---

Government of Wales Bill

My Lords, the noble Lord, Lord Roberts of Llandudno, is quite right that this issue has been much discussed in recent weeks, particularly in the context of the Electoral Administration Bill. It has also featured in our earlier discussion on the first day in Committee. My noble friend Lord Norton of Louth said that:"““Any amendment to do with the voting age should be in national legislation, not specific to a particular part of the United Kingdom””.—[Official Report, 19/04/06; col. 1109.]" He made a number of other points which I shall not repeat, but he is right that if we change the voting age, it should be UK-wide. I have also noted the result of the wide-ranging survey conducted by the Electoral Commission and ICM and its result, namely that 64 per cent of the public thought 18 was the right voting age and only 18 per cent favoured a reduction to 16. Their results represented a solid affirmation of the status quo. Yes, of course we want to increase the interest shown by 16 to 18 year-olds in politics generally, but that should come in advance of consideration of lowering the voting age.