IRVINE WELSH
Oldies have wrecked world, says writer
Trainspotting author says over-55s shouldn’t be allowed to vote but kids of 14 should
AUTHOR Irvine Welsh has demanded 14-yearolds get the vote – and over-55s be banned from elections.
The Trainspotting writer claims older voters have messed up the world, so the time has come to open up elections to teenagers instead.
Welsh, who is 59, said: “I would stop anyone over 55 from getting a vote and lower the voting age to 14.
“Why can someone who’s 85 stagger down to the polling booth and tell someone who’s 14, with their life ahead of them, how their life’s going to be?”
Former heroin addict Welsh, spoke out during a book festival appearance in Brisbane, Australia.
Welsh, who grew up in Leith, thinks today’s young people have it far worse than his generation did.
He says older generations have to take the blame for the “world we’ve created”, adding: “It’s a pretty s**t life, being a young person now. The whole debt economy has made it impossible for them to get on the property ladder, so they have to stay at home, so they’re infantilised to a degree.
“It’s a horrible world we’ve created where older people pity young people.”
Welsh, who lives in Miami, Florida, said a population crisis, the failures of capitalism and climate change have created “an existential crisis” for humanity.
Political instability – the election of Trump, Brexit and the revolving door of Australian PMs – reflect this, he said.