Not only does 2008 mark the BYC's 60th anniversary but work is due to begin on the government's Youth Citizenship Commission's consultation into whether the voting age should be lowered to 16 - something the BYC has long been campaigning for.
It was announced last week that Professor Jonathan Tonge will chair the commission, which will report to the Prime Minister next spring (CYP Now, 5-11 March). Cathcart says the commission must consult with everyone on the issue, not just young people, to get a broader feel for how it should be approached.
"It's important the work the commission does is in the public arena," says Cathcart. "It must get a public airing and people on both sides of the argument need to be involved, rather than it just being a commission that takes evidence. We have to engage the adult population about what society thinks about giving the vote to 16-year-olds; only through that will we get change."
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