This Labour government has (quite rightly) plans to give 16- and 17-year-olds the vote. After all, they are going to live with the consequences of our democracy longer than the rest of us.
For my money, there’s a pretty strong argument to hand the vote over to them entirely. If we’d done that for the Brexit referendum, we wouldn’t be here discussing the sorry mess this country finds itself in today.
But in the absence of such a revolution, we must at least welcome the enfranchisement of these young adults – old enough to sign up for the armed forces, but not currently old enough to help decide who runs the country.
So now they are getting the vote, what will they do with it? Peter Hyman and Shuab Gamote set out to find out just that. The answers will surprise you. The levels of maturity and consideration run counter to any stereotype an older generation may have. It gives you great hope.
But it comes with a warning – they are deeply pissed off, too. Pissed off at the way their futures are being limited by a generation, most of whom will be pushing up daisies when they have to deal with the mess.
Also this week – we continue with our theme Read Against Racism with articles by Matthew d’Ancona about American Nazi Nick Fuentes and his gradual admission into the American media mainstream. It’s a truly frightening read.
And James Ball examines Denmark’s immigration system – an attempt to limit the number of “non-Western” people in areas designated at risk of losing their Danish (read “majority white”) character. It’s an overtly ethnic-based policy that is, astonishingly, being closely examined by Labour Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood as a potential vote-winner. Yes. Really.
Eleanor Longman-Rood interviews philosopher Manon Garcia, whose assessment of the ghastly trial of Gisèle Pelicot’s rapists – that the “good guys” rape women, too – is something, I suspect, most women will want to read, and all men definitely should.
Marie Le Conte is in Zohran Mamdani’s New York and reports back from the most energising mayoral contest in recent memory. Has democracy turned a corner in the States? And if so, is there a recipe to follow here?
For culture fans (that’s all of us, right?), there are stunning features on Kraftwerk, Billy Joel, and the new Daniel Day-Lewis movie Anemone.
And don’t skip this week’s Great Life – the uniquely wondrous Doris Lessing is painted in words by John Osborne. As the great Nobel laureate herself noted: “It is our stories that will re-create us, when we are torn and broken.”
Torn, broken or otherwise, I sincerely hope you enjoy the stories in this week’s New World.
