Latest news with #Rayner
Evening Standard
2 hours ago
- Politics
- Evening Standard
What are the voting requirements in the UK?
'For too long public trust in our democracy has been damaged and faith in our institutions has been allowed to decline,' said Ms Rayner. 'We are taking action to break down barriers to participation that will ensure more people have the opportunity to engage in UK democracy, supporting our Plan for Change, and delivering on our manifesto commitment to give 16-year-olds the right to vote.
New Statesman
4 hours ago
- Politics
- New Statesman
Sharon Graham: Unite's Labour affliation 'getting harder to justify'
Photo byBack in 2021, before she was even elected general secretary of the union, Sharon Graham was already wondering whether Unite should divorce from Labour. During her campaign to succeed the highly-politicised leadership of Len McCluskey, Graham said that Unite's 'obsession with the Labour Party needs to end'. The end may be at hand. On July 11th, 800 Unite industrial and regional representatives gathered in Brighton for its policy conference, where they voted on what could be soon regarded as a landmark motion in the history of the modern British-left: to suspend the membership of Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner, and to 're-examine' the union's long-standing funding of the Labour Party. Only a 'handful' of people stood against it. 'There seems to be a bit of shock that the conference voted that way,' Graham told me over the phone.'There were only a handful of people that voted against that in a group [which] represents 1.1 million workers. That should be a red flag for the government.' The source of Unite and Graham's anger are protracted strikes by waste refuse workers employed by Birmingham City Council – over job reformation and hefty cuts in pay – and the unsatisfactory response from the local Labour-run authority, as well as their national colleagues in Westminster. 'The abdication of responsibility here has been outrageous,' Graham said of Labour's response to the action, which began last summer, and has seen tens of thousands of tons worth of rubbish rot on the streets of England's second city. 'Leaving these workers to wither on the vine is not what I expect from a Labour government.' Rayner, whose ministerial brief covers local government, has deferred responsibility to end the strikes to Birmingham City Council: 'This is a local dispute, and it is right that the negotiations are led locally,' she told the Commons in April. But Rayner's justification for absconding soon switched from giving the council autonomy, to ''legal reasons… which is very odd,' claimed Graham, 'because there is no legal reason why [she] couldn't get involved.' The government-appointed commissioners that help manage the council's operations – following it declaring effective-bankruptcy in 2023 – also report directly to Rayner. Rayner eventually got involved in the dispute. 'She visited Birmingham [in April], and went to speak to the leader of a council [John Cotton]… who's not been in one single negotiation,' Graham said. '[Rayner] went to speak to the strike-breakers – the agency workers who broke the dispute – but didn't have one conversation with the [still-striking] workers. She didn't ask to meet them; didn't ask to sit down somewhere, talk to them; didn't want to really understand what was going on.' Subscribe to The New Statesman today from only £8.99 per month Subscribe Does Graham consider this scabbing by Rayner, a former a trade union rep? Graham refused to offer her own view, but projected the angst of her members: 'I think there's something wholly wrong with a decision to ignore workers who are losing up to a quarter of their pay, and essentially picking a side. That's what it felt like for the workers. They were extremely upset about what happened that day.' Despite Labour and Rayner being tied to unions, the industrial angst the Birmingham strikes represent is a 'microcosm of the whole', according to Graham. Resident doctors voted to stage five days of industrial action in the same week Unite staged its turn against Labour. 'I don't expect to win every conversation with the Labour government,' said Graham, 'but… I expect a Labour government to intervene, and I certainly expect Angela Rayner – who talks about workers' rights – to see what is happening, roll her sleeves up and find out what's going on. She didn't do that. That's not acceptable, and our conference took the decision to suspend her membership.' Competition will be fierce to secure Unite's vast funding should it divorce from Labour. It would be a particularly costly split for the latter, which receives £1.4m a year in affiliation fees from Graham's union. Labour is in a 'difficult financial position', an internal document notes, and is under a 'recovery plan' in 2025 in order to bring finances to a 'planned but manageable deficit'. The party needs 'at least £4m to adequately resource the 2026 elections'. Is Graham tempted to channel Unite's heft to the incoming Sultana-Corbyn party, or even an 'eco-populist' Greens led by the emerging Zack Polanski? 'That's all a sideshow,' she said of the speculation. But following any hypothetical disaffiliation with Labour, Graham added, 'I think it's more likely that we would focus on building a strong, independent workers union that was the true, authentic voice for workers, and use that power to move political debate.' But just because there is no imminent threat to Labour's union funding, there is no room for complacency for Keir Starmer and his party. People who 'flirt' with the disaffiliation question typically assume that it's only ever over 'the internal Labour [Party] squabble of the day,' Graham noted. They may have been true before – but not now. 'Actually,' Graham added, 'this is the first time that this has been done because of workers,' something that Labour has lost perspective on. 'Before the election, I couldn't go on a picket line [without] people saying: 'We need a Labour government'… [Now] I go to those same picket lines to negotiate, and those same people are saying: 'What the hell is going on here?'' Unite's threat to withdraw its funding and affiliation is seemingly not a bluff. 'Let's put it this way,' Graham began, reflecting on the overwhelming decision taken at Unite's meeting last week, 'had that policy conference been a rules conference – because at a rules conference, we determine [our] affiliation to Labour – then those workers would have voted to disaffiliate.' The next Unite rules conference is scheduled for 2027. That gives Labour time to fix things. And outreach has already begun. 'There have been conversations in relation to the government itself but I don't want to go down that road [publicly],' Graham revealed. 'I don't want to scupper anything… in that regard.' After airing their dirty laundry for all to see last week, Labour and Unite are now seemingly conducting marriage counseling in private. But existential questions for Labour and Unite remain. 'Now, we are affiliated to Labour, we have a history of being affiliated to Labour, but you can't just blindly affiliate and blindly pay members' money into an organisation that, those members feel, is not speaking for them,' Graham told me. 'The Labour Party… [is] about being the voice for workers; not being embarrassed to be the voice for workers – but [being] very clear so that workers know, 'if you vote Labour, they're on your side'. 'If more and more people are saying, 'Hang on a minute, I'm not sure about that anymore', then it's harder to justify the affiliation.' [See also: Are Unite and Labour heading for divorce] Related
Spectator
a day ago
- Politics
- Spectator
Rayner's youth blunder
Oh dear. After the government announced that 16- and 17-year-olds will be allowed to vote in time for the next general election – in a move Reform's Nigel Farage has slammed as 'an attempt to rig the political system' – the Deputy Prime Minister penned an op-ed for the Times to praise the policy. But eagle-eyed observers were quick to spot a rather glaring error. The Ashton-under-Lyne MP reflected on the expectations placed on her shoulders when she was just a teen, writing: Nobody expected much of me when I become a young mum at 16. I was suddenly faced with serious responsibilities for putting food on the table, paying my bills and giving my son Ryan the best possible start in life. With support, I rose to the challenge. I got a job, I paid taxes, I supported my son… So far, so reasonable. Rayner continued: By law, [16- to 17-year-olds] can get married and serve our country in the armed forces — but, unlike their peers in Scotland and Wales, 16-year-olds in England and Northern Ireland can't vote. Why not? Er, wait a second. 16- and 17-year-olds in England can't marry – something that the Deputy PM should be aware of given Rayner was a sitting MP at the time the marriage age was raised from 16 to 17 in 2023, under the Marriage and Civil Partnership (Minimum Age) Act. The article was swiftly updated, as was – Mr S suspects – an embarrassed Rayner…
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First Post
a day ago
- Politics
- First Post
UK wants to lower voting age to 16: Which other nations allow adolescents to cast ballots?
The UK's Labour government is planning to lower the voting age from 18 to 16 by the next general election in 2029. If the move gains parliamentary approval, around 15 lakh youths will be able to exercise their franchise by 2029. But what do we know? Which other countries allow teenagers to vote? read more A person and a dog wait outside St James' Church polling station during the general election in Edinburgh, Scotland, Britain, July 4, 2024. File Photo/Reuters The United Kingdom has decided to extend voting rights to 16 and 17-year-olds in all elections. In a big democratic overhaul, the British government said it will lower the voting age to 16 by the next general election. It said the proposed changes would align the voting rights across the UK with Scotland and Wales. If the move is approved by the UK Parliament, around 1.5 million (15 lakh) 16 and 17-year-olds will be eligible to vote in the next general election. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD Besides the UK, which other countries allow teenagers to vote? Let's take a look. UK to lower voting age The UK government's plan to lower the age for exercising the voting franchise stems from the Labour Party's manifesto promise. 'We are taking action to break down barriers to participation that will ensure more people have the opportunity to engage in UK democracy,' British Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner said in a statement. She said the government is 'delivering on our promise' on the lower voting age.'Young people already contribute to society by working, paying taxes and serving in the military,' Rayner wrote in a post on X. 'It's only right they can have a say on the issues that affect them.' The development is a part of a series of measures which will be introduced through a new Elections Bill. UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer said that the move will give young people a chance to have a say on what their taxes are used for. 'I think it's really important that 16 and 17-year-olds have the vote, because they are old enough to go out to work, they are old enough to pay taxes, so pay in,' he told ITV News. 'And I think if you pay in, you should have the opportunity to say what you want your money spent on, which way the government should go.' STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD The Conservative Party has criticised the UK government's plan to lower the voting age. Speaking in the House of Commons, Conservative shadow minister for Housing Paul Holmes described the government's position on the voting age as 'hopelessly confused'. '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're voting in?' he asked. The next general elections are expected in the UK by August 2029. Which countries allow teenagers to vote? Ecuador, Brazil and Argentina permit 16 and 17-year-olds to vote. However, it is not compulsory for them to cast their ballots, unlike those aged 18 and above, as per The Guardian. Austria was the first country in the European Union to lower its voting age to 16 in 2011. The legal voting age is 16 in Nicaragua, Scotland, the Isle of Man, Guernsey, Ethiopia, Ecuador, Cuba and Brazil. The minimum voting age in East Timor, Ethiopia, Indonesia, North Korea and Sudan is 17. Some countries and territories, such as Estonia, Germany, Israel, Puerto Rico, Scotland, and Wales, allow 16 and 17-year-olds to vote in at least some elections. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD Those aged 16 in Belgium, Austria, Germany and Malta, and people aged 17 in Greece can cast their ballots in European elections, as per Unicef. Some states in the US allow 17-year-olds to vote in the presidential or congressional primaries or party caucuses if they turn 18 before the general election. Debate around giving voting rights to adolescents The UK's adolescents are split in their views about lowering the voting age. As per a new poll, almost half of 16 and 17-year-olds do not think they should have the right to vote. The survey of 500 people in the 16-17 age group by Merlin Strategy for ITV News found that 49 per cent did not want the voting age to be lowered to 16, while 51 per cent said it should. 'I am a 17-year-old politics student who is actually against the proposed vote at 16,' Chloe Brown from West Dorset was quoted as saying by BBC. 'We've discussed this again and again through so many different governments and it's clear that lower voter turnout is going to be the norm if this actually goes through, and political parties will turn to populism even further when catering to younger audiences. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD 'This is not the win for young people Starmer thinks it is, it's just him trying to win back votes from Reform and it will backfire,' she added. Voter turnout at the 2024 UK general election was 59.7 per cent, the lowest since 2001, according to a parliamentary report. A woman enters a polling station as voting gets under way in the Wakefield by-election, in Wakefield, Britain, June 23, 2022. File Photo/Reuters Others have welcomed the move. 'I think it's a really good thing,' 23-year-old business consultant Leo Lardi told Reuters, as the step gives the younger generation 'an opinion and a vote on a lot of the issues that are facing the UK today'. He said that if he could have had the right to vote at 16, it would have made him think more about the issues that affect him. 'The future really affects those who are younger than us,' he added. Critics of lowering the voting age to 16 argue that children are too ill-informed to vote. As per Unicef, other arguments are that adolescents are not too politically engaged or are too vulnerable to manipulation. But these could also be said for adults who have the right to vote. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD Many experts say that a 16-year-old has the cognitive and critical thinking capacities to make political decisions independently. Some studies have found that mid-adolescents have similar levels of political knowledge as younger adults. Opponents also say that allowing young people to vote would lead to policy chaos. The argument is that if children are irrational and incoherent but still allowed to vote, the 'outcome of elections, and the policy decisions they give rise to, would surely reflect or be distorted by their ill-conceived and incoherent votes,' Harry Pearse, Research associate, Centre for the Future of Democracy, University of Cambridge, wrote for The Conversation. However, he argued that voting is a 'statement of equality' and a '(loose) guarantee that one's concerns and perspectives will not be systematically overlooked by politicians.' 'The fact that children can't vote means they're denied this respect and protection,' Pearse wrote. With inputs from agencies
Euronews
a day ago
- Politics
- Euronews
UK to lower voting age to 16 in England and Northern Ireland
The voting age will be lowered to 16 in England and Northern Ireland by the next general election as part of a major overhaul of the electoral system, the British government announced on Thursday. The government said the proposals aimed to make the voting system fairer, as many 16- and 17-year-olds are already in full-time employment or are eligible to serve in the military. The proposed changes still need parliamentary approval but if passed they would bring the voting age to 16 across the whole of the UK and in line with Scotland and Wales, where 16-year-olds can already vote. "We are taking action to break down barriers to participation that will ensure more people have the opportunity to engage in UK democracy," Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner said. Turnout at last year's general election was 59.7%, the lowest figure since 2001, according to government figures. The ruling Labour party, which has seen its popularity plummet since being elected by a landslide a year ago, had previously pledged to lower the voting age if elected. The sweeping package of reforms would also expand what is accepted as official voter ID to include UK-issued bank cards and digital formats of existing IDs, like driving licences and veteran cards. In a bid to tackle foreign interference, the government also announced plans to tighten the rules on political donations, including checks on contributions of more than £500 (€578) from unincorporated associations. "We cannot take our democracy for granted, and by protecting our elections from abuse and boosting participation we will strengthen the foundations of our society for the future," Rayner said in a statement.
