16 & 17 year olds to be given the vote

[Whereishenow]

Just seen this announcement on BBC now. Amazing news!!! Now we just need to try and get youngsters out USING those votes.

A 16 year old cannot sign a legally binding contract, marry, or serve in combat in the armed forces. They can't get a tattoo. They aren't considered mature enough to understand the consequences.

Are we also going to start processing 16 year olds in the justice system as adults too? Especially those carrying weapons?

This will be an excellent thing for Reform.

If Labour think this will go in their favour they'll be in for a shock.

Personally I think it's odd - under 18s have nowhere near the sense or experience to make this kind of decision and I can say that confidently as someone who has worked with this age group for 17+ years now.

And can they run for parliament?

You don’t have to be a British citizen to have the right to vote. Hate to break it to you.

i think it’s a great idea, I’m not sure how many would actually vote but it’s their future.

What changes between being 17 years and 364 days old and 18? Nothing.

if it’s about “life experience” we should only give the vote to the oldest person in the country at election day, because nobody will ever see anyone younger than them as having enough experience.

We don't take the vote away from people with dementia and learning difficulties, and I don't see how 16 and 17 year old are less intellectually and emotionally capable than those groups. Moreover, many young people in those age groups work. Taxation, representation and all that.

But frothers gonna froth. 😂

Unless they are able to do it on their 'phone, it won't happen.

yeah I am.

Why should someone coming to the end of their life, possibly affected by conditions like dementia have the legal right to vote (as they should - i'm absolutely not advocating for taking those rights way at all) yet someone with their entire future ahead of them isn't considered?

Young people should have a say on education. On housing. There are so many issues that affect them directly.

You don't need to hate yourself. I actually knew that anyway.

Hard to think of a simple term that encompasses what groups are currently allowed to vote though, and it varies depending on election type.

Labour are getting desperate

It's been a problem that it's inconsistent across the UK, giving some 16 and 17 year olds more citizens' rights than others. Scotland and Wales can't be forced to raise the age, so it makes sense for England and NI to lower it. There are pros and cons - just as there were when age was lowered UK-wide from 21 to 18 in 1969 - but 16 is hardly arbitrary.

I struggle with this one but lean supporting it. They can live independently at that age, not many so but they can. My best mate was living independently with a baby at 16. Unfortunate circumstances but she made it work. It's adolescence, I wouldn't call it true childhood. Childhood has been expanded over the years and the development/maturity of young people in general slowed. But 16/17 year olds are still affected by policy and capable of understanding it.

Are they any less capable than my 90 year old grandad, with early dementia, who swallows everything the Daily Fail/Facebook/GB News tells him? Who believes every lie and is unable to think critically, live independently, understand what he's told? Should there be a maximum voting age of you believe there should be a minimum one? Or at least elderly people should be unable to if they are in diagnosed mental decline?

Most 16 year olds aren't earning enough to pay anything but the bare minimum in tax is at all and if this is the case and 16 year olds are adults, stop child benefit at 16 even if in education, try them as adults at 16 in the justice system, let them sign up to military combat at 16. 16 year olds aren't even seen as responsible enough to have their own mobile phone contract. We prosecute parents for failing to send 16 year olds to school. They either are adults and need the responsibilities along with the rewards or they're not and can wait until they are 18.

@ChattyChai as it happens, I think 18 is probably too young as well. But to answer your question, every month counts when it comes to a teenagers' developing brain and there is a surprisingly significant difference in maturity between the average 16 and 18 year old.

Yes, some may indeed be brainwashed. A lot of children are getting radicalised on the internet by the far right these days, for example. As are a lot of adults.

There will be some 16 year and 17 year olds who are very well informed and have a better understanding of the issues than many adults. And there will undoubtedly be some 16 and 17 year olds who have no understanding of what they're voting for. And lots who are somewhere in between. Just like the rest of the electorate, really, but unless we introduce tests to assess whether people are capable of making an informed choice, then we have to accept that many people will base their voting decisions on ideas that others will consider to be spurious or misguided. That's democracy, I suppose.

On balance, I welcome this decision. It's their future.

16 year olds can live alone, pay tax, have children, and sign up to the military.

I assume you mean they’ll all vote Labour.

TBH I think it would be good for all parties if they thought a little harder about the young people in this country, rather than existing purely to pander to the needs of the elderly.

They are all going to go out and vote reform

Re phone contracts - They aren't allowed financial credit at 16 as most dont have full time jobs, not because they aren't responsible enough to have a phone. It is perfectly possible for a 16 year old to buy a phone outright if they can afford one.

That’s the obvious conclusion to draw from this decision, isn’t it. Old enough to vote, old enough to face the consequences of your actions, as an adult.

So maybe it’ll force Labour and the tories to think more about the youngsters rather than pensioners.

That age group are more likely to vote Green.

They can join the military but not be in combat, if they live alone at 16 they will almost always have a social worker today. Yes they can pay tax if they earn enough.
ETA does anyone think it's a good idea for 16 year olds to have babies?