The problem with giving people the vote is that you can’t take it back. We have a general election next year. Are all the teenagers in Scotland going to be told: ‘You’ve had your chance at being grown up, just settle down and be kids again’? I hope not, I really hope not. So, here is a radical idea. Why not give the vote to 16 year olds in the rest of the UK? Why not even go further and extend it to 14? At this age young people are deciding on their GCSE subjects. Why not also give them a say in how the country is run? Who knows, it might shake things up a bit.

I see teenagers doing amazing things. Don’t we all love Martha on the Great British Bake off? At the same age my own son gave his first speech to party conference. I see them making music, doing sports and making a difference in their communities. In a few years time we will be celebrating 100 years of women being given the vote. This has helped to make a huge difference in what it means to be a woman. Maybe it is time to talk about the same sort of emancipation for teenagers.