July 17, 2025

OH, TO BE IN ENGLAND: And Just Like That, 16-Year-Olds Can Vote in the Next British General Election.

In one of the ultimate nanny states on Earth, which is seriously looking at implementing a complete social media ban on 16-year-olds and younger because they are too immature to handle the pressures online…

A possible ban on social media for under-16s in the UK is “on the table”, the technology secretary Peter Kyle has told the BBC.

Speaking on the Today programme, on BBC Radio 4, he said he would “do what it takes” to keep people and in particular children safe online.

…they will now also be given the right to vote during a national general election, ergo determining the direction and future of the country.

That might not go the way that Labour expects, however:

A similar result could happen in Old Blighty, James Hanson writes at the Spectator: Britain’s votes for teenagers ruse will backfire.

I have long suspected that Labour’s real reason for wanting votes at 16 is to further its own electoral interests. But this, too, is wrong on a number of levels. Firstly, no constitutional change should ever happen for party political reasons. Secondly, it is deeply naive to assume that 16 and 17-year-olds are more likely to be attracted to Starmer’s technocratic government than to the radicalism of Reform or a new left-wing party led by Jeremy Corbyn.

There is a reason Nigel Farage is by some distance the most followed British politician on TikTok. As unlikely as it may seem, the tweed-clad former City boy connects with younger voters in a way the Labour leadership simply doesn’t. If the bright sparks in Downing Street think this teenage voting ruse will help Starmer’s prospects at the next election, they should be careful what they wish for.

In any case, the newest chapters of Peter Hitchens’ The Abolition of Britain continue to write themselves.

Posted at 4:14 pm by Ed Driscoll