Plea to under-18s to get involved

Theresa May has resisted calls to lower the voting age to 16, insisting that youngsters could get involved in politics without casting a ballot.

The Prime Minister said maintaining the age limit of 18 was right as the Tories refused to match Labour, the Liberal Democrats, SNP and Green Party in pledging to reduce it to 16.

Mrs May said the General Election was “about young people’s futures” as the UK was at a “key point of change” because of Brexit.

Asked about the voting age she told BBC Radio 4’s Westminster Hour: “This is one of those questions where you have to draw a line, you have to pick a point at which you think it is right for the voting age to be. I continue to think it is right for it to be 18.

“But people can get engaged in politics in a whole variety of ways and I would encourage young people to do so. I think it is important young people watch politics, pay attention to politics, get to think about their own views and where possible start to get involved.”