The Age of Consent
Is there a danger that young people with the vote are too impressionable at that age, and that their inexperience will make them prey to any older man - or woman - who might seek to corrupt them and force them into practices and beliefs against their true nature?
Is the Consent to Vote Act (1949) a liberal and democratic measure? Or is it, as some people have seen it, a Demagogue's Charter?
An increasing number of people are coming round to thinking that the age of voting consent is actually far too low.
‘I voted for the first time when I was nineteen,’ says one young man who prefers to be known only as “Baffled of Ealing”, and I simply didn't know what I was doing. I knew my parents had voted, of course, but I had never seen them doing it and we never talked about it in the home. Consequently, when I went into that polling booth all alone, I was like a little baby. You should have seen me holding that pencil on a string and wondering what to do with it.’
‘Shortly before I voted for the first time,’ says another young person who prefers simply to be known as “I'm just out for a walk with Baffled of Ealing here, actually”, ‘I met an older man who, I now realise, was seeking to corrupt me. He came to my door with a big blue rosette in his button-hole and said that if I voted for him everyone would get a job and taxes would go down. He seemed nice and trustworthy, and like a fool I believed him. Six months later I was homeless and the big recession was on. Course, I never met that man with the blue rosette again. But I'm not bitter that he had his way with me. You learn these things the hard way.’
How many young people have been preyed on by older men in this fashion? Nobody knows, but the evidence suggests that most people in this country do vote for the first time before they are really aware of their true political identity. Des Truss of Dem Lib (Democracy Liberation, the movement which aims to protect young voters by taking their vote away) says that an ugly first experience at the ballot box may scare you for life.
‘Look, when you are eighteen, you are only just beginning to become aware of your very powerful political urges. We all of us in our late teens have strong mixed up impulses to make the world a better place. But what you don't really know at that age is which way you are leaning, left or right. And an unfortunate first experience which sends you the wrong way, against your true nature, may maim your social development for decades, if not for ever.’
This is what may have happened to a businessman called Reginald Park, thought he would prefer to be known as Sir Reginald Park, though as he has not got a knighthood yet he cannot. When he was eighteen he thought he was socialist.
‘I really did. I only felt attracted to other idealists. I called people 'brother'. I blush when I think of it now. But then it seemed far out and daring. Of course, by and by things started to go better for me, and I stopped mixing with my lefty friends, and I came out as a Conservative and now I've got a wife and two lovely four-door saloon cars, which is what being a Conservative is all about, but I often think back to the early days and wonder whether, if I hadn't been allowed to get into bed with socialism so early, I might not have perceived my own nature much earlier.’
It can easily happen the other way round. One such victim is a young man who calls himself “Old Muggins” and who voted for the first time last year.
‘Yes, you've guessed it. It's the old story. An older man with a nice face and an ingratiating manner came along, name of John Major. He begged me to have a voting experience with him. He said it felt great if you did it Right. I went along with him. Did it change my life? It certainly did. I was about to go to university then. Now I have lost my grant and my place.’
Old Muggins is convinced that he will never vote again as long as he lives. He can't see the point. Des Truss thinks this is a tragedy.
‘Voting is one of the great natural functions. Done properly, it can be a beautiful and rewarding experience. But too many young voters are having the concept blighted by an early ugly experience. And that's why we at Dem Lib say - Live First, Vote Later!’
In other words, protect democracy by taking people's vote away. It seems crazy at first sight. But it may be an idea whose time has come.
If you would like to know more about the pros and cons of premature voting and its effect on your health, please send a stamped addressed envelope for our booklet: "The Joys of Abstaining".
The Independent Friday Feb 25 1994