George Osborne: Theresa May is powerless to stop votes for 16-year-olds
2 min read
George Osborne has said the Government is powerless to prevent 16-year-olds being given the vote.
The former Tory Chancellor said Theresa May should back the campaign to lower the voting age from 18 or face a humiliating Commons defeat.
Labour supports giving the vote to 16-year-old, but ministers have so far vowed to block it.
In the Commons last month, Cabinet Office minister David Lidington told Shadow Foreign Secretary Emily Thornberry to "grow up" after she made the case for a change in the current rules.
Mr Osborne said there were now enough Conservative MPs in favour to wipe out the working majority the Prime Minister enjoys thanks to her pact with the DUP.
Former Cabinet minister Nicky Morgan said supporting the Votes at 16 campaign could be a way of helping the Tories to re-connect with young people.
She told the Evening Standard: "Embracing votes at 16 would demonstrate to the next generation that the Conservative Party has something to offer them. Just as the Conservatives both delivered on and then fulfilled Votes for Women, it is time for us to take the next pragmatic leap forward and get on with Votes at 16."
John Lamont, the Tory MP for Berwickshire, Roxburgh and Selkirk, said: "Having seen how 16 and 17-year-olds positively contributed to the Scottish independence referendum, the Scottish Conservatives came to a view that they should be allowed to participate in future votes.
"The level of engagement was extremely good, and in schools especially the level of debate was excellent. We’d be pleased to see them involved in elections across the UK."
Cat Smith, Labour’s shadow minister for voter engagement, said: "Votes at 16 is the right thing to do and George Osborne has admitted that an increasing number of Tory MPs know it.
"The only thing stopping them doing the right thing is their own narrow political interests. For once, the Tories should stop thinking of themselves, do the right thing and give young people the vote.
"Labour is committed to giving young people a voice in the future of their country."
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