Don't be fooled, enfranchising 16-year-olds is nothing but plain old-fashioned vote rigging, writes Esther McVey By Esther Mcvey Published: 22:18 BST, 29 June 2024 | Updated: 22:35 BST, 29 June 2024 e-mail 17 View comments Sir Keir Starmer and Angela Rayner can wax lyrical all they like about the virtues of giving children the right to vote, but we all know the game they're playing. Expanding the franchise to 16-year-olds is bare-faced ballot box fixing and no one should be under any illusions otherwise. It is a backwards policy crudely designed for one purpose: to keep Labour in power for a generation.
In the UK, we have collectively agreed that 18 is the age when you become an adult. Reaching adulthood confers a range of rights, such as voting. There are many things which, for good reason, we only let people do after they turn 18.
Expanding the franchise to 16-year-olds is bare-faced ballot box fixing and no one should be under any illusions otherwise, writes Esther McVey McVey believes the idea put forward by Starmer is 'a backwards policy crudely designed for one purpose: to keep Labour in power for a generation' Does Sir Keir Starmer plan to change the law so that whatever people are currently allowed to do at 18 they will soon be allowed to do at 16? Will our children now be allowed to stand as MPs? Will our juries be packed with children? Would children be sent packing into combat? Of course not. Because we all know that makes no sense. We know in our heart of hearts t.
