Folly of youth

At last First Minister Alex Salmond is forced to name the day for the independence referendum and among the SNP’s terms for this once-in-a-lifetime occasion is that 16 and 17-year-olds be allowed to participate and (logically) presumably in any other national elections that follow.

This cynical and hypocritical move is absolutely typical of the depths to which the SNP hierarchy will stoop in order to achieve the result it craves. Ask any typical 16 or 17-year-old their opinions about England and from my experience the response is likely to be that they “hate the English” for absolutely no good reason and the SNP is only too aware of this. Of course the pat answer from the SNP (and, unsurprisingly, the Liberal Democrats too) is that at that age they can legally get married and join the armed forces, so why not be allowed the vote too?

They are, of course, correct, but the vast majority of those who marry at that age do not do so though choice and in any case are not emotionally mature enough to make such unions last. As far as joining the armed forces is concerned, at that age they must get the written permission of their parents and, besides, are not allowed to participate in armed combat.

The unfortunate fact of the matter is that at that age young people are instinctively rebellious and think with their hearts and not their heads and that is precisely why the SNP wants shamelessly to exploit them in the cause of independence.

Brian Allan

Keith Street

Kincardine-on-Forth

Alloa, Clackmannanshire