General election/Brexit/politics

So you can see how your suggestion that the 65+ isn't growing may therefore be inaccurate? Yes?

 

My dad voted in the referendum aged 91 while suffering from severe dementia. He passed away 12 months later. He was never going to be affected by the result. It's a difficult one, and where should the line be drawn?

 

And I am sure that the fact they are more likely to vote left wing has nothing whatsoever to do with the reason why Labour want them to be included in the franchise.

 

again I would say that if they take on UK citizenship then yes they get a vote also a qualyfying period on perhaps 5 years too. I have many friends who have moved to europe and do not get a vote in their chosen country.... yet get a postal vote for UK.

 

I can categorically confirm that there are not more people aged 16 and 17 in this country than their are people over 70

 

Well if you want to draw the comparison... 100 years ago was the same, but different. It's almost as if there's a constant in all this. Care to guess what it might be?

 

On another note... I am a Labour voter but I do suspect that Labour will take a hammering in this election. Sad for me of course but that's my gut feeling at the moment

 

I'm sure they do.

But just because its convenient for one party or another shouldn't mean its blocked on that basis. Are 16-17 year olds sufficiently part of society to give an informed vote. Yes they are. And the same goes for Uk residents who may have lived here years contributing but stopped from having a voice.

 

Its an arbitrary line isn't it. Just like 18 is an arbitrary line.

 

very sorry to learn of your Dad's demise, my Mother in law is going down that road too, I feel for you sir. I see my wife and her families pain , its dreadful. But I see your point too in the voting thing... I hope Dad rests in peace now, and hope somehow you get over it, lost my Dad in 95 his mental health was suspect too, lost my Mum 10 years ago .... I have not got over either yet.

 

You could well be right. But it's not as if we are against the trend on the issue.

I personally would have no problem with foreign nationals having a vote after a qualifying number of years residence. The problem with just giving them the franchise carte blanche is that many of them are transient, here today, gone next year and are therefore not invested in the long term politics of the country.

16 or 17 year olds, no, not for me. Of course you could make an argument that they can fight for the country so why can't they vote. But the counter argument is that they can't buy alcohol, fags, can't get married without parental approval, can't legally enter into a contract etc etc. The reason - they are not yet deemed to be adults.

 

I think this is where we let ourselves down as a country and whoever is in power will make decisions in their party interest, not the people or the country.

Lets be honest... at all ages there are variants and outliers. There are 25 year olds who don't know what day of the week it is. There are ex pats living overseas voting still when they aren't resident here.

The fairest thing would be to look at it on a cross party basis and assess the merit of voting and what is fair and consistent.

I'm sure it shouldn't be the case that a 16-17 year old is denied a vote because they aren't addicted to nicotine or marking a cross in a box while under the influence of alcohol ;-)

 

I live in Wales... does that qualify as overseas.

 

Seeing as its a UK vote... clearly not

 

Only if you're on Anglesey

 

You can have sex, but if you video it on your phone and your girlfriend is the same age - when you watch it you're breaking the law. Fab stuff this age of consent thing.

 

No you can't, the age is 18 to be sent to a war zone.

 

How will that make them any different to most other voters?

 

correct. You are removed from the unit if you are under 18 and heading to a war zone. You can still do all the hard slog of training however before they do!

 

Actually a huge number of us (around 700,000) Brits who live around Europe were denied the right to vote in the referendum.....