The referendum on Scottish independence will be a historic moment for the whole United Kingdom – but in more ways the one.
For the first time the voting franchise will be extended to 16 and 17-year-olds. I hope, like many others, that this could be the start of votes at 16 for all future elections and referendums in the UK.
The Labour leader Ed Miliband at the party’s recent conference once again spoke of his support for lowering the voting age. With the Scottish referendum putting the issue firmly in the media spotlight, I want to see the Labour leader lead from the front on the issue and campaign for a lowering of the voting age.
Of course changes to who can vote will not be at the top of the political agenda for our politicians. The more important issues surrounding the economy, the NHS and law and order will and should always take main priority.
However votes at 16 falls into the wider debate of political engagement and particularly how we engage with our youngsters. In his speech at Progress annual conference in May, Miliband said about political engagement: ‘It is a challenge we must rise to.’
From the day we are born, the decisions that politicians make affect us all, whatever age. Now I am not for one minute suggesting we lower the voting age to something ridiculous like ten, however I strongly believe that if you can get a job, pay tax and get married at 16, you should be old enough to vote.
As I have previously written in other articles, I doubt the coalition would have been as quick to treble tuition fees, scrap educational maintenance allowance and get rid of the future jobs fund, had there been votes for 16 and 17 year-olds.
It’s no wonder youngsters feel disengaged with the whole process. By being unable to vote, 16 and 17-year olds cannot hold the politicians to account who make these decisions, which can have a big impact on their future lives.
The critics of votes at 16 have what I consider to be a very weak argument in their opposition to it. All they can say is that people of this age are not grown up enough or they are not informed enough about the political process to make a proper decision.
To answer the first part of that, as I have said if you are old enough to get a job, pay tax and get married, you should be old enough to mark an ‘X’ in a box and have your say in politics.
And to the second point, that they are not informed enough about the political process, I have a simple solution for that.
Politics should be an essential part of the school curriculum. By educating our youngsters about the whole process and how it affects their lives, youngsters will be more likely to vote and want to vote.
In my opinion political education and votes at 16 is the best way of engaging our youngsters.
I hope votes at 16 in the Scottish referendum will be the start of things to come for future elections. Ed Miliband has repeatedly said he supports the idea, so now I want to see him seriously campaign on expanding the voting franchise to engage youngsters in the political process.
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Andrew Bettridge is a journalism graduate and tweets @AndyBettridge1