Labour’s sinister plot to rig our elections
WINSTON Churchill once commented: ‘If a man is not a socialist by the time he is 20, he has no heart. If he is not a conservative by the time he is 40, he has no brain.’
His remark reflects the belief that the young – idealistic and hopelessly naive – are innately Left-wing. It is blatantly obvious this is why Sir Keir Starmer wants to give voting rights to 16 and 17-year-olds if Labour wins the next general election.
He calculates that if schoolchildren gravitate to the political left, bringing them on to the electoral roll would maximise his party’s chances at the ballot box.
Superficially, Labour’s argument may seem compelling. With their adult lives ahead of them, youngsters will be most affected by the decisions of those in power.
True, but by that logic, why shouldn’t 14year-olds get the vote? Or those aged 12?
Surely if people are deemed too immature at 16 to decide whether or not they should drink alcohol, smoke or drive, they shouldn’t be entrusted with voting – a decision that will affect the future of millions of their fellow citizens?
Equally, minors have no property, no dependants, no tax liabilities, none of the responsibilities that impel electors to vote with their heads rather than their hearts.
If extra proof were needed of its attempts to gerrymander the electoral process, consider Labour’s grubby plan to let millions of EU citizens living here vote in general elections. This is not a privilege Brussels offers to UK expats. And rightly so.
Voting is a basic democratic right. Granting it to those without a permanent stake in our country devalues the very notions of citizenship. Sir Keir, though, is concerned only with creating new blocs of reliable Labour voters: Enough to swing an election – or another EU referendum.
Labour says these measures will ‘ strengthen democracy’. Hogwash. Radically extending the franchise would be a cynical and sinister ploy to rig future elections – making it harder to ever prise the party away from the levers of power.