Ed Milliband wants 16-year old's to be able to vote in elections by 2016 ..... this cunning ploy, which was also adopted by the Scottish National Party as part of the Independence referendum, is the sort of sleazy politics which we have become all to accustomed to in the current atmosphere.
The Labour Party face a very tough time in Scotland, from a powerful, nay triumphalist SNP, and may well lose most of its chances of Westminster power there, without entering into a Westminster 'arrangement' with them (or the offer of another referendum). So this little electoral stunt is designed to ensure that in any future election after 2016 (and there is a good chance that a hung Westminster Parliament could result in some sort of weak Liberal / Labour coalition, and therefore another election within 18 months), the Labour Party can harvest the semi-politically literate teen voters in urban areas.
Of course the Liberal party have also often debated this kind of idea themselves, and for much the same reasons, so they would probably favour it ..... but its the Labour Party who could actually deliver it. To be fair, Milliband has also launched a campaign to get students to register for votes, but possibly for the wrong reasons, as he is desperate to try and garner the 'youth' vote ... probably as he feels only they are daft enough to cast a vote for him ...
It does however beg the question; if 16 year old's get the vote, then why not the vote for 15yr old's? Why restrict voting to teens aged sixteen, which is after all an arbitrary figure in itself, based loosely upon supposed biological features of being grown up/ adult at that age, but which is entirely subjective to a particular western cultural world view ... many Labour voters in inner city areas believe for example, that girls are suitable for marriage at much younger ages, certainly below the age of sixteen.
When I was at school, we held a mock general election, in which all participants were under age 18: Labour Won ~ the Liberals were second, and the Conservatives were a distant last (there were no other parties) ... its this sort of result which I suspect Milliband and his strategists are hoping to repeat nationally. Its such a transparently self serving ruse, as to be laughable in a previous era, but now, under the ever present PC policies of much of the UK, might actually be pushed through.
Of course the Conservatives have also considered the younger voter ......
And just in case you wondering who else internationally allows pubescent schoolboys and girls the vote in general elections, here's the complete list:
A real hodgepodge of disparate regimes ... some of whom are actually democratic!
But note that its only six countries who allow voters in national elections, and this list includes Cuba and Nicaragua ... Oh and the British isles of:
But here's a thought ... the most popular boys name in the UK is 'Mohammed' (or variants of that name), which apart from showing the complete lack of any imagination by Muslim parents, also suggests that a large number of the future teens the Labour Party hopes to enfranchise, will be block voters in ethnic inner-cities, and if the Islamic Republic of Tower Hamlets is any indicator, many of whom will be looking to vote according to the mosques wishes, and not the Labour Party's.
So be careful what you wish for, all you strategists in the Labour and Liberal parties .... look at how Scottish Devolution (another cunning plan by Labour Party strategists that has backfired), turned out .... because you may well get something very different from what you were expecting.
Multiculturalism (yet another left wing construct ~ Tony Blair has since admitted its failed ), means that many immigrants feel little kinship with either our culture, or our politics .... So we could end up with an even more racially and culturally polarised Britain, than the current political process has already created.
The Labour Party face a very tough time in Scotland, from a powerful, nay triumphalist SNP, and may well lose most of its chances of Westminster power there, without entering into a Westminster 'arrangement' with them (or the offer of another referendum). So this little electoral stunt is designed to ensure that in any future election after 2016 (and there is a good chance that a hung Westminster Parliament could result in some sort of weak Liberal / Labour coalition, and therefore another election within 18 months), the Labour Party can harvest the semi-politically literate teen voters in urban areas.
Of course the Liberal party have also often debated this kind of idea themselves, and for much the same reasons, so they would probably favour it ..... but its the Labour Party who could actually deliver it. To be fair, Milliband has also launched a campaign to get students to register for votes, but possibly for the wrong reasons, as he is desperate to try and garner the 'youth' vote ... probably as he feels only they are daft enough to cast a vote for him ...
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| Ed Milliband Wooing Teen Voters .... Not |
It does however beg the question; if 16 year old's get the vote, then why not the vote for 15yr old's? Why restrict voting to teens aged sixteen, which is after all an arbitrary figure in itself, based loosely upon supposed biological features of being grown up/ adult at that age, but which is entirely subjective to a particular western cultural world view ... many Labour voters in inner city areas believe for example, that girls are suitable for marriage at much younger ages, certainly below the age of sixteen.
When I was at school, we held a mock general election, in which all participants were under age 18: Labour Won ~ the Liberals were second, and the Conservatives were a distant last (there were no other parties) ... its this sort of result which I suspect Milliband and his strategists are hoping to repeat nationally. Its such a transparently self serving ruse, as to be laughable in a previous era, but now, under the ever present PC policies of much of the UK, might actually be pushed through.
Of course the Conservatives have also considered the younger voter ......
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| Comatose Child Puts Cameron Off Chasing The Child Vote |
And just in case you wondering who else internationally allows pubescent schoolboys and girls the vote in general elections, here's the complete list:
- Argentina: 16 (16 to 18 optional, not compulsory)
- Austria: 16
- Bosnia and Herzegovina: 16 - 17 (if employed, otherwise 18)
- Brazil: 16 to under 18 AND over 70 optional only. Voting is also optional to all illiterate citizens older than 16.
- Cuba: 16
- Ecuador: 16 - 18 (optional, not compulsory)
- Germany ~ some state elections only NOT national elections
- Nicaragua: 16
- Switzerland: 16 (for cantonal and municipal elections in the canton of Glarus only, ALL others and national 18)
A real hodgepodge of disparate regimes ... some of whom are actually democratic!
But note that its only six countries who allow voters in national elections, and this list includes Cuba and Nicaragua ... Oh and the British isles of:
- Guernsey: 16
- Isle of Man: 16
- Jersey: 16
But here's a thought ... the most popular boys name in the UK is 'Mohammed' (or variants of that name), which apart from showing the complete lack of any imagination by Muslim parents, also suggests that a large number of the future teens the Labour Party hopes to enfranchise, will be block voters in ethnic inner-cities, and if the Islamic Republic of Tower Hamlets is any indicator, many of whom will be looking to vote according to the mosques wishes, and not the Labour Party's.
So be careful what you wish for, all you strategists in the Labour and Liberal parties .... look at how Scottish Devolution (another cunning plan by Labour Party strategists that has backfired), turned out .... because you may well get something very different from what you were expecting.
Multiculturalism (yet another left wing construct ~ Tony Blair has since admitted its failed ), means that many immigrants feel little kinship with either our culture, or our politics .... So we could end up with an even more racially and culturally polarised Britain, than the current political process has already created.
Great photo choice of Cameron and young constituents.
ReplyDeleteBalanced reporting is the secret of my success LOL. Seriously, 16 years of age, is too young to vote.
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