The Labour party leader Ed Millban feels if someone is contributing to society and paying taxes than they should have one of the most important rights in the world the right to vote. He follows the ethos of 16 year olds are working and paying tax they can also join to the army make other important life changing decisions. In addition to this he feels young people are at are disadvantage in society and are constantly being linked to crime which is not true and only makes young more frustrated. The party also feel some who’s able to work can handle the responsibility of voting in a general election.
The L.D also appear to agree with Labour as they feel if some can fight for their country at 16 then should have the right to vote with a shadow of doubt. Nick Clegg the L.D leader feels politics ignores young people and lowering the voting will make politicians listen to young people more and understand their views and opinions better.
However the party in power at the moment seems to disagree with lowering the voting age and feel their need to focus on make democracy better than just making more controversial with allowing 16 year olds to vote. The Prime Minister David Cameron, feels lowering the voting age will make elections less reliable than they already are. Conservative MP Dominic Grieve says that the government plans to rise the leaving age for school so lowering the voting age would not make sense and would seem alertly ridiculous.
Rory Weal are 16 year old took are stand against the current government at the Labour party conference and it s plans, he also expressed his desire to see the voting age lowered to 16 as he feels young people have been forced to go out and find work so they should be able to vote at 16. He also focused his speech on the current government cuts and how they affected young people heavily. He felt the government was making decisions which would affect young people so surely we should have a say in who makes these decisions which are going to affect their future and life in the coming years.
In my point of view the voting age should be lowered simply because if the law says that 16 your an adult then you should have all the rights of an adult and be treated the same. Society has refused to treat young people as adults and the government’s unwillingness to change the voting age reflects this. Recent decisions that have affected young people have made the relationship between the government and young people even more hostile. Education Maintenance Allowances (EMA) cuts and raise of university fees only goes to show that young people are being made the victims of the big spending cuts made by the government.
If 16 year olds are tried as adults in the court of justice then they should be treated as adults regardless of the situation. So lowering the voting age seems only fair as it gives young people the right to be an adult in society. In addition to this being 16 and 18 is no different it just means becoming more independent as a person. Most young people have tried to become productive members of society but have be rejected numerous times and now their being isolated by everyone their being used as scapegoats for high crime rates and lack of jobs.
On the other hand arguments against lowering the voting age are just as strong. Most people feel that at 16 someone isn’t ready to vote. In addition to this most young people don’t really understand politics and try to avoid learning about it or being involved in it so letting them vote would be a waste of time. Some feel young people would not even bother to turn up or only vote for the best looking candidate or best dressed not necessary the candidate with the best intentions for young people. In conclusion people feel young people will be manipulated by candidates and made to vote for are candidate who’s not interested in improving their lives.