YP Letters: EU referendum vote should be weighted in favour of young

Should the votes of younger people count for more in the EU referendum?

IS there time for Parliament to enact a quick change to the voting system for the June 23 referendum? I think there are very strong arguments for a scaled system of voting whereby those aged 59 years or more get one vote, those between the ages of 39 and 58 get two votes and the youngest voters (18-38) get three votes.

My reasoning is that the younger generations are going to have to live longer with the consequences of the referendum vote. Hence the voting system ought to be weighted in their favour.

As it stands at the moment, there is a real danger that the grey electorate (a higher proportion of whom tend to vote) will give rise to a referendum outcome that means we leave the EU. This, I predict, will be a disaster.

The younger age groups are basically inclined towards the ‘Remain’ camp, but are less likely to vote. If my suggested weighting of the voting system cannot be enacted, then younger voters need to wake up to the dangers of Brexit and make sure they more than counterbalance the grey vote. That would be in everybody’s long term interest.

From: Jarvis Browning, Main Street, Fadmoor, York.

I THINK it is ridiculous for the Government to spend £9m on EU propaganda – money which could be used to fund the NHS or the troubled steel industry. We should preserve what we have left and make the most out of it, without the EU interfering. Charity starts at home, not the EU.

From: Ian Oglesby, Stamford Bridge, York.

BEFORE delivering reasons to stay in the EU, politicians should declare their interest.

This should apply not only to politicians who have royalty-dependent EU pensions but to MPs with connections to very large businesses.

Large and and multi-national concerns have the legal and administrative capacity to cope with endless EU regulations whereas smaller businesses, the future of the UK, are at a great disadvantage. Brexit will produce the level playing field which is long overdue.

From: Nick Martinek, Briarlyn Road, Huddersfield.

THE Government’s first propaganda effort in favour of staying in the dysfunctional EU (The Yorkshire Post, April 6) is a pamphlet full of cynicism and half-truths. The best reasons they can think of for staying in the EU is that we are not members of parts of it? How does Mr Cameron think that makes sense?