THE voting age should not be lowered to 16, UKIP has said.

North West MEP and deputy leader of UKIP Paul Nuttall said 16-year-old do not have ‘enough life experiences#’ to make a sound decision about who to vote for.

This month Bolton Council voted to support lowering the voting age from 18 to 16, but UKIP councillor Paul Richardson voted against the motion with members of the Conservative group.

Mr Nuttall said: "I personally believe that all secondary school children should be taught about our political system in an unbiased way as currently so many leave school without any idea of how it works and what the different parties stand for.

"There is no doubt that young people should be encouraged to vote, after all today's changes affect their tomorrows, but instead of lowering the age limit they should be properly educated about the relevance of politics to their lives."