No vote for the next generation ...but they have to live with it
encourage young people to join the debate, register to vote and turn out in large numbers for the EU referendum because It’s our future too. The European Union affects all of our lives and, love it or hate it, you’ve got to get involved. “It’s our voice and not just our vote that is important and that we are heard before and after elections, not just during them. This referendum campaign has bombarded us with contradictory facts and forecasts.
“However, the British Youth Council has been consistently calling on politicians and campaigners all year round to do more to listen to and act on views and campaigns of young voices.
“We want citizenship education in schools to explain how democracy works – and a voting age of 16 to empower and engage us at a younger age.
“A vote is for the future – not just for the referendum – and we’ll be back after the result to see how they propose to accommodate youth interests, whatever the outcome.
“Leave or Remain, we want better mental health services, votes at 16, measures to tackle racism and religious discrimination, a curriculum for life, affordable transport and good youth services.
“All of these issues have been longstanding priorities for young people, with racism and religious discrimination toping the UK Youth Parliament’s poll of almost one million young people in the winter of 2015.”