Votes at 16: Putting the Case Directly to Gordon Brown

Young people meet with Gordon Brown and the Youth Citizenship Commission (Crown Copyright)

With constitutional reform rising up the political agenda, yesterday members of NUS got to put the case for Votes at 16 – and other ideas to get young people involved in politics and active citizenship – directly to Gordon Brown in a discussion at Number 10.

I was there in my capacity as a member of the Government’s Youth Citizenship Commission. We’ve been tasked with looking at a whole variety of issues around the involvement of young people in their communities and politics more generally, as well as to lead a consultation with young people on the issue of Votes at 16. We will report next month and so I won’t drop any hints about what’s in it. Schools Secretary Ed Ball and Justice Secretary Jack Straw also attended and I think it’s fair to say that members of the Commission were delighted with the senior level of interest in our work from three senior Cabinet ministers, including the PM himself. Establishing the Commission was one of the first things Gordon Brown did after taking office as Prime Minister.

A number of NUS members were invited along to yesterday’s meeting, which gave them a chance to put the case for Votes at 16 to the Commission members present and directly to Gordon Brown himself: Beth Walker (VP FE), Shane Chowen (VP FE-elect), Susan Nash (VP Society & Citizenship), Liv Bailey (Women’s Officer-elect) and Natalie Tremlett from Exeter College. All spoke really well on a range of issues.

I’ll blog again when the report’s published and will probably tout some articles about to generate wider political debate and ensure that the recommendations aren’t left on the shelf to gather dust!

You can see the news story and video (featuring Liv Bailey – who got Labour’s National Policy Forum to endorse Votes at 16 - making the case for Votes at 16) on the Number 10 website here.

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