As we celebrate 100 years since women got the vote, some are now suggesting that we ban old people from voting.
Published Feb 15, 2018
A new student campaign group for the "under 55 population" has been launched with the purpose of undoing the result of the EU referendum. Yesterday, the founder of 'Our Future, Our Choice', Femi Oluwole, told Sky News why he believes that Brexit, which was the largest democratic mandate in British history, should be stopped.
Oluwole suggested that the process of leaving the EU would still be ongoing in 2023, by which time he claimed there would be more Remain voters than Leave – suggesting enough older, pro-Brexit voters would have died to swing public opinion the other way, effectively just echoing what Nick Clegg, the former Liberal Democrat leader, said back in September of last year.
Shortly after the interview with Sky News, Oluwole posted on his Twitter: "Brexit voters may still be around, but the Brexit majority will be dead."
Responding Oluwole's comments, Dr Julia Reid MEP, one of UKIP's founding members, had this to say: "Firstly, he makes a huge mistake in assuming that the 'Remain vote' still has the full support of those who voted remain during the June 2016 EU referendum.
"Prior to the referendum the then-chancellor, George Osborne, warned that a vote to leave the year would plunge us into a year-long recession and up to 820,000 jobs would be lost.
"As a consequence of 'Project Fear', many of the remain voters were actually 'Reluctant Remainers', as we call them. I know of one woman, who wanted to vote Leave, however, she ended up voting Remain, because the night before voting-day her brother visited her to say he'd lose his job if the UK voted for Brexit. Funnily enough, the unemployment rate dropped to a 42-year low instead.
"My second point is that Oluwole's argument is not only anti-democratic, it's also rather distasteful, and shows utter disdain for the over 55 population, many of whom are actually the same people who once voted to remain in the EEC during the 1975 referendum. The same people who eventually corrected their mistake when they were given a second opportunity more than 40 years later.
"In effect, what people like Oluwole and Clegg are actually saying, is that older people's votes shouldn't count because some of them may not live long enough to witness their votes come to fruition.
"So what's their suggestion then? Ban all people over the age of 55, approximately 30% of the UK population, a sizeable proportion of whom will have fought, and lived through, WW2, from voting altogether? Hardly democratic".
"So what's their suggestion then? Ban all people over the age of 55, approximately 30% of the UK population, a sizeable proportion of whom will have fought, and lived through, WW2, from voting altogether? Hardly democratic".
"Fortunately democracy doesn't work that way."
