Where I Live RSS Feed


Epping Forest District Youth Council votes to support lowering of voting age

2:05pm Saturday 13th March 2010 in


THE district's youth have called for the voting age to be reduced after a formal debate.

Members of the Epping Forest District Youth Council voted by a majority of 54 per cent to support a motion calling for the voting age to be lowered from 18 to 16.

The vote marked the culmination of a day of activities designed to encourage an interest in democracy among the young.

Youth Council members visiting the Civic Offices, in Epping High Street, were greeted by district council chairman Cllr Penny Smith before sitting down for a question and answer session with local MPs Eleanor Laing and Bill Rammell.

Youth councillors Haris Duherich, Yasmin Levy-Miller, Connor Latimer and Trini Philip were then interviewed by BBC reporter Ben Bland ahead of their voting debate which was broadcast live over the internet.

Youth councillor Lattimer, who proposed and carried the motion to lower the voting age said: “I was pleased we won the debate although in the back of my mind I thought we might get a bigger majority, maybe 60 or 70 per cent.”

The webcast of the vote can be viewed at eppingforestdc.gov.uk.

Comments(19)

inézc says...
2:50pm Sat 13 Mar 10

A happy thought and it is good to see teenagers becoming involved with the democratic process. Given that many adults are apathetic about turning out to vote; "it doesn't concern me", "won't make any difference", "can't be bothered" etc, not sure that lowering the age to 16 would help. There does however need to be a clear message throughout secondary schools that voting is important; if you don't vote then if you have issues about anything the Government/Local Authority have done/haven't done then effectively you don't have a voice. It is the duty of every citizen to cast their vote; this is something that I learned at school, and something which I have always done. Vote for whoever, but for heaven's sake get out there and vote!

Report this post »    Register/Log In »

edgeofreason says...
11:16pm Sat 13 Mar 10

Couldn't have said it better. The Youth Council are a tremendous role model for the districts youth

Report this post »    Register/Log In »

UKIP-local says...
9:28am Sun 14 Mar 10

I am not convinced that lowering the age of voting would improve turnout, democracy or education of the young. I was pleased to be able to speak to the 6th form at The Harwich School recently; despite condescending noises from some party representatives, and a statement of policy in favour of it from Labour, the vast majority of 6th formers voted against it.

They felt, as I do, that they are insufficiently informed at that age. They jave other important issues in their lives.

But have you noticed the proposal this weekend to increase the age of criminal responsibility, in the wake of the re-offending by one of the Bulger killers. They want youths below 14 to be not responsible for their actions. Then in 2 years a remarkable transformation is claimed - they completely mature and can engage in all sorts of activities formerly reserved for adults.

Perhaps all this is for the convenience of Brown and Mandelson?

This is all displacement activity - don't let adults have any real say in the running of the country (no referendum, etc) but waste time on this sort of idea.

Report this post »    Register/Log In »

stevewhite says...
11:33am Sun 14 Mar 10

This is all a bit of a sideshow. I think it is good that some 16n year olds wish to vote but lets remember how the vote came about.

Women did not get the vote because they had a little debate amongst a few of them. Nor did they get the vote because the politicians floated it as an election gimick. they had to put pressure on a resistant ruling-class for years before WW1 and then only women over 30 got the vote straight after the war. It look several Reform Acts for men to win the vote in this country and world wars in Europe.

So if the 16 year olds want to put a huge pressure on our Parliament to get the vote because it is of vital interest to do so all well and good. Good luck to them.

But there does not seem to be this pressure amongst this age group does there? The pressure, if it exists, is all from the politicians. Why? Because they want more votes from 16 year olds and think that they can charm them to vote for their redundant pro big business policies.

If politicians want to get 16 year olds interested then the party that scraps student fees, writes off all student debt and introduces student grants again might just create that interest.

Report this post »    Register/Log In »

edgeofreason says...
7:56pm Sun 14 Mar 10

Steve I think the point here is to get young people into the habit of voting and taking an interest in politics. It is covienient for politicians to ignore the wishes of young people because they don't have a vote. Maybe if they did, they wouldn't?

Report this post »    Register/Log In »

stevewhite says...
9:04pm Sun 14 Mar 10

Yes. Well my point is that if they could change things that directly affected them by voting then I am sure they all would take an interest. The problem is, and we all know this, that whoever gets in nothing substantial changes. We all know this and the kids know this. So if one of the parties offered something that had some real meaning then who knows?
The problem is of course that voting does not change the fundamentals. This was known in the 19th century when there were debates about whether working people could be trusted with the vote. (Bagehot)It was certainly known by the pro-capitalist after the Russian revolution.
So, yes to young people being interested in politics. Yes to offereing them something meaningful like cancellation of debts and and end to student loans. Yes to fairness and equality but lets not pretend they will be interestd in three pro-neo liberal parties that will all offer more of the same.

Report this post »    Register/Log In »

Investigations says...
10:41pm Sun 14 Mar 10

If we are ever to rid ourselves of the power drunk and drug addled fools who currently occupy positions of authority in Westminster, Strasbourg and Washington it won't happen by lowering the voting age! Perhaps we'd do better to insist on reasonable standards of education and literacy as pre-requisites for inclusion on the voter's list? Certainly an ability to read and understand the English language is essential!

Report this post »    Register/Log In »

Fishy Bristol says...
11:04pm Sun 14 Mar 10

They lowered the age of consent as soon as Labour got in for certain acts so they may as well do lower the voting age so the youth can object to it if they wish.

Report this post »    Register/Log In »

stevewhite says...
11:32pm Sun 14 Mar 10

Victoria. You need to be careful calling for minimum standards of literacy to qualify for the right to vote. Despite my somewhat jaundiced view of the system if we don’t all have the right to vote, we finish up with a much worse system. Do you then call for two votes for those with degrees and three votes for those with PHDs?
I think the real problem is that if a political party called for something really radical, say for example 90% top rate tax or the end to all private schools or even a building programme for a million council homes we would see all people getting really interested in politics. I can assure you then the other parties would not be calling for 16 year olds to vote just in case those policies proved popular. Hugh! What do those kids know anyway?

Report this post »    Register/Log In »

stevewhite says...
11:32pm Sun 14 Mar 10

Victoria. You need to be careful calling for minimum standards of literacy to qualify for the right to vote. Despite my somewhat jaundiced view of the system if we don’t all have the right to vote, we finish up with a much worse system. Do you then call for two votes for those with degrees and three votes for those with PHDs?
I think the real problem is that if a political party called for something really radical, say for example 90% top rate tax or the end to all private schools or even a building programme for a million council homes we would see all people getting really interested in politics. I can assure you then the other parties would not be calling for 16 year olds to vote just in case those policies proved popular. Hugh! What do those kids know anyway?

Report this post »    Register/Log In »

word of mouth says...
8:14am Mon 15 Mar 10

Having met the youth council I found them to be the kind of children found being bullied or hiding in the library after school instead of being out with other people their age. These have no idea of what it is like to be a 'youth' as they are trying to be adults, and so like all politicians today have no real connection to the people they are meant to represent .

Report this post »    Register/Log In »

Katie Rolt says...
10:09am Mon 15 Mar 10

word of mouth wrote:
Having met the youth council I found them to be the kind of children found being bullied or hiding in the library after school instead of being out with other people their age. These have no idea of what it is like to be a 'youth' as they are trying to be adults, and so like all politicians today have no real connection to the people they are meant to represent .
A very vaild point. I couldn't agree more.

Report this post »    Register/Log In »

edgeofreason says...
6:30pm Mon 15 Mar 10

Ah the small minds have turned up. You should try getting off your backside and try something useful. Why not stand for public office? Oh no I forgot is easier to knock others hard work from the comfort of your parker knoll.

Report this post »    Register/Log In »

word of mouth says...
11:03pm Mon 15 Mar 10

edgeofreason wrote:
Ah the small minds have turned up. You should try getting off your backside and try something useful. Why not stand for public office? Oh no I forgot is easier to knock others hard work from the comfort of your parker knoll.
First off, have you met the youth council?
Secondly. I wouldn't waste my time with running for public office. Being mid twenties i wouldn't stand much of a chance.
oh, and i work my backside off all week for the public good so if i could afford a parker knoll i would buy one, but i'd rather have food on the table at the end of the week, if it's alright with you.

Report this post »    Register/Log In »

edgeofreason says...
10:07am Tue 16 Mar 10

word of mouth wrote:
edgeofreason wrote: Ah the small minds have turned up. You should try getting off your backside and try something useful. Why not stand for public office? Oh no I forgot is easier to knock others hard work from the comfort of your parker knoll.
First off, have you met the youth council? Secondly. I wouldn't waste my time with running for public office. Being mid twenties i wouldn't stand much of a chance. oh, and i work my backside off all week for the public good so if i could afford a parker knoll i would buy one, but i'd rather have food on the table at the end of the week, if it's alright with you.
Yes I have met the Youth Council.

I guess you would rather waste your time posting on here rather than contributing to the community.

You make the assumption that standing for public office is a waste of your time. Those of us who know the truth realise that Councillors young and old work long hours at their proper job and then spend their 'spare' time productively helping run the community. So put up or shut up.

Report this post »    Register/Log In »

word of mouth says...
6:41pm Tue 16 Mar 10

edgeofreason wrote:
word of mouth wrote:
edgeofreason wrote: Ah the small minds have turned up. You should try getting off your backside and try something useful. Why not stand for public office? Oh no I forgot is easier to knock others hard work from the comfort of your parker knoll.
First off, have you met the youth council? Secondly. I wouldn't waste my time with running for public office. Being mid twenties i wouldn't stand much of a chance. oh, and i work my backside off all week for the public good so if i could afford a parker knoll i would buy one, but i'd rather have food on the table at the end of the week, if it's alright with you.
Yes I have met the Youth Council. I guess you would rather waste your time posting on here rather than contributing to the community. You make the assumption that standing for public office is a waste of your time. Those of us who know the truth realise that Councillors young and old work long hours at their proper job and then spend their 'spare' time productively helping run the community. So put up or shut up.
yes, waste my time like you are.
i wish i had some 'spare' time these days but working myself into the ground FOR the community all day doesn't leave me much time or energy for 'running the community so productively'.

Report this post »    Register/Log In »

edgeofreason says...
8:37pm Tue 16 Mar 10

word of mouth wrote:
edgeofreason wrote:
word of mouth wrote:
edgeofreason wrote: Ah the small minds have turned up. You should try getting off your backside and try something useful. Why not stand for public office? Oh no I forgot is easier to knock others hard work from the comfort of your parker knoll.
First off, have you met the youth council? Secondly. I wouldn't waste my time with running for public office. Being mid twenties i wouldn't stand much of a chance. oh, and i work my backside off all week for the public good so if i could afford a parker knoll i would buy one, but i'd rather have food on the table at the end of the week, if it's alright with you.
Yes I have met the Youth Council. I guess you would rather waste your time posting on here rather than contributing to the community. You make the assumption that standing for public office is a waste of your time. Those of us who know the truth realise that Councillors young and old work long hours at their proper job and then spend their 'spare' time productively helping run the community. So put up or shut up.
yes, waste my time like you are. i wish i had some 'spare' time these days but working myself into the ground FOR the community all day doesn't leave me much time or energy for 'running the community so productively'.
I am not wasting my time. Maybe you should use your time not slagging people off on the internet.

Oh and we all work hard.

Report this post »    Register/Log In »

word of mouth says...
11:03pm Tue 16 Mar 10

good for you, give yourself a big pat on the back. i wasn't slagging off anyone, i just gave an opinion that someone else didn't like, just expressing my right to free speech which is what the comment box is for.

Report this post »    Register/Log In »

edgeofreason says...
7:21am Wed 17 Mar 10

Yes an opinion that is ill informed. Well done you.

Report this post »    Register/Log In »

More Where I Live stories


Youth councillor Connor Latimer Youth councillor Connor Latimer

Most popular



Local Information

Enter your postcode, town or place name

House prices »   Schools »   Crime »   Hospitals »

Local Businesses