Do you agree that 16-year-olds should get the vote? After months of deliberation, the Electoral Commission has recommended that they shouldn't after it carried out a public consultation on lowering the age from 18. It also said the minimum age at which a person can become an MP should be lowered from 21 to 18.
Three reporters from Children's Express spent the day at Westminster, with BBC Radio 4 journalist, John Sudworth, where they reported from Central Lobby in parliament on the Electoral Commission's recommendation:
John: One of the reasons given by the Electoral Commission for not lowering the age of voting is that young people themselves are divided on the issue. Earlier today I met up with some 16 and 17 year journalists from Children's Express here in Westminster, to find out what they thought.
Nnenna Emenyeonu, 16: "I don't think the voting age should be lowered. Westminster is a long way from things that happen to me. I don't really feel anything when I come here, it's the just the Houses of Parliament and that's it. It means nothing more to me.
Whether or not I'll be better able to make a decision about voting when I'm 18 will depend on how well I'm educated on the subject. I won't be voting for something if I don't really know about. People my age could vote for something they don't know about, so you could be voting for the wrong thing and something that's not really in your best interests, so I'm against it."
Daniel Henry, 16: "I have mixed views about lowering the age to 16. I think I would use the vote if I had it because I don't really think young people are really being represented. There's no-one in the Houses of Parliament I can point to and say 'they're reflecting my views or trying to do something for me'."
The Conservative Party have made it a matter of policy to oppose lowering the voting age, so 16-year-old Children's Express reporter, Rachel Schon, grilled the Conservative spokesperson on the issue, Caroline Spelman:
Rachel: Under current law you can pay taxes, join the army and get married when you're 16, doesn't it seem unfair that you can't vote as well?
Caroline Spelman: Well actually you can't join the army at 16 without parental consent and again you can't get married at the age of 16 without parental consent. So one has to accept those are social benchmarks that are regarded as important and that once you're 18 you don't require parental consent to do those things.
Rachel: But is really any good reason for it being 18, isn't that quite unfair to people like me, who are engaged in politics and would like to be able to vote but are not able to?
Caroline Spelman: There are going to be people who are very interested in politics all up the ages. My children for example, growing up in a political family, are really interested in politics, but I wouldn't think of giving my nine-year-old the vote and at some point we have to make a decision about what is the right age.
Rachel: When women were fighting for the vote 90-100 years ago, one of the phrases they used was 'No Taxation Without Representation'. And it's true, at 16 you can pay taxes, so surely if you are paying taxes to the government you should have some control over what that government uses your money for?
Caroline: I would like to see younger politicians. I think if we had younger members of parliament and more younger councillors in local government, then younger people would feel as the suffragettes did, that they were being better represented and that there were people they could identify with and who would take up their cause and make their voice heard. That's why I believe that lowering the age at which you can stand as an elected politician is the absolute key.
About the teamThe interview was conducted by Rachel Schon, 16. Nnenna Emenyeonu, 16 and Daniel Henry, 17 are members of Project Subway. It was broadcast on BBC Radio 4.
