Voting at 16

[Pavilionaire]

I see 16 and 17 year-olds will be allowed to vote in the Scottish Independence Referendum in 2014.

So how does that work? Not content with potentially overturning 307 years of union we've now got a new debate about the voting age.

 

[matthew]

Let's just hope they vote YES

 

[Philzo-93]

That's because SNP wants them to vote YES. Get the 16-17 year olds on your side, you're in a good position for the young vote. Doubt thay'll be bothered to turn up however.

 

[wardy wonder land]

is it just residents of scotchland ? therefore includes transient workers (english for example) that currently live in scotland

or genetic scots living anywhere ? therefore includes expat scots & there 16+ offspring

 

[albion534]

Alex salmond is a typical arrogant Scottish twat

Let them be indipendant and see them come crawling back

 

[Brovion]

Are they going to lower the drinking age to sixteen then as well? No? So you're mature enough at sixteen to make an important decision on your country's future, but you can't be trusted with a bottle of wine. Jeez.

 

[The Spanish]

knowing that they are the idiotic age group most likely to be duped into voting for his nasty nationalist fantasy, where his entire worldview is wrapped up in nationalism, safe in the knowledge his relatively homogenous small nation can afford to be bigots without being viewed negatively in the wider world, he has pushed forward 16 year old voting and everyones just pandered to him.

You can argue until you are blue in the face citing examples of age of consent, military service, taxation etc etc and it will be both a) boring and b) inconclusive. This is a cynical exercise as he knows the youngsters will get a day off school and will lap up the nationalistic element. jocko kids arent as cosmopolitan or multicultural as English kids. nationalists have got the kids onside first from time immemorial. and it always ends in tears.

 

[brightn'ove]

To be fair at 16 you are old enough to make the decision to die for your country in the army, you should be able to vote on which people send you.

 

[The Spanish]

To be fair at 16 you are old enough to make the decision to die for your country in the army, you should be able to vote on which people send you.

how old do you have to be to serve in combat operations in the British army?

 

[fly high]

knowing that they are the idiotic age group most likely to be duped into voting for his nasty nationalist fantasy, where his entire worldview is wrapped up in nationalism, safe in the knowledge his relatively homogenous small nation can afford to be bigots without being viewed negatively in the wider world, he has pushed forward 16 year old voting and everyones just pandered to him.

You can argue until you are blue in the face citing examples of age of consent, military service, taxation etc etc and it will be both a) boring and b) inconclusive. This is a cynical exercise as he knows the youngsters will get a day off school and will lap up the nationalistic element. jocko kids arent as cosmopolitan or multicultural as English kids. nationalists have got the kids onside first from time immemorial. and it always ends in tears.

They are exactly using the items you say as an excuse, what no one has pointed out to them is that you can't do ACTIVE military service till you are 18 so it's all smoke & mirrors or to put it less politely utter bo****ks.

 

[fly high]

To be fair at 16 you are old enough to make the decision to die for your country in the army, you should be able to vote on which people send you.

no it isn't, you have to be 18 to be sent to the front line to fight.

 

[Don Quixote]

You should be eighteen before you get to vote on anything, that is all.

 

[The Spanish]

you can imagine the greens liking the idea of a voting age of 16. would similarly hoover up a nice number of gullible kids.

 

[BensGrandad]

I think that rather than lower the age to vote they should raise it to 21 when people are hopefully a little more mature

 

[Was not Was]

I kind of thought that people (on here) would have better reasons for opposing lowering the voting age than, in effect, "they're more likely to disagree with me".

 

[brightn'ove]

no it isn't, you have to be 18 to be sent to the front line to fight.

You can make the decision to sign up for the army at 16, after 2 years of hard training its unlikely that you would change your mind.

 

[Djmiles]

The SNP will do anything for a few more votes!

 

[somerset]

The average 16 year old in Scotland is more interested in pinching some loose change from his mothers purse to buy cider or buckfast than he or she is in making an informed judgement on the future direction of his or her country.

 

[somerset]

You can make the decision to sign up for the army at 16, after 2 years of hard training its unlikely that you would change your mind.

No, its a legal condition, not a personal one, you cannot fight on the front line until you are 18.

 

[The Spanish]

No, its a legal condition, not a personal one, you cannot fight on the front line until you are 18.

that being a fact wont stop thousands of people repeating it ad nauseum for the next 18 months or so. Steel yourselves for possibly the most idiotic event you will see in British politics in your lifetime. I am dreading it.