Entertainment

Pop star sparks outrage as she says over-75s should be banned from voting

Jan 17, 2019

The pop star claims people over a certain age shouldn't have the right to vote.

A British pop star has sparked outrage after claiming over-75s should be stripped of their right to vote during a controversial TV appearance.

Singer Jamelia appeared on UK talk show Jeremy Vine to discuss voting amid the ongoing row over Brexit. She argued on air that older people won’t live through the consequences of their votes so shouldn’t have the right to place them in the first place.

Things got heated when the 38-year-old musician launched into the debate over the phone with a pensioner named Pat, who claimed there had never been a cut-off before so there shouldn’t be now.

Asked to explain her reasoning on the show, Jamelia said: “I think that you’re completely capable of being of sound mind, I think that you are capable of making a vote, I just don’t think it’s fair that you have a vote when you’re not going to experience the consequences of that vote.”

She then added: “And you’ve had 50-60 years of voting.”

A pensioner is told by @Jamelia why there should be a cut-off age for voting — it would stop people above 75 voting because they will not live through the consequences of their decisionspic.twitter.com/AR46IOds3i

— Jeremy Vine (@theJeremyVine) January 15, 2019

Clearly angry, Pat responded to her: “That means that people younger than me over the years also didn’t have the right to vote. So because older people years ago have made the decision to do this or do that, then I haven’t suffered from it or benefited from it… So why can I not work with my own conscience vote for what I believe in?”

The discussion went on to spark debate as the panelists argued over whether 16 to 17 year olds should be allowed to vote, but it was Jamelia’s initial comments which really sparked anger online.

One person commented on the video on Twitter: “Revolting notion. Older people have EARNED everything they have. This woman is the epitome of selfishness,” while another added: “Never heard of her. However I’ve taken the Queen’s shilling, worked for over 40 years, paid over half a million in tax. I’ll vote until the day I die.”

Meanwhile one more commented: “As a 60 year old woman, Jamelia’s views make my heart hurt. I’ve lived through the worst years of sexism especially in the workplace. To now find myself in a world where my views are marginalised because of my age is heartbreaking.”

However, a few people agreed with her notion and one wrote: “There is an interesting point about how elderly conservative voters continually vote to slash funding for schools etc yet pensioners are always unaffected. it seems they often vote to screw over others. yet its them who use more £ in services and NHS etc.”

And one simply posed the question: “I’ll stop voting if I don’t have to pay any tax. Deal?”

Elsewhere in the discussion, singer Jamelia – who previously appeared on UK talk show Loose Women as well as Jeremy Vine – argued that over-75s should have been banned from joining the vote on Brexit altogether.