An unwise agreement - Telegraph The 2014 referendum on Scottish independence is likely to involve voters under the age of 18 for the first time in a UK election. Agreement to extend the franchise has reportedly been reached during negotiations between Westminster and Edinburgh, and will be announced formally next week by David Cameron and Alex Salmond. This has given encouragement to campaigners seeking to lower the age of majority from 18 to 16; but the merits of doing so are questionable. The argument that it is possible to marry at 16 is hardly relevant, since parental consent is required. Moreover, if it is allowable to vote at 16, then why not to drive, or to drink in pubs? It is only recently that Parliament prohibited 16-year-olds from buying tobacco, a law supported by the very people who now want to extend the franchise. If you can vote, why can't you smoke? Since constitutional matters are reserved to Westminster, Parliament must transfer power to Edinburgh for the referendum to be held, at which point the Scots will determine the franchise. It is maintained, therefore, that this will be a one-off reform, albeit one motivated less by ethical considerations than by the SNP's partisan hopes that younger people will support the break-up of the Union. But once the principle is conceded, it will be impossible to argue with any credibility that the age barrier should not also be lowered for future contests, whether local or national - or, indeed, for a referendum on EU membership. It will also bring party politics into the classroom. This is a matter of considerable constitutional importance that should be more widely debated and the outcome decided by Parliament, not as the result of what Lord Forsyth, the former Scottish secretary, rightly called a hole-in-the-corner deal.