Published on 12, July, 2020
labour are toying with the idea of allowing 16 or 17 year old the vote. I think about time too, in the devolved assemblies you get the vote at 16. I don't think you can ask young people to be better citizens and do more for society without giving them a say on government.
Well, it's been something Labour have wanted to do for a while - and fair enough. They're right, if you're old enough to work, you're old enough to vote.
That's an approach underpinned by the premise that by 16, a person may be considered a young adult.
Which is hardly revolutionary.
16 year olds dont work anymore, they are forced into extra education until they are 19 or something... so by that logic the voting age should be risen to 19 or whatever they can leave forced education from
Not really. Nobody is 'forced' into education in reality,, whatever right-wing rhetoric may claim.
What 16 year olds do after school varies, with some doing A levels, some vocational training and some apprenticeships.
In any case, the point is that a person can legally work when they are 16 and should therefore have the right to vote.
"When I was a lad"......it was paper rounds, all round....and working on/in gardens that enabled us kiddiwinkles to afford our Beanos / Dandy / Texan Bars.
Well yeah, under 16s with paid work - usually family.
It doesn't help that we no longer live in houses with big chimneys that need cleaning.
How is one supposed to instill a decent work ethic in surplus pre-teens these days?
From an insurance perspective, many commercial policies make it VERY expensive to allow children to be employed. Obviously, some employers don't really care about insurance matters.