DOUGLAS Hurd – who served as both Foreign Secretary and Home Secretary in Margaret Thatcher’s Government – answered questions about his political career when he met pupils at Taunton School.

As well as talking about working with the Iron Lady, Lord Hurd gave his views on the UK’s prison system – he would like to see smaller prisons, with inmates close to their families in a bid to reduce re-offending on release.

Lord Hurd then spoke in Taunton School’s Chapel about Robert Peel, the founder of the Metropolitan Police, and his own past experience in the House of Commons and his current seat in the Lords.