The two big election policy proposals are the Conservatives proposing National Service for teenagers and the Labour Party proposing to give 16-year olds the vote.
I missed doing National Service when it was abandoned in 1960, being just too young. But it was hated by those who had to do it and by the Army who generally wanted professional soldiers not amateurs with no commitment. It was generally seen as unworthy and if you want to get an impression of life on National Service you should watch old TV comedies such as “The Army Game”. Learning how to skive off was what a lot of recruits learned. It also cost a lot of money to support and train those serving for only 2 years.
National Service of other kinds such as supporting the NHS or Social Services might be more useful to give teenagers some life and work experience in a disciplined framework. But I don’t see it as a big vote winner.
Giving votes to those under 18 might win the Labour Party more votes in future elections. The young and inexperienced tend to be likely to vote for left-wing parties as they have no real knowledge of where the money comes from to pay taxes. I just see this proposal as a form of gerrymandering – changing who qualifies to vote to maximise the votes for your chosen party.
Do 16-year olds really understand how the world works? I don’t think so. So this proposal from the Labour Party just looks like an opportunistic attempt to improve their vote in the future.
I would suggest extending the franchise to everyone who had done at least one years National Service to ensure those voting had at least some experience of the real world.
There is certainly some justification in restricting the voting franchise to those intelligent enough to understand what they are voting for. At present there may be geriatrics who do not and recent immigrants who barely understand English. In the past a property ownership qualification was used to weed out the ignorant. Perhaps we should look at this area anew to ensure that voting is done only by people who can intelligently judge the issues.
Roger Lawson (Twitter: https://twitter.com/RogerWLawson )
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