UK to lower national voting age to 16 under government proposals
If passed by the parliament, the proposed reforms, unveiled Thursday, would bring national votes in line with elections in Scotland, Wales and the Channel Islands, where younger voters already cast ballots.
'Young people deserve to have a stake and to have a say in the future of our democracy,' said Rushanara Ali, parliamentary under-secretary for local government in the House of Commons on Thursday.
'When we came into power just over a year ago, the government committed through its manifesto to bring forward measures to strengthen our precious democracy and uphold the integrity of our elections.'
The UK's move, which could be in place for the next general election, follows a growing global trend toward younger enfranchisement.
Darren Hughes, chief executive of the Electoral Reform Society, welcomed the proposed reforms, telling CNN that lowering the voting age would 'help more young people to cast that all-important, habit-forming vote at a point when they can be supported with civic education.'
'Participation is a vital sign of the health of our democracy. If fewer people vote, our democracy becomes weaker,' he added.
In 2008, Austria became the first European country to lower its national voting age to 16, with Malta adopting the change a decade later. In South America, countries including Brazil, Nicaragua, Ecuador and Argentina have permitted voting from age 16 for years.
Across much of the world, however, 18 remains the standard minimum voting age. In Asia, countries such as Indonesia and East Timor have set the threshold at 17, while Singapore, Lebanon, and Oman require citizens to wait until 21 to cast a ballot.
Within the UK, the government's intentions have drawn scrutiny.
James Yucel, head of campaigns at the center-right thinktank Onward, told CNN that the proposal was 'not some noble push for democracy' but instead 'political engineering aimed at boosting (Labour's) support.'
In both opinion polls and votes, younger voters tend to skew more heavily towards Labour than the main opposition Conservatives.
The proposed reforms drew criticism from the Conservative Party on Thursday, with lawmaker and shadow cabinet member Paul Holmes saying in the House of Commons: 'Why does this government think a 16-year-old can vote, but not be allowed to buy a lottery ticket, an alcoholic drink, marry, or go to war, or even stand in the elections they are voting in?'
The reforms would also expand acceptable voter ID to include digital formats of existing IDs, such as driving licenses and armed forces' veterans' cards. UK-issued bank cards would also be accepted.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
CNN
2 minutes ago
- CNN
How did a right wing populist party that began on YouTube win big in Japan's recent election?
Its leader is a former supermarket manager who created his political party on YouTube in the depths of the coronavirus pandemic and campaigned on the Trumpian message 'Japanese First.' Now Japan's burgeoning right-wing populist party Sanseito has emerged an unlikely winner in parliamentary elections this weekend. Inspired by other populist right-wing groups that have sprung up in recent years, Sanseito bagged 14 seats in Japan's upper house, according to public broadcaster NHK – a dramatic increase from the single seat it had occupied previously. That might not sound like a lot in the 248-seat chamber, but it shows the party's message is resonating with parts of the Japanese public. The surprise success piles pressure on Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba and his ruling Liberal Democratic Party, which after Sunday's elections has now lost its majority in both the lower and upper houses. Ishiba is facing calls to resign, which he has so far resisted. Sanseito's rise is particularly notable given its unusual origins. Party leader Sohei Kamiya founded the group in 2020 by 'gathering people on the Internet,' then gradually began winning seats in local assemblies, he said in a speech earlier this month. As of Monday, its YouTube channel has more than 460,000 subscribers. It gained traction during the Covid pandemic, during which it spread conspiracy theories about vaccinations and a cabal of global elites, Reuters reported. But in the run-up to the upper house elections, it became better known for its 'Japanese First' campaign – which focused on complaints of overtourism and the influx of foreign residents. It's been an increasingly sensitive issue. The world's fourth-largest economy has traditionally been strict on immigration, but in recent years worked hard to attract more international tourists and foreign workers to counter a rapidly aging population and plunging birth rates. And it's worked. Japan's population of foreign residents has jumped from 2.23 million to 3.77 million over the past decade, though that still only accounts for 3% of the total population of more than 120 million people. Tourist numbers also keep breaking new records. But that's caused problems in towns overwhelmed with visitors, some of whom behave badly, and depleting resources like the country's famous hot spring waters. Now, some believe there are too many foreigners in Japan – to the point the government recently formed a new task force to address the issue. Sanseito tapped into these frustrations on its 'Japanese First' platform, along with other complaints about stagnant wages, high inflation and costs of living. 'Right now, Japanese people's lives are getting harder and harder,' said Kamiya – a former supermarket manager and English teacher – in his speech in July. He cited a lack of economic growth and widening wealth gap. 'More and more foreigners are coming (to Japan),' he warned. He added that he didn't mind tourists, but claimed that relying on cheap foreign labor would harm Japanese wages, and that foreign workers who can't find a good job would increase crime. The party supports caps on the number of foreign residents in each town or city, more restrictions on immigration and benefits available to foreigners, and making it harder to naturalize as citizens. Sanseito is also pushing for stronger security measures and anti-espionage laws, greater tax cuts, renewable energy, and a health system that leans away from vaccines. It has urged greater defense capabilities, warning that Japan is 'surrounded' by nuclear-armed countries and thus needs a 'deterrent force' while pursuing long-term denuclearization. Kamiya also drew comparisons to other right-wing outfits like Donald Trump's MAGA movement in the United States and the AfD (Alternative for Germany) party and Reform UK. 'Sanseito has become the talk of the town, and particularly here in America, because of the whole populist and anti-foreign sentiment,' said Joshua Walker, head of the US-based non-profit Japan Society, according to Reuters. 'It's more of a weakness of the LDP and Ishiba than anything else,' he added. Many have criticized Sanseito's platform as xenophobic and discriminatory. Ahead of the election, he tried to tone down some of the party's more controversial ideas and to attract more female voters, according to Reuters. But he took a triumphant tone after the election results, Reuters reported. 'The public came to understand that the media was wrong and Sanseito was right,' Kamiya said. The results have left Ishiba's coalition on extremely shaky ground. He'd already lost control of the more powerful lower house in October, with the LDP losing its majority for the first time in 15 years – a stinging rebuke from Japanese voters to the longtime ruling party. In a news conference on Monday, Ishiba called the upper house results a harsh judgment on the LDP and apologized to his party. He said the party would continue to rule with its coalition partner and work with other parties to cooperate on key issues. Earlier on Sunday after polls closed, Ishiba had told NHK he intended to stay on as prime minister and party leader, citing the tariff talks with the US. Japan is among a number of countries that will face a 25% tariff from August 1 onward under Trump's newest measures – unless they're able to strike a deal. At the news conference Monday, Ishiba said he wanted to speak with Trump as soon as possible to find a solution. CNN's Yumi Asada contributed reporting.
Forbes
2 minutes ago
- Forbes
From Hitler's Bunker To AI Boardrooms: Why Moral Courage Matters
black numbers (figures) 1944 on a marble slab. Eighty-one years ago today, Colonel Claus von Stauffenberg walked into Adolf Hitler's Wolf's Lair bunker with a briefcase containing enough explosives to change the course of history. The assassination attempt failed, but Stauffenberg's courage in the face of overwhelming evil offers puzzling lessons for our current moment — particularly as we navigate the transformative power of artificial intelligence. The parallels are uncomfortable, and useful to examine. Then, as now, individual acts of moral courage were essential to preserving human agency in the face of systems that seemed beyond individual control. High-ranking German officials recognized what many contemporaries refused to see: that passive compliance with destructive systems was itself a moral choice. Today, AI systems are being deployed across society at new speed, often without adequate consideration of their long-term implications. Many of us assume that someone else — tech companies, governments, international bodies — will ensure AI serves human flourishing. This assumption is dangerous. AI development is not a natural phenomenon happening to us; it is a series of human choices that requires active human agency, not passive acceptance. The Necessity Of Hybrid Intelligence Stauffenberg and his conspirators understood that opposing tyranny required more than good intentions — it demanded strategic thinking, careful planning, and the ability to work within existing systems while fundamentally challenging them. They needed what we might today call hybrid intelligence: combining human moral reasoning with systematic analysis and coordinated action. The biggest performance improvements come when humans and smart machines work together, enhancing each other's strengths. This principle applies not just to productivity but to the fundamental challenge of keeping AI aligned with human values. We cannot simply delegate AI governance to technologists any more than the German resistance could delegate their moral choices to military hierarchies. Consider practical examples of where hybrid intelligence is essential today: Double Literacy: The Foundation Of Agency The German resistance succeeded in part because its members possessed both military expertise and moral clarity. They could operate effectively within existing power structures while maintaining independent judgment about right and wrong. Today's equivalent is double literacy — combining algorithmic literacy with human literacy. Algorithmic literacy means understanding AI's capabilities and constraints — how machine learning systems are trained, what data they use, and where they typically fail. Human literacy encompasses our understanding of aspirations, emotions, thoughts, and sensations across scales — from individuals to communities, countries, and the planet. Leaders don't need to become programmers, but they need both forms of literacy to deploy AI effectively and ethically. Practical double literacy looks like: Every Small Action Matters Stauffenberg and other members of the conspiracy were arrested and executed on the same day. The immediate failure of the July 20 plot might suggest that individual actions are meaningless against overwhelming systemic forces. But this interpretation misses the deeper impact of moral courage. The resistance's willingness to act, even against impossible odds, preserved human dignity in the darkest possible circumstances. It demonstrated that systems of oppression require human compliance to function, and that individual refusal to comply — however small — matters morally and strategically. Similarly, in the AI age, every decision to maintain human agency in the face of algorithmic convenience is significant. When a teacher insists on personally reviewing AI-generated lesson plans rather than using them blindly, when a manager refuses to outsource hiring decisions entirely to screening algorithms, when a citizen demands transparency in algorithmic decision-making by local government — these actions preserve human agency in small but crucial ways. The key is recognizing that these are not merely personal preferences but civic responsibilities. Just as the German resistance understood their actions in terms of duty to future generations, we must understand our choices about AI as fundamentally political acts that will shape the society we leave behind. Practical Takeaway: The A-Frame For Civil Courage Drawing from both Stauffenberg's example and current research on human-AI collaboration, here is a practical framework for exercising civil courage in our hybrid world: Awareness: Develop technical literacy about AI systems you encounter. Ask questions like: Who trained this system? What data was used? What are its documented limitations? How are errors detected and corrected? Stay informed about AI developments through credible sources rather than relying on marketing materials or sensationalized reporting. Appreciation: Recognize both the genuine benefits and the real risks of AI systems. Avoid both uncritical enthusiasm and reflexive opposition. Understand that the question is not whether AI is good or bad, but how to ensure human values guide its development and deployment. Appreciate the complexity of these challenges while maintaining confidence in human agency. Acceptance: Accept responsibility for active engagement rather than passive consumption. This means moving beyond complaints about "what they are doing with AI" to focus on "what we can do to shape AI." Accept that perfect solutions are not required for meaningful action — incremental progress in maintaining human agency is valuable. Accountability: Take concrete action within your sphere of influence. If you're a parent, engage meaningfully with how AI is used in your children's education. If you're an employee, participate actively in discussions about AI tools in your workplace rather than simply adapting to whatever is implemented. If you're a citizen, contact representatives about AI regulation and vote for candidates who demonstrate serious engagement with these issues. For professionals working directly with AI systems, accountability means insisting on transparency and human oversight. For everyone else, it means refusing to treat AI as a force of nature and instead recognizing it as a set of human choices that can be influenced by sustained civic engagement. The lesson of July 20, 1944, is not that individual action always succeeds in its immediate goals, but that it always matters morally and often matters practically in ways we cannot foresee. Stauffenberg's briefcase bomb failed to kill Hitler, but the example of the German resistance helped shape post-war democratic institutions and continues to inspire moral courage today. As we face the challenge of ensuring AI serves human flourishing rather than undermining it, we need the same combination of technical competence and moral clarity that characterized the July 20 conspirators. The systems we build and accept today will shape the world for generations. Like Stauffenberg, we have a choice: to act with courage in defense of human dignity, or to remain passive in the face of forces that seem beyond our control but are, ultimately, the product of human decisions. The future of AI is not predetermined. It will be shaped by the choices we make — each of us, in small acts of courage, every day.
CNN
32 minutes ago
- CNN
How did a right wing populist party that began on YouTube win big in Japan's recent election?
Its leader is a former supermarket manager who created his political party on YouTube in the depths of the coronavirus pandemic and campaigned on the Trumpian message 'Japanese First.' Now Japan's burgeoning right-wing populist party Sanseito has emerged an unlikely winner in parliamentary elections this weekend. Inspired by other populist right-wing groups that have sprung up in recent years, Sanseito bagged 14 seats in Japan's upper house, according to public broadcaster NHK – a dramatic increase from the single seat it had occupied previously. That might not sound like a lot in the 248-seat chamber, but it shows the party's message is resonating with parts of the Japanese public. The surprise success piles pressure on Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba and his ruling Liberal Democratic Party, which after Sunday's elections has now lost its majority in both the lower and upper houses. Ishiba is facing calls to resign, which he has so far resisted. Sanseito's rise is particularly notable given its unusual origins. Party leader Sohei Kamiya founded the group in 2020 by 'gathering people on the Internet,' then gradually began winning seats in local assemblies, he said in a speech earlier this month. As of Monday, its YouTube channel has more than 460,000 subscribers. It gained traction during the Covid pandemic, during which it spread conspiracy theories about vaccinations and a cabal of global elites, Reuters reported. But in the run-up to the upper house elections, it became better known for its 'Japanese First' campaign – which focused on complaints of overtourism and the influx of foreign residents. It's been an increasingly sensitive issue. The world's fourth-largest economy has traditionally been strict on immigration, but in recent years worked hard to attract more international tourists and foreign workers to counter a rapidly aging population and plunging birth rates. And it's worked. Japan's population of foreign residents has jumped from 2.23 million to 3.77 million over the past decade, though that still only accounts for 3% of the total population of more than 120 million people. Tourist numbers also keep breaking new records. But that's caused problems in towns overwhelmed with visitors, some of whom behave badly, and depleting resources like the country's famous hot spring waters. Now, some believe there are too many foreigners in Japan – to the point the government recently formed a new task force to address the issue. Sanseito tapped into these frustrations on its 'Japanese First' platform, along with other complaints about stagnant wages, high inflation and costs of living. 'Right now, Japanese people's lives are getting harder and harder,' said Kamiya – a former supermarket manager and English teacher – in his speech in July. He cited a lack of economic growth and widening wealth gap. 'More and more foreigners are coming (to Japan),' he warned. He added that he didn't mind tourists, but claimed that relying on cheap foreign labor would harm Japanese wages, and that foreign workers who can't find a good job would increase crime. The party supports caps on the number of foreign residents in each town or city, more restrictions on immigration and benefits available to foreigners, and making it harder to naturalize as citizens. Sanseito is also pushing for stronger security measures and anti-espionage laws, greater tax cuts, renewable energy, and a health system that leans away from vaccines. It has urged greater defense capabilities, warning that Japan is 'surrounded' by nuclear-armed countries and thus needs a 'deterrent force' while pursuing long-term denuclearization. Kamiya also drew comparisons to other right-wing outfits like Donald Trump's MAGA movement in the United States and the AfD (Alternative for Germany) party and Reform UK. 'Sanseito has become the talk of the town, and particularly here in America, because of the whole populist and anti-foreign sentiment,' said Joshua Walker, head of the US-based non-profit Japan Society, according to Reuters. 'It's more of a weakness of the LDP and Ishiba than anything else,' he added. Many have criticized Sanseito's platform as xenophobic and discriminatory. Ahead of the election, he tried to tone down some of the party's more controversial ideas and to attract more female voters, according to Reuters. But he took a triumphant tone after the election results, Reuters reported. 'The public came to understand that the media was wrong and Sanseito was right,' Kamiya said. The results have left Ishiba's coalition on extremely shaky ground. He'd already lost control of the more powerful lower house in October, with the LDP losing its majority for the first time in 15 years – a stinging rebuke from Japanese voters to the longtime ruling party. In a news conference on Monday, Ishiba called the upper house results a harsh judgment on the LDP and apologized to his party. He said the party would continue to rule with its coalition partner and work with other parties to cooperate on key issues. Earlier on Sunday after polls closed, Ishiba had told NHK he intended to stay on as prime minister and party leader, citing the tariff talks with the US. Japan is among a number of countries that will face a 25% tariff from August 1 onward under Trump's newest measures – unless they're able to strike a deal. At the news conference Monday, Ishiba said he wanted to speak with Trump as soon as possible to find a solution. CNN's Yumi Asada contributed reporting.
