This is an ‘html-only’ version of Scribblings with no database behind it. This means it is not possible to search it. I am working on a new version with which I am hoping to eventually put back into the main site. The new version is here but please note that there is no link directly back to the main site.
Monday, 19th April 2004
Votes at 16
The Electoral Commission has come out against the idea of reducing the voting age to 16 but in favour of reducing the age at which you can stand for election as an MP to 18 from the current 21.
On balance this may be a decent compromise. Most 16 year olds probably aren’t quite mature enough to vote though the decision will piss off the sizeable number who are. Mind you, I’m not entirely sure that most people of whatever age are mature enough given how much they end up being influenced by the rantings of the likes of the Daily Mail and the desperate (and quite deliberate) ignorance of the Sun.
The decision to recommend reducing the minimum age for candidacy seems a good one. It’s always been something of an anachronism since the voting age was reduced to 18 at the end of the sixties. The voting age and the age at which you can stand for election are not really related. To be an MP you have to persuade people to vote for you after all. I suppose by this logic we could lower the candidacy age to zero or even less. Hey, there’s an idea. Foetal MPs. But then there may be some of those around right now: have a close look the next time you see a photo of William Hague for example.
An apology
Since moving the site to a new server Scribblings is not as easy to find your way around as it used to be. It used to depend on a script and a database on the server but is currently served as ‘flat html’.
I have some ideas about how to make it a bit easier but they depend on writing another script. I hope to get around to it ‘eventually’.
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