'I'm infuriated that young people don't get a say at elections. The minimum voting age is unfair'

This week Big Issue readers have been discussing the voting age, Bluey and new BBC drama The Cage and are divided by the new Renters’ Rights Act.

Sign here

Hello! I am 14, and so I am unable to vote in an election. I find this to be unfair, as it suggests that children’s views are less important than those of adults. This is why I started a petition to remove the minimum voting age in the UK.

I felt infuriated that, despite the decisions being made affecting our future, we don’t get a say. I firmly believe everybody should have the right to vote, no matter their age. I know it may seem unrealistic that we should let everybody vote, but it is a human right that everybody should be represented in their government.

You can sign my petition here. I hope that you can take the time to sign my petition, so we can make a change.

Ernie

Dicey business

I love terrible casino scenes in stuff and The Cage is stuffed to the gills with them. The plot’s entirely dependent on a casino working in ways that casinos very definitely do not.

@triplezero.bsky.social

Feeling Bluey

Bluey is high-quality entertainment for all ages. Sometimes subtle, sometimes not. Love watching it with the grandkids. So much better than a lot of the pap they are served. Sadly they will grow out of it. One already has. But just like The Magic Roundabout for me, they will come back to it later.

@pensierimalig.bsky.social

Read more:

• Are 16-year-olds ready to vote? We asked teenagers what they think
• Local elections: You can still vote if you’ve lost your ID. Here’s how
• How TV presenter and motorbike racer Guy Martin ignited the debate on whether Brits should vote

Force of nature

Sir David Attenborough’s career is not just the story of one broadcaster. It is the story of how many of us learned to look at the natural world. His programmes were an invitation into nature. A bird was not just colour and song. A reef was not just a beautiful place. A forest was not scenery. It was a living system, full of relationships most of us had never been taught to notice. That is what made Attenborough different. He didn’t need to shout. He knew when to lower his voice and let the animal carry the drama.

The famous mountain gorilla encounter in Life on Earth still works for that reason. He does almost nothing. He stays still. He does not try to own the moment. He lets the encounter happen and lets the viewer understand its weight.

But his career also records a harder truth. The natural world he introduced was being altered even as it was being filmed. Extinction, habitat loss, climate change, plastic pollution and the bleaching of coral reefs.

That’s why his centenary matters. His work helped move nature from spectacle to responsibility. David Attenborough showed that wonder is not an escape from responsibility. It may be where responsibility begins. At 100, the best tribute is not to look back at great programmes. It is to ask whether we have learned the lesson they were quietly teaching.

Nik McEwan

Responses to: passing the Renters’ Rights Act

The trouble is that all landlords seem to be tarred with the same brush. There are thousands of kind, decent landlords out there who will now sell up.

@jenzojenzo1, X

This will squeeze the rental market, even more than now. Who’d be a landlord nowadays?

@japers_1984, X

Labour have actually started to do something to help people and yet those same people complain about it. When did we start feeling sorry for the well off over the worst off?

Anne Wall, Facebook

We were effectively evicted for complaining about mould. It was sending our son to hospital with breathing problems. People shouldn’t feel afraid to get issues fixed. I don’t know why someone wouldn’t want to look after their property, even if it’s just to take care of their asset.

Jay Henderson, Facebook

No landlord I know has a problem with no-fault evictions going. It’s the lack of fixed-term contracts that are going to be the problem. It should have been left for landlords and tenants to agree.

Simon Slade, Facebook

Councils should be given money to buy properties (especially from the landlords that want to sell).

Tara Bullas, Facebook

So pleased with this change – at last!

Eileen Jackson, Facebook

Do you have a story to tell or opinions to share about this? Get in touch and tell us more. 

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