The other week I responded for the Labour Opposition to a debate in the House of Commons on whether or not the voting age should be lowered to 16. I argued strongly that it should be and I was delighted that the Commons voted, for the first time, that 16 and 17-year-olds should be given the vote.
Unfortunately, David Cameron responded by saying that the Government had absolutely no intention of following the “advice” of Parliament.
This I thought was an unfortunate, though not unsurprising response. For me, young people at the age of 16 are “mature” enough to cast a vote because at that age they already have a range of rights and responsibilities. For example, a 16-year-old can give his or her consent to medical treatment, they can decide to leave school and enter work or training, they can receive tax credits and welfare payments, they can pay income tax and national insurance, they can consent to sexual relations, they can change their name by deed poll, they can get married or enter a civil a partnership, and at the age of 16 they can become a company director, join a trade union or join the armed forces.
It follows then that a 16-year-old ought to have the right to vote. As the local MP I frequently visit schools and colleges within the constituency, and now and again groups of students come up to the House of Commons to learn at first hand how Parliament works.
Invariably I find that young people are interested in all the issues which have an influence on their lives. It is a myth that young people are not interested in politics. Like all other people, when the penny drops and there is a realisation that politics is about the health service, education, supporting people with disabilities, the environment and jobs, young people are only too willing to become engaged in serious discussion.
That is why I said to the House of Commons that votes at 16 is an idea whose time has definitely come.
Wayne David
Labour MP for Caerphilly
There's a saying "When young you vote with your heart, when older you vote with your brain"
Tell me one Labour Government that has lost office and has left South Wales and the UK better off.
Wayne David is, of course, perfectly correct in the comments he makes here.
Clive, in his comment is disingenuous to young people, particularly to those young people who already engage with local politics, and in the Caerphilly CBC area, where main political groups on the council actively encourage them to take an active role in local political and social issues, they also have their own representative cabinet through which to make their voices heard, and I think Clive is wrong when he restates the position he does in respect to these young people ` voting with their heart`, that presupposes they know very little about the actions of Politicians who are making decisions in respect to them.
In most cases they know more about these matter than the older people who don`t vote at all, so the election system has a lot to be grateful about when it comes to eighteen year olds, why not sixteen year olds in the future????.
That's an easy one to answer Clive: every Labour government has made the country a better place. If you doubt that, think about what other governments have done and give a thought to what this givernment is doing now!
I can think of the great Labour Governments (1945 – 51) who created the National Health Service, built a million homes, revolutionised education and Nationalised industry for the common good of the people. I think most people would generally say that South Wales and the UK was better off after those reforms.
In answer to your comment Wayne, this givernment (sic) is digging us out of the mess left by you lot. As the note left in the Treasury said when Labour lost power "There's nothing left"
I do admit though that the current government is failing to supply good weather.
We are however, doing much better than many other countries where unemployment is soaring.
It certainly does seem that the law is uneven on this point, a sixteen year old can legally get married, have a homosexual relationship and work full time and pay income tax and national insurance. To deny them the vote is a little odd to say the least.
The main problem is getting people, young or old, to vote at all and this is what concerns me far more than the age at which they do so. Not enough is done to increase the proportion of the electorate that vote or engage in any way with the democratic process.
Eighty years ago Wales was a hotbed of political activity and politics was a talking point for most of the population. Nowadays the talk on in work, in pubs, restaurants and the shopping streets is more likely to be about sport or TV talent shows. This is a reflection of poor educational standards and the failure of all of us who seek a person's vote to enthuse them enough to use their ballot. The winner of the X-Factor does not make the slightest difference to our quality of life. The winner of a political election does – it is as simple as that.
Now we appear to be on the subject of which political party does best by Wales? Absolutely no contest at all, and for anyone to say the Tories is deluded.
This current lying Tory Government, propped up by lying, hypocritical, crawling and creeping , Lib Dem sycophants is an absolute joke, and if Clive is worried that Labour left the country ` in a mess` he is also in denial in respect to the world wide financial collapse, he also appears to be in denial about the how Wales and its communities was destroyed by the last Tory Government, Yes, that was, the last time Tories were in power in England.
The sooner we get to the next election the sooner these odious, obnoxious, chinless cretins in this Tory led, culturally bankrupt cobbled together ` government`, and who are currently dismantling all that is good about a caring and considerate society in this country the better.