SNP pledge to lower voting age to 16
SNP MPs will bring forward plans to lower the voting age in all elections to 16 after the General Election.
The party’s deputy leader Angus Roberston said the case for lowering the voting age to 16 was “overwhelming”. Speaking to the Sunday Herald, Robertson said that 2017 should be the last UK General Election in which younger voters under 18 were denied the right to vote.
Robertson said it was “ridiculous” that 16 and 17 year olds who voted in the Scottish local council and Holyrood elections, were banned from voting on June 8.
He said: “The case for extending the vote to 16 and 17-year-olds is overwhelming, and the time has come for Westminster to follow Scotland’s lead. It is ridiculous that young people who voted last week in the local elections are barred from voting in three weeks’ time in the General Election.
“SNP MPs will look to introduce our own legislative proposals at Westminster – and will work with other parties – to give 16 and 17-year-olds a vote in all elections.”
Robertson’s pledge came as Nicola Sturgeon warned a Tory victory next month would lead to severe cuts to funding for services in Scotland.
Sturgeon said: “One thing we are learning in this campaign is that Scotland is leading the UK in the delivery of many crucial policies – but it’s absolutely vital that Scotland is not dragged back by the Tories and their austerity agenda.”