MPs: Give 16-year-olds the vote
Thursday 24 January 2013
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EmailMPs backed a call to give 16-year-olds the vote today, designed to press ministers to act.
The backbench motion in the Commons called for the vote to be extended to 16 and 17-year-olds for all elections and referendums.
But the motion, passed by 119 votes to 46, majority 73, will not bind the government.
The campaign, led by Lib Dem Stephen Williams, was supported by the Labour front bench.
Shadow constitutional reform minister Wayne David described extending the vote as "an idea whose time has definitely come."
But Shipley Tory MP Philip Davies dismissed the campaign as a "pathetic" attempt for MPs to appear "trendy" to win over young voters.
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