{"id":333516,"date":"2017-11-04T09:56:30","date_gmt":"2017-11-04T08:56:30","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/newswire\/give-16-year-olds-the-vote-teen-angst-hormones-fly-online-as-parliament-debates-reform-rt-uk-news\/"},"modified":"2017-11-04T09:56:30","modified_gmt":"2017-11-04T08:56:30","slug":"give-16-year-olds-the-vote-teen-angst-hormones-fly-online-as-parliament-debates-reform-rt-uk-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/newswire\/give-16-year-olds-the-vote-teen-angst-hormones-fly-online-as-parliament-debates-reform-rt-uk-news\/","title":{"rendered":"Give 16-year-olds the vote? Teen angst &#038; hormones fly online as parliament debates reform \u2014 RT UK News"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<div>\n<p><time class=\"date date_article-header\">Published time: 3 Nov, 2017 15:17 <\/time><time class=\"date date_article-header\">Edited time: 3 Nov, 2017 15:35 <\/time><\/p>\n<p>        True to form, teenagers are falling out on social media. No, not about whether Justin Bieber is \u2018woke\u2019 or the merits of the iPhone X \u2013 it\u2019s actually something far more serious: voting rights. And emotional MPs aren\u2019t much better. <\/p>\n<div class=\"article__text text  js-mediator-article\">\n<p>The online furore was sparked by Parliament debating a motion on Friday about whether or not the voting age should be lowered to 16. The raucous debate has sparked the trend <em>\u201c#VotesAt16\u201d<\/em> on Twitter.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" width=\"900\" height=\"506\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/6OLkXWYR2L4\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>As the hashtag trended, teenagers from across the political spectrum exchanged barbs, with those against the motion suggesting that their peers are too <em>\u201cclueless\u201d<\/em> to vote. Meanwhile, supporters of the bill are more sympathetic, calling such a reform a <em>\u201cgreat day for our democracy.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n<div class=\"rtcode\">\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-lang=\"en\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">I\u2019m 17, I can confirm that <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/VotesAt16?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#VotesAt16<\/a> is a REALLY stupid idea. Almost all people my age are clueless &amp; think as a group, not an individual<\/p>\n<p>\u2014 MaxC &#x1f1ec;&#x1f1e7; (@MGOUFC) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/MGOUFC\/status\/926402978290044928?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">November 3, 2017<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"rtcode\">\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-lang=\"en\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Really hope the Tories don&#8217;t succeed in halting the <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/votesat16?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#votesat16<\/a> bill &#8211; today could be a great day for our democracy<\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Tony (@TAllens_Tweets) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/TAllens_Tweets\/status\/926433675214049281?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">November 3, 2017<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n<p>As teens locked horns online, MPs had their own heated exchanges \u2013 on Twitter and in the Commons chamber. Labour MP Ruth George tweeted to accuse Tory MPs of <em>\u201cbehaving like children\u201d<\/em> in their attempt to stop the bill. <em>\u201cTeenagers know better and deserve the vote,\u201d<\/em> she said.<\/p>\n<p>She was supported by colleague Marsha de Cordova, MP for Battersea, who labeled Tory MPs \u201cdisgraceful\u201d for <em>\u201cfilibustering to deny young people across the country\u201d<\/em> the right to vote.<\/p>\n<div class=\"rtcode\">\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-lang=\"en\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Tory MPs behaving like children to try and deny <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/votesat16?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#votesat16<\/a> Teenagers know better and deserve the vote<\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Ruth George (@RuthGeorge6) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/RuthGeorge6\/status\/926438968400515072?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">November 3, 2017<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"rtcode\">\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-lang=\"en\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Tories filibustering to deny young people across the country who campaigned for <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/VotesAt16?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#VotesAt16<\/a> their day in Parliament. Disgraceful<\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Marsha de Cordova MP (@Marshadecordova) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/Marshadecordova\/status\/926402754238730240?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">November 3, 2017<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n<p>The private members\u2019 bill, introduced by Labour MP Jim McMahon, has the official support of his party and the backing of the Liberal Democrats, Plaid Cymru, the Green Party and the Scottish National Party (SNP). Despite cross-party support the bill has little chance of becoming law as the governing Tories do not back the idea.<\/p>\n<p>Asked about the issue earlier this year, Theresa May pooh-poohed the proposal. <em>\u201cWe expect people to continue in education or training until the age of 18, and I think that is the right point for the voting age.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n<div class=\"rtcode\">\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-lang=\"en\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\"><a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/VotesAt16?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#VotesAt16<\/a> after 11 years of liberal indoctrination by teachers? Not good for democracy.<\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Dave, Ukipper.&#x1f1ec;&#x1f1e7; (@Bolddigger52) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/Bolddigger52\/status\/926441308872429568?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">November 3, 2017<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n<p>The Conservatives have historically been more popular with older voters. In the June general election, the Tories beat Labour in every age category above the 40-49 bracket, according to YouGov polling data.<\/p>\n<div class=\"arcticle__read-more read-more\">\n<p>Read more<\/p>\n<p>    <a class=\"read-more__link\" href=\"http:\/\/www.rt.com\/uk\/391579-youth-vote-labour-corbyn\/\" target=\"_blank\"><br \/>\n                    <img decoding=\"async\" class=\"read-more__cover\" src=\"https:\/\/cdni.rt.com\/files\/2017.06\/thumbnail\/593a3b4dc4618818388b45a3.jpg\" alt=\"\u00a9 Peter Nicholls\"\/><br \/>\n    <\/a>\n<\/div>\n<p>That being the demographic case, many on the government benches have accused Jeremy Corbyn\u2019s Labour of cynically backing the motion, hoping that if passed it would lead to more votes for the party. \u00a0In June, Labour attained 66 percent of the vote among 18-19 year olds and 62 percent of support from the 20-24 bracket, according YouGov.<\/p>\n<p>Proposals to lower the voting age have been gaining momentum across Britain in recent years. In 2015, 16 and 17 year olds were granted the vote for local and Scottish elections, while the Welsh government is currently consulting on similar changes.<\/p>\n<p>Following the Brexit referendum there were growing calls to lower the age of voting, as critics pointed out that the decision to leave the EU would impact young people (overwhelmingly pro-EU) far more than older citizens (predominantly pro-Brexit).<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><script async src=\"http:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>Via <a href=\"https:\/\/www.rt.com\/uk\/408712-vote-16-debate-teen\/?utm_source=rss&#038;utm_medium=rss&#038;utm_campaign=RSS\">RT<\/a>. This piece was reprinted by <a href=\"http:\/\/rinf.com\">RINF Alternative News<\/a> with permission or license.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Published time: 3 Nov, 2017 15:17 Edited time: 3 Nov, 2017 15:35 True to form, teenagers are falling out on social media. No, not about whether Justin Bieber is \u2018woke\u2019 or the merits of the iPhone X \u2013 it\u2019s actually something far more serious: voting rights. And emotional MPs aren\u2019t much better. The online furore [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":333517,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[519],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-333516","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-newswire"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/333516","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=333516"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/333516\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/333517"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=333516"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=333516"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=333516"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}