Today the Scottish parliament voted to allow 16 and 17 year
olds a vote in General and Local Elections held in Scotland. Those elections
involving other UK countries will retain the UK rules for voting of 18+.
Ironically at the same time the Westminster parliament voted
to not allow 16-18 year olds the right to vote in the upcoming EU referendum,
despite the enormous effects that the outcome may have on their lives.
Cameron, at one point in the referendum campaign, rather patronisingly
told us that whilst a vote in the General Election was only temporary, and that
in 5 years’ time we could tell the Tories to “F off”, a YES vote was a decision
forever; there would be no going back.
Although, of course, nothing can be said to be forever, at
least in the short term he was right.
But, surely a vote to leave or stay in the EU is the same.
There will be no going back, at least not in the immediate future, if we decide
to leave. And leaving a union, whether the UK or the EU, doesn't happen
overnight.
If the UK votes “out”, then by the time that the necessary administration
is done, these 16 and 17 year olds will almost undoubtedly be 18 year olds with
their university education and working lives ahead of them. It’s surely their
business as much as it is ours whether they work in or out of the EU.
The bid to overturn the Tories’ backward looking rules was
led by Labour and the SNP, for once working together to try to pull the UK into
the 21st century.
SNP MP Stephen Gethins said that there was overwhelming
evidence from the Scottish independence referendum that extending the franchise
for 16-year-olds was a good thing for democratic participation.
When you listen to some of the arguments against widening
the franchise, you have to wonder what planet the MPs are living on.
One Labour rebel, Barry Sheerman (above), claimed that allowing 16
and 17 year olds to vote would make them 'adults' and therefore more vulnerable
to sexual abuse.
WHIT?
Clearly the fact that they can leave school, get married and
have children, go to work, live separately from their parents …sometimes on the
streets… and pay taxes, seems to have escaped his notice. I’m just guessing
that this may have more of an influence of their sexual behaviour than the
right to vote! For the life of me I can’t work out why he reckons that casting
a vote would open them up to sexual abuse. However, who knows about those
things when it comes to planet Westminster.
There was also anger in Westminster that EU nationals will
be banned from voting. This time the government had Labour’s support. Strangely
there is an exception made for Republic of Ireland nationals. I’m not sure how
they are allowed to pick and choose like that, but apparently they can. But then why
Irish? Why not Lithuanians, or Maltese?
Unlike in the Scottish referendum, ex patriots will be
allowed to vote. So, even people who
have lived here for 20 years, and are married to Brits, won’t be allowed a say
in their future. And people who were born here but live in America, or Hong
Kong will. Once again this contrasts
with the Scottish referendum which allowed people who lived in Scotland the
vote, but those who had chosen to make their lives elsewhere were excluded.
Scotland 21st century; UK 19th.
