British Prime Minister Keir Starmer has announced that Labour intends to keep its promises on lowering the voting age to 16. The Prime Minister reassured the party’s voters that they would ‘definitely’ lower the age required to vote in parliamentary elections—just like in Scottish and Welsh parliamentary and local elections.
Although citing fairness by saying “I think that if you’re old enough to go out to work, if you’re old enough to pay your taxes, then you’re entitled to have a say on how your taxes are spent,” this move sparked backlash among other parties. Political opponents are accusing Labour of trying to ‘lock in their power permanently’ by trying to appeal to younger voters following their general election win last year.
Reform UK leader Nigel Farage recently accused the Government of trying to ‘rig’ the electoral system. He is also skeptical of how effective this move would be, saying the government “might well be in for a shock when they find out just how many of [young voters] end up voting for Reform”.
PM Starmer’s response to critics was to deny the move as a voter grab, instead viewing it as political education.
I would term it as sort of more education about citizenship, rather than sort of pure political indoctrination! …Citizenship and how the state works, how you participate in it, what the institutions and structures are. … I’m very pleased to see that is part of the curriculum; I think it’s important that everyone learns about citizenship.
