
