Being in the navy could involve some pretty basic jobs – although I dunno what a cabin boy does.

like getting torpedoed by U boats [twice]

I imagine 16 year olds are as able as a lot of older people to make the decision. Besides as already said they are old enough to do a lot of other things so perhaps they should have a say. The sceptic in me says that GOrdon has worked out that a large proportion of them would vote Labour, same way non of the two main parties are likely to puush through proportional representation or other reforms that would ultimately disadvantage them.

Voting requires you to understand politics, and they've rightly or wrongly decided you need to be 18.

I don't see how the two things are related to be honest.

I deduce, from Uplink's earlier post, that his granddad would have been almost 21 by the end of WW2. It was 1969, I think, when the age was reduced to 18.

I understand Uplink's point.

I know about the voting age, TM. Still stands tho. A serviceman does many things.. but voting isn't some kind of reward for service, is it? I didn't think that was how it worked.

Yep more sheep/zombies to vote controlled by media.

Sure make it 16…

Pretty much Talkemada

He spent the entire war at sea as a boy & a young man & faced exactly the same perils as anyone else on the ship

He needed to be 21 by a certain date & missed it by weeks
TBH – he wasn't bothered, the only thing that peed him off about it later was the fact that he didn't participate in the great Labour landslide of 1945

but voting isn't some kind of reward for service, is it?

**** should be. People like that fought, risked their lives and died so that we can argue now!

How many 16 year olds do you think are actually going to want to vote? Can't see this making any difference really.

No, voting's a right for us all, scumbags or heroes.

What I meant was, that being old enough to fight/risk life/possibly die should be old enough to have the right to vote.

I'm a bit tired actually. I think I might have a little nap.

Did someone mention beer?

I think we need the teens to make up for the increasing ossified weight of the wrinklies! Otherwise we'll slide into moneygrabbing conservatism 🙁

taxation = representation.

anyone who spends money pays taxes… (unless it's just on drugs)

Young people don't spend their money on anything else, SFB! They pinch all the sweets, booze and fags off their parents and the local shops.

Apparently…

For a change SFB makes a good point. Youthful altruism needs representation.

More to the point, if people are engaged earlier they might not go around their whole lives totally disillusioned with it all.

Voting requires you to understand politics, and they've rightly or wrongly decided you need to be 18.

I don't see how the two things are related to be honest.

Entering an engineering degree requires you to have a good understanding of higher maths (a level at least), or significant experience in the field. While some rare 14 year olds do grasp it pretty well, it takes most of us until we're 17/18 to grasp it properly, and some can enter direct from industry after apprenticeship.

I don't see politics being much different. You might, at 16, understand that 1+1=2, but can you do calculus, politically speaking? As there are, as far as I know, no GCSEs in politics (could be wrong!), I would assume it best to take the apprenticeship route, and have some experience before being let loose with the designers pen/mouse. I don't see how you get the experience required without a period of dealing with adult situations and expectations.

Children giving birth to children then becoming parents then vote …

👿