Lords raise concerns over plans to give 16 year olds the vote

Moves to give 16 and 17 year olds the right to vote at future Scottish Parliament elections have been questioned by a House of Lords Committee, which raised concerns over whether enough consideration has been given to what effect the changes would have on the UK constitution as a whole.

The Committee stated: “It is likely that the change will lead to pressure to allow 16 and 17-year olds to vote in other elections across the UK.”

The House of Lords Constitution Committee has brought up a series of concerns over the legislation, which formed a key part of the Smith Recommendations.

As well as questioning what effect giving 16 and 17 year olds the vote in Scottish elections would have on democracy across the UK, the report raised concerns over the way the power is being transferred.

The Government is attempting to amend the 1998 Scotland Act by statutory instrument, which would to give the new powers to the Scottish Parliament.

However the Lords’ Committee has stated that statutory instruments cannot be amended by either House of Parliament, and the Committee says that that is “not an appropriate way to proceed with significant constitutional change”. 

The Committee also raised concerns “data protection issues involved in including 16 and 17-year olds on an electoral register”.

Lord Lang of Monkton, Chairman of the House of Lords Constitution Committee, said: “Changes to the law which impact on the UK Constitution, as the proposal to give the Scottish Parliament the power to amend the voting age clearly does, should be subject to full and proper Parliamentary scrutiny—not implemented by an unamendable statutory instrument.

“The proposed change will have knock-on effects across the rest of the UK and we are concerned that not enough thought has been given to this impact.”

The SNP criticised the report.

SNP MSP Christina McKelvie said: “The fact a Tory former Scottish Secretary and a group of unelected peers want to put roadblocks in the way of Scotland’s young adults being given the vote speaks volumes – it is utter hypocrisy and shows how out of touch Lord Lang and his House of Lords colleagues are.
 
McKelvie added: “These unelected peers believe that giving young adults the vote in Scotland will ‘lead to pressure’ for it to be extended to 16 and 17 year-olds in other parts of the UK – they are quite right, but that is something to be welcomed, not condemned.
 
“The bottom line is that Westminster must transfer the powers needed for younger people to vote in next year’s Scottish Parliament election – regardless of what the House of Lords thinks.”