16 & 17 year olds get to vote in next GE.

[bill.advanced]

Speaking personally I am delighted that 16 & 17 year olds have been given the vote, long overdue.
Both Scotland and Wales allowed them to vote in their respective national parliamentary elections.
We allowed them to vote on independence.

There will be some who will say what do they know, they’re too young, not enough experience of life, etc etc. Well we adults voted to exclude ourselves from largest most successful single market in the world by listening to Farage, Cummings and Johnson. I honestly believe if they had the vote then these 16 & 17 year olds would have voted strongly to remain. Also I doubt very much if Reform will be happy with this, they’re already bleeting on about it on GB News. Also let’s see what effect this will have on polls with regards to Brexit.
I reckon the figures for remain are bound to improve, possibly to such an extent that Brexit may even stop being a taboo subject, were the likes of Starmer might actually grow a pair and tackle it head on.

Bring it on I say, give the young ones who stand to lose most from some of the utter stupidity I have witnessed from the vey folk who will oppose this, a chance to have a say. If voting required some to pass a very basic exam on politics, I doubt if most would pass it, whereas my 16 year old grandson knows far more about politics than some who have been conned and are still being conned by the likes of Farage and Tice, oh and Boris bloody Johnson.

[bill.advanced]

One other point just came to mind.

Some will say “these kids are not switched on enough”

Well they will be now.

[noisycat]

We’ve had this in Wales for a couple of years now. To say 16&17 year olds don’t know enough is an insult and they should have had a say in the Brexit vote,as it has certainly affected their future than the older generation. Age doesn’t guarantee knowledge and common sense and there were certainly elderly people interviewed, who voted for out, that didn’t have the knowledge to make a rational decision.

[bill.advanced]

We’ve had this in Wales for a couple of years now. To say 16&17 year olds don’t know enough is an insult and they should have had a say in the Brexit vote,as it has certainly affected their future than the older generation. Age doesn’t guarantee knowledge and common sense and there were certainly elderly people interviewed, who voted for out, that didn’t have the knowledge to make a rational decision.

Oh they they will tell them noisy, you know the same people who blame Gordon Brown and Labour for the 2008 financial crisis, when in actual fact Brown and Darling did more than any politicians worldwide to help mitigate what was a banking crisis created through deregulation. And who was responsible for that deregulation, Margaret Thatcher and Ronald Reagan. The same folk who told us we needed austerity, supported Brexit, who put Johnson and liz Truss into no 10, and who think that Nigel Farage is the answer to all of our problems. And the best bit of all, they still think they are right, and that 16+17 year olds are not fit to vote. Bonkers really, but then we are all living in a bonkers world right now.

[Stressed]

16 & 17 year olds will be fitter to vote than Johnson, Truss or Farage are to lead this country.

But then again how many 80+ shouldn't be voting?

My dad wanted to vote for Brexit because he didn't want the common market in the early 60s. Didn't matter that the Brexit vote was a completely different thing! He's just too old to actually understand what he was voting for.

[bill.advanced]

16 & 17 year olds will be fitter to vote than Johnson, Truss or Farage are to lead this country.

But then again how many 80+ shouldn't be voting?

My dad wanted to vote for Brexit because he didn't want the common market in the early 60s. Didn't matter that the Brexit vote was a completely different thing! He's just too old to actually understand what he was voting for.

For me stressed so long as you live, and are compos mentis you should have the right to vote in a democracy. Your father had his views and no matter what they were based upon, they were his views. What it all comes down to is that was how he felt rightly or wrongly, and that in itself is subjective. But obviously someone of whatever age who have sadly lost their sanity, or have a mental illness which prevents them from thinking rationally may have to have the right to vote removed. But this could open a can of worms, and deciding who can and cannot vote in itself would be subjective, even in the hands of experts. Also to simply say from a certain age you would automatically lose your right to vote would be undemocratic and deemed as age discrimination. From a pragmatic standpoint, I would say for various reasons better avoided, and I can never see any political party supporting such a move,