Starmer defends lowering voting age to 16, saying people can work and pay tax then so have right to say where money goes – live | Politics

Keir Starmer has defended giving 16 and 17-year-olds the vote in UK parliamentary election on the grounds that teenagers pay tax. He told ITV News:

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.

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.

So I’m really pleased we are able to bring more young people into our democracy and give them a chance to have a say over how their taxes are paid and what they are going to be used for.