Young politicians call for all parties to canvass youth views

The BYC has welcomed Labour's decision to consult young people on its Young Britain Manifesto and wants other parties to follow suit.

"We say to all party leaders and candidates - listen to us, listen to young people. Talk to us, not about us," said Mita Desai, BYC chair.

"Our challenge to you is to win back those who are disillusioned with politics with genuine promises to address the issues we face."

Desai has also urged party leaders to consider the BYC's election manifesto when devising their policy pledges. Due to be published in February, the manifesto will be based on issues raised at BYC's annual council meeting in September and will include campaigns chosen by members of the UK Youth Parliament during their annual debate at the House of Commons in November last year.

In addition, Unite is urging young people to use Labour's Shape your Future consultation, which was launched by leader Ed Miliband during a visit to Sheffield Hallam University's Student Union on Friday, as an opportunity to call for greater protection for local authority youth services.

"We want to push the Labour Party to give a statutory underpinning to youth services because we believe that the statutory framework is currently not strong enough," said Colenzo Jarrett-Thorpe, national officer for the union's community and youth workers section.

"Youth services have been massacred because of austerity measures and we don't want to see a repeat of that."

The consultation, which will run for one month closing on 15 February, asks young people to share their views on a range of issues, including mental health, votes at 16 and youth unemployment.

It also asks for ideas for a policy that would lead to improved outcomes for young people.

The aim is to give young people a greater say in their future and make government polices more youth focussed should the Labour Party be elected in May.