MPs who visit schools or invite young people to Westminster currently do so out of their own goodwill rather than as part of their democratic duty to young citizens. The fact that many see this debate as frivolous shows just how excluded young people are. Many of today's arguments for excluding young people were previously used to keep the vote from women. Less than 100 years ago advocates for women's suffrage were similarly derided. Emily Davison died because she was not allowed to vote - she threw herself in front of the King's horse on Derby day in 1913.
Youth organisations draw strength from the example of the suffragettes.
Steven Allen is one of several young people who recently carried out research on the concerns of London's children. The longer it goes on the more we're ignored. Campaigners regularly point out that only two countries in the world have failed to ratify the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. Yet the voting age has been reduced to 16 in only seven countries. Iran has the lowest voting age of 15 years.