There was a moment on the Today programme this morning when Lord Forsyth referred to "whisky and sandwiches in Edinburgh" when discussing the possible lowering of the voting age in Scotland. "Beer and sandwiches at Number 10" became political shorthand for backstairs dealing and trading. It came from a notorious incident in the 1970s when the trade unions were dictating terms to the government and the Labour Prime Minister sent out for beer and sandwiches in an attempt to mollify them.
I'm not sure whether 16-year-olds should be given the right to vote.
However it may become necessary, in an era of "open borders" and unrestricted (and apparently uncontrollable) migration to look again at voting entitlement.
It seems inevitable that we will move to a qualified franchise based on education and / or ownership of property.
I am absolutely opposed to this, but I can see it happening if we cannot control migration flows.
The alternative would be to effectively give up control of the country and have some form of perpetual "technocrat" administration (we are already on the way to this with the identikit nature of current political parties).
I'm not sure whether 16-year-olds should be given the right to vote.
However it may become necessary, in an era of "open borders" and unrestricted (and apparently uncontrollable) migration to look again at voting entitlement.
It seems inevitable that we will move to a qualified franchise based on education and / or ownership of property.
I am absolutely opposed to this, but I can see it happening if we cannot control migration flows.
The alternative would be to effectively give up control of the country and have some form of perpetual "technocrat" administration (we are already on the way to this with the identikit nature of current political parties).
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