Democracy in Britain is facing something of a crisis. The electorate demonstrate at poll after poll that they are increasingly disenchanted or apathetic or both. Turnouts on election day are at depressingly low levels, with fewer than half the eligible voters (and in some cases barely more than a quarter) bothering to exercise their right to choose the people they want to represent them on the Council or at Westminster.

That is a state of affairs which should cause great concern to all who understand that a population which appreciates its responsibilities as well as its rights is vital to the health of any nation. And one of those prime responsibilities in a democracy is to vote.

In that context, the efforts being made in Bradford to encourage young people to involve themselves in Local Democracy Week are to be welcomed. As Councillor Simon Cooke points out, there is a debate under way about whether the voting age should be reduced to 16.

That is as good a reason as any to try to focus the minds of school pupils and students in the district on the whole concept of democracy, a subject which generally is far from the top of the agenda in most teenagers' minds.

By inviting them to put their thoughts on the voting age into words in various ways, including poetry, essays or a rap, and offering prizes of CD/book vouchers, the contest will hopefully bring the debate alive for the generation whose involvement is vital to safeguard the future of democracy in Britain.