As a Liberal Democrat I welcome the government’s commitment to introducing votes for 16-18 year olds. They are literally the future of the country in a way 96-98 year olds are not, much as we value the contribution 96-98 years olds undoubtedly have made. So giving young people a voice in the country’s future makes huge sense.

Of course there will be ’naysayers’ claiming young people are ‘unqualified’ and ‘lack experience’. But in my personal experience I’ve found many young people more deeply engaged in the issues society faces than their elders. It’s also the case I’ve met people in their middle and older years who seem very ill-qualified to cast a vote.

It may also contribute to a rebalancing of government policies which seem to favour the elderly over our young people. So whilst welcoming this initiative from Labour I must also say they should go further. It really is time for electoral reform in this country, and some form of proportional voting system that can ensure the broad views of the populace are represented.

At the moment policy development (both in the Labour and Conservative Parties) seems to be being dictated by the need to appeal to a very small, and unrepresentative, part of the electorate. The result of which is driving our country to the extremes and dividing community from community. We urgently need a fair, and dare I say, more democratic electoral system.