Unlock call for government to give young people a say in their future

With colleagues across the youth justice sector, Unlock have written to Steve Reed MP, the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, calling for him to scrap Clause 2 of the Representation of the People Bill.

The Representation of the People Bill will extend the right to vote to 16- and 17-year-olds, however Clause 2 of the Bill will block 16- and 17-year-olds serving a sentence in youth detention from voting.

With 610 young people serving a sentence in youth detention, the message this sends to hundreds of vulnerable young people is clear: politics does not care about you.

As well as further marginalising already marginalised communities, removing the right to vote at a young age cuts civic connections and harms rehabilitation at the time it is most needed.

You can read our letter to the Secretary of State in full here.

For joining us in signing this letter we would like to thank Transform Justice, the Howard League for Penal Reform, JENGbA, SHiFT, Why me?, the Black Equity Organisation, the Children’s Society, Barrow Cadbury Trust, the Centre for Mental Health, Dr Danica Darley, and Professor Kathryn Hollingsworth.

You can read more about our Unlock the Vote campaign and our report ‘Why Prisoner Voting Matters’ here.