Should 16-year-olds have a right to vote? 

If you think 16 year olds shouldn't vote because they're ignorant of matters like foreign policy, monetary policy, or other matters, I would invite you to ask a 20, 30 or 40 year old what they think about those issues and ask them to explain them to you in any level of detail.

If you are working and paying taxes you should be able to vote.

No taxation without representation

I back Right To Vote at 16, Fair (PR) Voting system and compulsory voting.

And politicize schools even more than now... Bad idea.

I'd argue there should be an upper age for voting. I have an 88 year old relative who will not vote for a candidate, solely because they met her once, and she didn't know the second verse of God Save the King.

Sadly I don't think that they should be able to vote. As more and more research is showing that we don't mature until mid to late twenties, voting at 18 is already not the safest bet! I would however encourage more school education on government and politics. And any person that can't be bothered to vote, then at least ask someone who cares, even if they are 16, who would they like you to vote for, and cast that vote for them. Not enough eligible voters, actually vote - let's fix this! More people didn't bother to vote (2,496,468) than voted (1,088,225) for Sadiq Khan. More people didn't bother to vote (47,533) than voted (12,335) for Galloway. More people didn't bother to vote (15,553,935) than voted (13,966,454) for the Tories at the last general election. If you don't vote, or you spoil your ballot, then that simply means that someone else who does vote, counts - and their interests might not align with what is best for us and our nation. Vote for Reform UK :-)

No they are not mature enough they have not lived enough they are used to everything being done for them and paid for by their parents

Just need to be consistent: voting, enlisting in armed forces, drinking in a pub, marriage without parental consent; movies with hughest afe rating; driving a car - all should be the SAME age, imo, whatever that is. I'd lower it since you can be a parent at any age from puberty; have a family & spouse by 16; the current teens are inheriting a damaged planet and need to be involved asap, imo, and IF you can enlist and potentially fight, you ought to be able to see any movie you like, dive a car and have a beer in a pub, frankly! But consistency in this is the most key for me.

Most policies are aimed at old people because they are the perceived voting class. Loweing age to 16 would force political parties to finally start catering to younger people. It is disgraceful how much the future is deferred because of the race for the grey vote.

Don't give 16 year olds the right to vote...said the group of people that say it's pointless to vote 🙄

No they should not vote.

16 year olds should ve allowed to vote. Im more concerned that elderly people after a certain age need their votes taken away. Genrontocracy is not good for any nation.

Before we believe that teenagers may not fully understand issues, consider that there are allegedly grown adults who still believe the Daily Mail and Farage.

No

nope...

I started work at 16, paid taxes etc, not allowed to vote at the time.

I do not see the problem tbh. I can honestly sit here and say that I wasn't any more mature at eighteen then I was at sixteen. Besides which, the current voting rate is something like 33%. There is no real reason to believe that we'll get more than a few thousand more people voting anyway.

16 year olds are young men and women, some of who will have a good understanding of current affairs and politics and some who won't, a bit like the rest of the population. Age is no guarantee of intelligence or common sense.

I’d have more faith in idealistic 16 years old then I do blinkered, bitter older people and I’m old lol

Definitely no!

No - they dont pay tax and cannot be an MP.

NO!NO AND NO? This smacks of desperation from Labour who feel they can’t win on the current, set playing field that all parties have used! He’s playing with fire!

100% no.

Seniors have life experience and understand how economies work - ageist comments about banning them from voting are totally unacceptable. Just as letting 16 year olds vote who have no idea how to run a country, especially the entitled youth of today - ask any teacher or trainer!

as long as they are are a property owner and have a stake in society..I don't mind how young they are to vote...😅

No taxation without representation. Let 16 year olds have the right to vote, I wish I had the right to vote at 16. And to anyone saying 16 is too young Remember that the next time you ask them to sort your phone out Or your tv Or printer Ect ….

No. They are still children.

I fully support them having the right to vote. If you are of working age you should be able to have your say.

"Nothing bad has happened " Have iou seen the state of Wales and Scotland?

Voting should be at 21

Watch any interviews of members of the public and see if they are knowledgeable on political matters!!!!!!

I can clearly see why Tories want to exclude under 18s from voting: 99.9% of them won't vote Conservative. However, if we're debating age and voting, let's widen it to discuss old voters as well and I'm nearly 63 so no spring chicken. Personally, I'd cap the voting age at 75, maybe even lower, to say retirement age. Why? Because it's not their future, they'll be voting about. It's as simple as that!

Yes, and they can do jail time as well in adult prisons. Fair I'd say

Voting age should be raised to people paying taxes and having children. This way they have vested interest in both economy and the future.

Yes

Yes no move on It will help balance out the insane bias against y9ung people by the Tories

You can join the army at 16. You should vote at 16.

No! 16 y.o should NOT vote. In fact not even youngsters on Universities that are under the thumb of ideologically left. Putting the kids to vote at 18 was the masterstroke of the century of the political class. They are smart.

Instead of geographical districts, there should be age cohorts which vote separately, with seats allocated based on total population. For example, you could have where people ages 15-30, 31-45, 46-60, and 61+ vote in separate races and elect their own representatives, so that the parliament has MPs from each of those cohorts. You would only be able to run in the election for the age cohort to which you belonged (say, on the date of the election), and only voters from that age cohort would be voting on your candidacy.

There are exceptions . But most 16 year olds can't be trusted to feed a goldfish. Upon saying that ,a lot of Adults fall into the same catagory.If you pay taxes then you are contributing to your country and as such should be worthy of having a vote , but Most 16 /17 year olds and more often than not 18 to 20 year olds are still in fulltime education and this should be taken into account .Someone that contributes nothing should not have a voice in the running of their country .

Voting age should be raised to 25, as this is when the brain is fully developed and mature.

Why not ? If you can pay tax you should be able to vote

Absolutely not; their life experiences and ability to make informed choices is too limited, and they are open to be influenced by any barmy trend. They cannot leave education, smoke, drink, gamble marry, buy or rent property, so their experience of surviving in the real world is next to nothing.

Of course not - it is a ridiculous idea.

Obviously they'll vote idealistically left wing. Why not 10 year olds? they could demand more sweeties.

What's the point there's no-one worth voting for anyway 😂

I’m rapidly coming to the opinion no one should be allowed to vote given the W⚓️s that keep voting for.

No

No.

No

If you’re old enough to pay tax into the economy you’re old enough too vote , it’s as simple as that

Of course not, they are Children. Should go back to 21 year olds

No. 18 is when you are an adult, that's when you should be able to vote.

No.

The question is which was put quite eloquently put by Sean Lock, should over sixty fives have the right to vote considering its not their future they are voting for.

No they should not go to war.

16-year -olds should get the vote in local elections as it’s local authorities who are responsible for youth services.

Lets do both. 16 year olds get the vote but they gotta do national service too. Seems totally reasonable to me. Righties just dont want 16 year olds voting becsuse they vote left.

If people who don’t live in this country can vote why shouldn’t 16 year olds who do live here get a vote.

Sorry but ‘we don’t pay youths enough that they get taxed’ is NOT a good argument against Labour’s policy.

A 16 year old has criminal responsibility, can become parents, and can pay taxes. So yes, they should have some say on laws & spending.

Pensioners with dementia that voted to turn the countries back on it’s largest trading block and won’t live long enough to live with the consequences are allowed to vote? We are adding two additional years to the electorate hardly big numbers, enough to keep the tories out though, maybe that is the worry.

The only reason why you'd want 16 year olds to vote, is the fact that they'll be heavily influenced by their school and teachers, and in many ways, teachers will have Authority over their honest students to pass or fail them.

No. In fact the voting age should return to 21.

Yes some 16 years olds are mature than many people far older than they are. It’s their future too.

The commentators argument is flawed in that he say’s nothing bad has happened, that needs to be qualified by a ‘yet’. The study period is too short to determine the impact fully given the limited nr of electoral cycles and range of political events in the studied countries.

Get them to take a test like a driver's licence so they prove some understanding

Yes. They can join the armed services at 16. Therefore they should have the right to vote. If not, then raise the recruitment age.

Absolutely not no never under no circumstances

Crazy even 18 too young

I got the vote at 21. By that time I had paid 5 years tax and national insurance. I had some small appreciation of politics, economics and society. Many of my cohort had absolutely no idea. You should get the vote when you have paid 5 years tax, or have a degree and paid 3 years tax. Of course labour want the vote of the young. They want to mould their minds before they have gained any common sense.

Should the English be allowed to vote given Boris, Brexit etc

18 year olds are also easily manipulated

They should take the vote away from old folks at some point, LOL.

Rishi Sunak wants 16 year olds to undertake a compulsory form of National Service! It is absurd in these circumstances that 16 year olds do not currently have the right to vote.

Shifty starmer would lie and try to manipulate them like with the tuition fees .Flip flops from day to day he is undemocratic hypocrite. Keep shifty starmer out of number ten seriously OUT.

Too young to vote still not understand political games😢😢

Don’t be so ridiculous. some cannot decide what they want to do when they leave school,

I think 17 would be a better age in terms of maturity. But I also think there should be a children's MP. Without a constituency, children up to voting age can vote for candidates and the MP would get two questions at PMQs.

If 16 year olds have the judgement required to vote then they should also have the judgement required to buy alcohol.

At 16 you are old enough to work full time and pay taxes. If you pay taxes, you should have a say in how those taxes are spent. It’s as simple as that. Most voters are shockingly ignorant about policy. Saying young people don’t know enough is a terrible argument.