As a 50-plus father of four I have tried every trick in the book to try and get my three daughters and single son to do things – discipline, blackmail, shame, wild promises, bribery, coercion, playing them off against each other, and even asking nicely on occasion. Now I am writing to ask them, and all other young people, to relieve me and my generation of our largely thankless endeavours in doing things for them and, through our increasingly dysfunctional electoral system, governing their lives through the rules that we have created and shaped. Young people, please rise up and vote! We are not only tired of the task but increasingly incapable of coherent thought and sound judgment. Donald Trump is a living example of our incapacity and we now need you to take up the baton and reform our politics. I don’t care how you vote – Labour, Green, Liberal Democrat or even Conservative – just please do it. Make our world a better place.
Steve Webb
Marlborough, Wiltshire
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