Voting age may be reduced to 16 apparently. Good idea?

[Nanny0gg]

As it says in the title. Labour still seems keen on this idea. Personally I think it's bonkers - I look at my DGC and they are just not old enough yet.

AIBU?

Not quite sure how to respond to your ignorance. The best way might be to provide you with facts.

Labour have stated that they will enable a person (could be a predatory male) to obtain a sign off from a gp which says now, you’re a woman. Legally. As I stated before.

Yes they can do that now but it’s a lot more difficult, a person has a lot more hoops to jump through. Being able to go online and get a sex change note, as you can a sick note, from a gp taking the cash, is a very different matter.

I understand why Labour supporters don’t want to admit it, it’s women’s rights grab by men. That endangers all women and children.

😂

Yes.

I understand why Labour supporters don’t want to admit it

So do I because it’s not true. Reducing the cost of a GRC to a fiver was a massive step to make it easier.

Women and Equalities Minister Liz Truss said the reduction removed a "barrier" for transgender people.

@blossomtoes

Sigh. I know this is tricky for female Labour devotees, especially. Perhaps spend your energy trying to get Starner and co to realise their glaring mistake.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-54246686

Labour should not be making it easier for predatory men to self id. You know it and so do we.

Exactly!

@kalokagathos

That’s not about age. It’s about electorate intelligence, right or wrong.

On that basis, some say democracy isn’t always the answer, are they correct?

Yes they are. And many 16 year olds' opinions are so sound, they could dilute the stupidity and insular ideas of the old. If a 16 year old can be admitted to an army, they are good enough to vote. My daughter cares so much about sustainability and equal opportunity, she outwits many of the old who would seal her young fate

‘And many 16 year olds' opinions are so sound, they could dilute the stupidity and insular ideas of the old’

Wow. Ageist?

Good grief. 😂

Ha ha ha Labour have just said they will "simplify" the process, nothing else, we all need to see their manifesto... so you just made that up.

Some real facts for you: the Tories cut the fee for a GRC from £140 to £5, 96% of applicants get a GRC... so self ID via a 2 year proces, the one "hoop" is a 2 year wait, bout the same for a hip operation then?

Name ONE law the Tories have put in to stop men competing in female sport? no you cannot, because they haven't.

Tory supporters need to wake up to the fact that their party of choice says one thing but does another, the decimation of womens rights has occured on their watch, most notably, cuts to womens services, they harmed kids with their 2 child benefit cap and even taxed panic rooms, more women die each week now at the hands of violent (ex) partners than when they took office.

Doesn't any of that matter to you?

@candycrush02

😂🙈 what are you talking about. Currently the process is long and involves commitment. So much so that TRAs have campaigned to reduce it.

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2024/05/20/people-gender-transition-signed-off-gp-labour-plans/

Labour want to simplify the process via one GP.

Yes obviously other things matter to me, what a bizarre question.

‘so self ID via a 2 year proces, the one "hoop" is a 2 year wait’.

Not quite.

I don't think it's a good idea.

If you can vote at 16 does that not then make you an adult, rather like when the age was lowered from 21 to 18?

So you should then be allowed to leave school, buy alcohol, have a credit card, sign a contract, etc.

DS2 was 18 in the November then spent the rest of the school year, technically an adult but having to follow school boy rules. I think it would make life difficult for teachers for a start to have voting at 16.

I work in polling stations and see plenty of people vote who clearly have no clue what's going on in the world. They tell me so as well! My kids are 16 and 18 and are far more switched on than a lot of adults. I don't see why they shouldn't both be allowed to vote.

No 16 or 17 year old can work out their gender? What fantasy world are you living in?

Did you bother to read your link???

They (an unnamed source, a Tory MP perhaps?) added that it had not yet been decided whether the medical professional would be a GP or a gender specialist, and the plans would likely be put out to a consultation if Labour wins the next election

So nothing decided whatsoever.

Yet you re pretending this is official Labour policy.

Yes the process is so terrible that 96% get a GRC and the other 4% don't because they didn't fill out the paperwork correctly.

No one is turned down, so what the fuck does it matter how many Doctors are involved?????

My daughter cares so much about sustainability and equal opportunity, she outwits many of the old who would seal her young fate

Is that you, Mrs Thunberg?

😂😂

@candycrush02

Do you think a predatory male will call up a GP to have official confirmation of a ‘sex change’, as a tick box exercise? Within a day he’s ‘a woman’?

Do you think a predatory male will go through the hoops, as provided to you above, over 2 years?

It’s not rocket science.

'Outwits'? In some kind of witty verbal sparring about sustainability with boomers?

If a 16 year old can be admitted to an army, they are good enough to vote

The 16 year olds who join up are pretty much what they've always been -- children from the most deprived socioeconomic backgrounds, who have failed in mainstream education, have few other education/training opportunities, and are more likely than the general population to have had multiple adverse childhood experiences.

💯 I make sure I always vote. I come from a ex communist country, we know how important it is to be able to vote. We taught in the 90s to treasure the ability to vote and couldn't wait to do so. My 16yo daughter sees me participate in UK and Polish elections since being a toddler . She is also so switched on and I would love for her to contribute to a quality vote.

I make sure I always vote. I come from a ex communist country, we know how important it is to be able to vote. We taught in the 90s to treasure the ability to vote and couldn't wait to do so.

Can't speak for other countries, but a UK vote is worthless - of no value

Yes it is a good idea. A great deal of 16 and 17 year olds are more informed than many adults, if my children and their friends are anything to go by.

I think it’s a good idea.
In fact I’d go as far to say that ALL children should have the vote if they want it.

Children are people. In the way that women are people and had to fight for suffrage. All people regardless of age should have a say in their own lives in my opinion and that includes minors. The average age of an MP is 50/51 and yet the decisions being made by those people affect everyONE regardless of age. If you really stop to think about it it’s a system of very unequal power distribution and one where children and young people are not represented at all.

It was once said that women didn’t have the mental capacity to make such ‘serious decisions’ and now we say it about children but I believe children have good, sensible minds and could be easily trusted to vote. It would force politicians to listen to the opinions and lived experiences of ALL of the people it represents and not just some.