April 13, 2004

And the Children Shall Lead

Following up on yesterday's topic, it has now been revealed that the Electoral Commission wants to lower the age limits for Members of Parliament to 18 or lower. Campaigners want it to be lowered to 16 like the voting age.

This brings to mind the words of judgment in Isaiah 3:4, "I will give children to be their princes, and babes shall rule over them." Since we are already ruled over by Blair Babes, fifth-formers are the next logical step. I'm not sure how this will fit in with their Year 11 studies and preparation for their GCSEs. It would be a shame for 16-year-olds to leave school with no qualifications because they were too busy at Westminster and holding surgeries in their constituencies.

It would ease the burden on their parents of supplying pocket money. As noted in The Times:

There cannot be too many 16-year-olds who earn the equivalent of a backbench MP’s £57,485 salary, not to mention an £18,799 allowance for incidental costs and up to a £20,333 allowance for additional costs for those with constituencies outside London. MPs can also claim mileage or bicycle allowance when travelling on parliamentary duty. They are also entitled to a staff allowance of £64,000 to £74,000 and London-based MPs receive a London supplement of £1,574.

They'll need a lot of pockets for all that cash.

Posted by david at April 13, 2004 02:17 PM | TrackBack
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