Government of Wales Bill

moved Amendment No. 9:"Page 8, line 26, at end insert—" ““(   )   For the purposes of subsection (1), section 2 of the Representation of the People Act 1983 (c. 2) (local government electors) shall have effect as if for subsection (1)(d) there were substituted— ““(d) is of voting age (that is, 16 years or over).”””” The noble Lord said: My Lords, reducing the age at which people can vote from 18 to 16 has been debated in this House in recent weeks. So many things happen to a person when they are 16 years old. These are formative years; you can marry and take on family responsibilities. You can even become a boy soldier at 16 and fight in battle if necessary. It is unfair that someone is able to fight for his country and yet unable to vote for the Government of his country—or the Assembly, as in Wales. The reality is that people who do not vote not only take themselves out of the voting domain, but are in a way opting out of society itself. The sooner we can get them involved in society, with responsibilities within it, the sooner we might be able to interest them in a way which will last for the rest of their years. At 16, you change from the school to the workplace, or a place of further education. You become involved in the community. We want 16 year-olds to be involved in the community, not to feel excluded from it. Reducing the voting age to 16 would help to accomplish that wish, that they be part of society and responsible within it. I beg to move.