Should 16-year-olds be given the right to vote?

THE drive for 16-year-olds to vote comes from parties which think they will benefit most, ie Labour whose eyecatching ‘aspirations’ to end student debt played well with the politically naive. In Scotland, 16-year-olds got the vote in the independence referendum because the SNP thought they would flock the Yes way, though it did not pan out like that. I think 16-year-olds are capable of grasping the issues around voting, but I fear turning schools into hustings. Politics and schools don’t mix. P. HART, Edinburgh. I ASSUME all the politicians in favour of reducing the voting age to 16 would support treating teenagers as adults in every other way, such as being sent to fight in combat zones. Or is this just the elite playing political games?

H. JONES, Market Harborough, Leics. ELECTIONS rely on decisions made by citizens who have experience gained in the workplace, bringing up families and struggling with the realities of life. How many 16-year-olds have had the benefit of this? It’s been suggested that young voters swung the 2017 general election, with the majority favouring Labour after they were fed disingenuous information. Universities are seedbeds of Left-wing ideology and the snowflake generation is blinkered to the need for wider research to achieve informed decisions. Perhaps the voting age should be increased to 20 instead. NEIL KELLY, Hove, E. Sussex. WHEN I wrote to my MP regarding my opposition to votes for 16-year-olds, he replied: ‘At 16, you are eligible to pay tax, get married or even join the Army.’ But to marry or join the military at 16, you need a parent’s signature. Sixteen-year-olds cannot buy alcohol or cigarettes or drive because they are deemed to be too young to decide these matters for themselves. STEPHEN BIRDS, Bury, Gtr Manchester.