I hear what my hon. Friend suggests, but we could equally look at it as aligning adulthood with the age of marriage and, indeed, military service. People can join the military at 16, but they will not be on the front line until they are 18.
11.45 am
Some young people say that they are not informed enough to vote, but if we were to agree to amendment 44, even if the referendum never went ahead, we would see a shift in thinking among people in our schools and the education system. It would provide an imperative further to improve general studies or civics lessons to make sure that people were well informed about what was going on in the world around them. We should not use young people’s fear of not being sufficiently informed as an excuse not to think about going down this road.
A precedent has been set with the Scottish referendum. It seems to me that it is unfair to say that a Scottish teenager can vote on the important issue of the future of their country within the UK—and, indeed, within Europe—but that an English, Welsh or Northern Irish teenager cannot have a vote on a similar issue.