Comment

IN a shameless bid to recruit 16 and 17-year-olds to his cause, Jeremy Corbyn is ruthlessly exploiting social media to persuade 1.5million that he will give them the vote.

Labour’s slickly-produced videos fizz around social media sites, spreading the message that these children are unfairly disenfranchised. At the same time, Labour is harvesting their contact details to build a vast database of potential supporters.

Let us declare our colours: The Mail is deeply unconvinced that 16-year-olds have the wisdom or maturity to assume the full rights of adulthood. The vast majority are still in full-time education and pay no tax.

But put to one side the rights and wrongs of the issue. What is clear is the cynical effectiveness with which Labour is using every form of modern communications technology to widen its electoral base.

For the simple fact is most young people vote Labour. Indeed, evidence has emerged showing that the rush of last-minute registrations by hundreds of thousands of young voters cost the Tories six seats in June, wiping out their Commons majority.

During the campaign, Labour dominated Twitter and Facebook, while the Tories were miles off the pace, having failed to learn the lessons from the success of the Vote Leave campaign in the referendum.

The Tories have the money and the brains but need a social media strategy of their own. And urgently.

THE paper tax disc worked well for nearly 100 years – and was a visible reminder to drivers of when to pay their bill. Yet the Department for Transport scrapped it in favour of an online registration system. So what happened? Surprise, surprise! The number of untaxed vehicles has tripled and revenue is down by £107million. Common sense would have dictated this outcome. But then, those are two words that seem to be extinct in Whitehall these days.