Brexit. This is quite possibly one of the most commonly used words in British political journalism in the past year.  A word that most of us are probably sick to death of. However, most of the attention regarding Brexit in the news has been centred around politicians and their inability to come to a unanimous decision on how to deal with the hugely significant and historical political decision. An aspect of Brexit that I felt hadn’t been explored enough was the opinion of the youngest generation, especially those who two years ago, weren’t even considered as an important demographic in the referendum. 

Not only did those who have since turned 18 not have a voice, but statistics regarding the referendum show that those who were 18 at the time didn’t necessarily use their voice. According to the BBC when it ultimately came to that fateful day on the 23rd of June when the UK came together to vote on Brexit '90% of over-65s turned out, only about 64% of 18-24 year-olds voted’’ and given the fact that according to YouGov ‘over-65s were more than twice as likely as under-25s to have voted to Leave the European Union,’ it is clear just how influential the youths opinion could’ve been on the decision.

Now that almost two years have since the Brexit referendum and the UK is still unsure what the ultimate outcome will be, I thought it would be interesting to ask Sixth Form students from St George’s College Weybridge how they were feeling about the Brexit and how influential they feel it will be on their lives in the next few years.

One Lower Sixth student Ella found it ‘’incredibly unfair’’ how little influence those 16-18 years old had on the Brexit vote even though the outcome would ultimately impact them so much more compared to those over 80. However, another sixth form politics student, Tom took a more optimistic approach when asked about Brexit saying that ‘’one positive outcome of it, is the increased public participation in politics since the 2016 referendum, especially in protesting and social media influence.’

The general consensus I got from all the sixth formers that I interviewed was that they greatly resented the lack of influence and voice that they were allowed to have in UK politics. Given just how influential age was in the 2017 general election in deciding which parties were the most powerful in government, many students believe their voices should also be consulted in Brexit decision which arguably could affect their ability to study and work abroad as easily.