Plaid Cymru Youth condemn the decision of the Westminster government to deny 16 & 17 year olds the vote in 2015 and 2016.
Leanne Wood said: “This is a disappointing decision. There is widespread agreement that there is need to engage young people in the political process but the Secretary of State is refusing to allow the National Assembly the chance to give votes to 16 and 17-year-olds. It should be a matter for the Assembly anyway, not Westminster. The UK Government should be pulling out all the stops to widen democracy to include more young people.”
In his letter, Stephen Crabb said: “No parliamentary provision has, therefore, been made to alter the franchise for Assembly elections or to devolve to the Assembly the power to decide whether 16 and 17 years olds could vote in the 2016 Assembly elections.”
Daniel Roberts, Plaid Youth policy officer, said the following:
“We at Plaid Ifanc are hugely disappointed to see the UK Government take the opportunity to vote away from 16 and 17 years olds in Welsh Assembly elections. There are now 16 year olds in Wales who have, for their whole life, lived with the National Assembly. They will be confused as to why their involvement in the political system of their own nation should be set by the Westminster government.
Plaid Youth are determined to see Wales fulfil its potential as a nation, putting the interests of everybody who lives here at the heart of its government. Young people need to be at the heart of this, and we have consistently called for the extension of the vote to 16 and 17 years old. The recent experience of the Scottish independence referendum shows how successful this policy can be. If the political establishment truly wants young people to become involved in politics, they have to demonstrate that by allowing 16 and 17 years old to vote. “
