Introduction and (In)formalities

Evening,

I've recently bought myself the iPod touch to listen to music and all
that .

When the software extension came out to include things such as e-mail and all that the thought of setting up our blog appealed to me.

Anyway, here we are doing just that.

The voice of young people has become diluted, particularly those of us
in the 18-27 age range.

Reason I use those demographics are that we are too old to be told what to think by authority however at the same time we are too young to be taken seriously as architects of our future on this planet.

In the last decade for the first time in history, the youth vote has been taken seriously by the establishment, but it is the wrong young people that the establishment have started to listen to.

It's all fine to listen to Philomena from Islington or Timothy from
Esher, the sort who go to University because their Mum and Dad have got the finances to back that up.

What about those who live on the council estates, those who don't have a choice over what they did after they left school, even if they wanted to get a further education, but cannot because they cannot afford not to get a full-time job.

The most under-represented people on society are those young adults
who live on sink estates, who in some extreme cases can't get work
because of where they live.

Class War is alive and well in New Labour's 21st century labyrinth.

There is a UK youth parliament, for young people up to the age of 18 -
and then what? Do you really expect blue-rinsed ladies and men in
fucking tweed jackets going to vote for an 18 year old goody?

Personally, I wouldn't be bothered as long as they serve the constituency, that is the most important aspect of all.

Is it time that we have an parliament that actually reflects this country, not just in gender, religion and race - but in age.

The legal age to start work is 16, but to vote you have to be over 18. That
would be the start of it, that anomaly has stumped me for years.

From there we should incorporate a form of proportional representation (PR) into the political system, in the same way that the Labour Party has introduced all-women short-lists.

The authorities need to connect with the poorer youth of this country as it is them, and not those in their Ivory Towers at Oxford and Cambridge who hold the destiny of the country.

Rob :)