During the last general election, my grandson’s secondary school held a mock election in which the oldest students voted (Voting age to be lowered to 16 across UK by next general election, 17 July). The majority voted for Nigel Farage, not because of his policies, but because the students thought he was “hilarious”. To this result, my 16-year-old grandson said: “And that’s why they don’t give 16-year-olds the vote.”
Unless secondary schools and sixth forms start teaching politics and political systems in school and encourage the notion of informed debate, young voters will get their information from social media (and not from the Guardian app).
