Youth MPs hope to lower vote age
Assembly in commons make gaining the vote for 16-year-olds its top campaign
Milton Keynes youth MPs Sean Barnes and Teja Bapuram have struck a blow for the nation's teenagers – and at the seat of power in Westminster.
Votes of the pair in the first ever session of the Youth Parliament to
be held in the Commons helped persuade the assembly to make gaining the vote for 16-year-olds its top campaign.
Teja said: "I felt really proud to bridge the gap between tomorrow's
citizens and today's politics in the House of Commons.
"We young people can and will make a difference."
Sean said: "Our voices were heard loud and clear."
MP for Milton Keynes South West Dr Phyllis Starkey pledged to work with Teja and Sean to get the government to commit to votes at 16.
She said she had always supported such a move as the only way to get politicians in general seriously to consider the needs of young people.
She called the Youth Parliament sitting a "triumph".
The historic voting reform debate is to be screened on the BBC Parliament Channel on Sunday night.
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Thursday 09 February 2012
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