Part of 3. 2. Questions to the Cabinet Secretary for Education – in the Senedd at 3:34 pm on 6 July 2016.
Are floppy disks really out of date, Cabinet Secretary? I must keep up with the times, mustn’t I? You’ll tell me next that phones haven’t got wires, but there we go. [Laughter.]
We’ve had a number of debates in this Chamber over the years, Cabinet Secretary, about lowering the voting age, and part of that debate has often involved the need to try an improved understanding of politics with younger people. And I agree with that objective. That’s not being condescending: when I visit schools in my constituency, young people tell me, ‘We would like to have more knowledge about politics and about the political systems, and even about things as simple as how you vote, where the votes are counted, and how that is taken into account.’ I listened with interest to you, and I agreed with your answers to both Simon Thomas and Julie Morgan. Will you please apply yourself to getting a better education of politics in school, so that young people do feel equipped when they go out and vote, at whatever age that might be in the future?