YORK councillors want to lower the voting age to 16.

Some will fiercely oppose the move, arguing that 16-year-olds are not well informed enough, that they would be too easily swayed by canny political operators, that they should leave the serious business of the ballot to their elders and betters.

These same arguments have been used against every electoral reform in history, from offering non-landowners the vote to women's suffrage.

Sixteen year olds can work, and therefore pay taxes to a Government over which they have no influence. They can legally have sex, and, with their parents' permission, marry.

On the other hand, most 16-year-olds still live at home with their parents. Everything from driving to drinking is beyond them.

So are they ready to vote? If you take the black view of "the youth of today" as the me-first generation, then no. But the York Youth Parliament, which has inspired an engaging debate among its constituents, suggests there are many young people with strong and defined political beliefs.

Updated: 12:11 Wednesday, September 10, 2003