Presiding Officer, whenever we debate these matters, there's a clear divide in politics, where parties of the left wish to increase participation and to encourage people to vote, and those conservative parties of the right seek to prevent people from voting, and take part in voter suppression and seek to find ways of placing barriers in terms of enabling people to vote. And let me say this: I want to persuade and to encourage, and even, dare I say, to inspire people to vote and to take part in our democracy. And you do not do that, Presiding Officer, by listing difficulties, listing problems and giving us the counsel of despair time and time again.

I stood for election, not simply to describe the difficulties of the communities I sought to represent, but to find answers to those problems and find solutions to the issues that we face. And that is why, in seeking to make this statement this afternoon, I want to encourage more people to vote. I want 16 and 17-year-olds in this country to feel part of this community and have a stake in the future of their families and their communities. And we will give them the right to vote, and we will ensure that they feel able to exercise that right. We will do that simply through education, but we will also do it by the way in which we campaign as political parties, and by the way in which we govern as politicians and Ministers. And we will inspire people to vote. That's my approach. It's what I want and expect the whole of this Government and others to do.

But let me say this: the whole purpose, the purpose of providing for permissive powers to enable us to look at different options, and to look at different potentials and possibilities, to enable us to make these changes, are to understand the consequences of those changes, and to understand the consequences of what we're seeking to propose. Therefore, we will ensure that all pilots are looked at and considered by the Electoral Commission, completely independently of Government, and before we make any fundamental permanent changes to the electoral system, we will ensure that it is secure, we will ensure it is protected against fraud, and we will ensure that it performs as we expect it to do, and that means increasing participation as well. 

But let me say this: in ensuring that 16 and 17-year-olds are able to vote, we are looking at increasing the franchise and giving them a stake in our society and in our communities. Let me say this: I want to ensure that those people, particularly those people serving relatively short prison sentences, also feel that they have a stake in the society and the community in which they will be living. We need to ensure that, mainly in this case, young men, feel that they have a stake in their community, and we need to put a clear emphasis on rehabilitation, on training, on ensuring that people don't feel that they're being locked out of society, but feel that they've been given opportunities to play a full part in our society. And we will do that by ensuring that people who are serving these short sentences are able to vote in local elections, and feel that they are appreciated and valued in our society, and that we will invest in their futures as well as our futures.