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Prime Minister to consider lowering voting age to 16

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Prime Minister to consider lowering voting age to 16

Monday, 08 February 2010 10:14

Tags: governement iniatives | young people involvement

vote The Prime Minister has said he would support lowering the voting age to 16 but only if significant improvements were made to citizenship education.

Speaking to the House of Commons Liaison Committee, Gordon Brown said that if schools were to teach citizenship to a high standard and 16-year-olds could "assume their British citizenship in a formal way" the possibility of the voting age being lowered would become much more realistic.

He said: "If we are going to have reform like this we need to make sure that citizenship education is good."

The PM has been criticised in the past for being out of touch with young people but he has now praised them, saying that most 16-year-olds are mature enough to vote and that they are "more knowledgeable, more able to find out what is going on, and more informed". He did, however, say that in-depth consultation would be required before any decision on the matter was made.

The Youth Citizenship Commission was set up to consult on lowering the voting age but its final report published last June failed to make a recommendation one way or another.

The British Youth Council's vice-chair Jack Rowley said: "British Youth Council welcomes the Prime Minister's commitment to lowering the voting age to 16 as part of a wider package of necessary electoral reform to encourage engagement with the political process.

"Contrary to the Youth Citizenship Commission's lack of a recommendation on the issue of lowering the voting age, we are delighted that the PM's support is so clear."

Votes at 16 is one of five demands in the British Youth Council General Election Manifesto, which it will launch on 15 February.

So what do you think? Are you 16 and think you should have the right to vote, or do you think the voting age should stay at 18? Let us know what you think by leaving your comments below.

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