IT is illegal for under-18s to buy cigarettes or alcohol. Nor can they fight for their country in armed combat, marry or get a tattoo.
The age limit is for their own protection, to save them from actions they might regret when older or never take at all.
Yet if Sir Keir Starmer wins power on July 4, one of his first acts, spelled out in today’s election manifesto, will be to hand 1.5million 16 and 17-year-olds the right to choose who runs the country.
Such naked vote-rigging is designed to win the support of idealistic youngsters and drive the Tories out of power for ever.
If the opinion polls are right, then Starmer is heading for a record 140-plus majority — giving him an elective dictatorship with unprecedented power to change Britain for ever.
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Labour’s loathing for so-called “Tory scum” is visceral and enduring.
Grab for support
As Labour’s wartime hero Aneurin Bevan proclaimed following the party’s 1945 victory: “We want the complete political extinction of the Tory party and 25 years of Labour government.
“We cannot do in five years what requires to be done.”
Nothing has changed in the meantime — except the over-whelming force Starmer may have at his disposal to push the revolution through.
With Conservatives on their knees, Starmer, an avowed socialist, would have the chance to drive a stake through the heart of the most successful political party in the history.
“I find it easy to be ruthless,” says the Labour leader.
Reducing the voting age is indeed a ruth-less grab for support, from impressionable youngsters who are yet to experience the challenges of real life.
There is no way that this rule would change if they were likely to support the Conservatives.
Starmer insists it is an issue of “justice and fairness”.
“If you can work, if you can pay tax, if you can serve in your Armed Forces, then you ought to be able to vote,” he says.
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It would also bring the rest of the UK in line with Scotland and Wales, where under-18s already have the vote.
But the argument flies in the face of public opinion and is seen as an act of blatant cynicism, even by some in Starmer’s own party.
A recent poll shows more than half (52 per cent) oppose votes at 16, with only 38 per cent in favour.
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They are also less likely to work, even in casual jobs.
'Draw the line'
Veteran Labour MP Graham Stringer is strongly opposed to the manifesto pledge.
“We have to draw the line somewhere on the voting age,” he said recently. “Most youngsters at 16 are not mature enough to exercise that right.
“I’m afraid that, were the Labour leader to put this forward, it would smack of party political self-interest on the basis that young people are more likely to vote Labour or Liberal Democrat than Conservative.”
A report by the National Centre for Social Research agrees. “Age has become the biggest divide in British politics, with younger people being more likely to vote Labour,” it says.
Which surely explains why Starmer has made it a manifesto priority.
Labour strategists have already examined other ways to stymie the Tories, including proportional representation voting — a recipe for eternal coalition government.
Starmer himself has toyed with votes for six million EU citizens in the UK.
He then ruled it out but is famous for changing his mind.
Rishi Sunak pounced on this threat at his own manifesto launch on Tuesday.
“Keir Starmer is asking you to hand him a blank cheque,” he said
“If Labour win this time, they’ll change the rules so that they are in power for a very long time.
“If you don’t know what Labour will do, don’t vote for them.”
Starmer’s gerrymandering does not come without risk.
Last week’s EU election earthquake proves young people cannot be counted on as leftie voting fodder.
Complacent Brussels elite
A new generation of right-wing MEPs was swept into office across Europe in an astonishing defeat for the ruling centre-left, socialist and green parties who held power.
In France, President Emmanuel Macron risks being cut adrift by a surge in support for Marine Le Pen’s right-wing party.
In Germany, the governing coalition has been broken in a stunning advance by the right-wing AfD.
And success for the once-fascist Brothers of Italy party has propelled charismatic PM Giorgia Meloni to the role as a major power broker in European politics.
This was a young people’s revolution, driven by voters aged 18 to 30.
It was a stunning slap in the face for the complacent Brussels elite, its open borders policy and its crusade for Net Zero at any cost to ordinary citizens.
Both policies lie at the heart of EU-lover Starmer’s election manifesto.
Sir Keir’s likely landslide will not protect him from the growing tsunami of anger among voters of all ages who are paying the price for mass immigration and the explosion of “green crap” which has impoverished millions.
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