SIR – At last the Coalition Government has promised not only to reduce the number of MPs, but also to replace the House of Lords with a properly-elected body, although the exact timetable for this is unknown so far, with no mention of a proper written constitution at all.
However, seeing the disgraceful scenes in London and elsewhere, supposedly in connection with university tuition fees although looking more like anarchy, the most-needed reform of all ought to be to raise the age of majority, ie the right to vote in elections, to 21 again.
Labour’s obsession with youth and inexperience continues as they called more recently for votes at age 16 at the same time as raising the school-leaving age to 18, further epitomised by their latest choice of leader.
No-one wants politics to be restricted to the elderly, but whether it’s that or the ability to borrow money or get married of your own volition, there is nothing wrong with realistic limits on age or experience as in the USA, where citizens have to be considerably older than even 21 to stand for Congress.
D S Boyes, Rodley Lane, Leeds
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