Alan,

Nothing illegal in doing that, but to argue that it will have no effect is disingenuous IMHO.

disingenuous adj. having secret motives; dishonest, insincere

I'm guessing it was a careless choice of words and you didn't really intend to accuse anybody of dishonesty. Suggest you opt for "mistaken" in future.

Otherwise have been enjoying the discussion of the suddenly announced election.

On the general Western World malaise, blaming "democracy" is far too easy and too vague. OTOH, it seems a complicated problem, so vagueness is inevitable.

For one thing, like the climate, disaffection seems to ebb and flow. There was a lot of protesting in the 1960s, not so much in the '70s, was back again in the '80s, and relatively quiet from then till now. So maybe it's just time.

I think a big factor might be the rise of China. A lot has changed. Trade, money and power are all shifting and it's no surprise that existing structures are shaken. It will be ironic if the EU disintegrates before the UK reaches escape velocity.

Mark, our democracy is in a mess because the MPs took the public for granted and were happily handing all powers to the EU. They then had play fights over stuff that doesn't matter. Democracy was dying well before Cameron had a bright idea. The current mess is what we'd see with PR, where rainbow governments result. Nothing gets done. MPs promised to respect the result of the 2016 referendum and then did the opposite. Labour did it's usual refusal to say what they would do but it wouldn't be whatever the Tories choose. They've sat on the fence, happy to tut and exclaim but reluctant to take any position and stick to it. The theory is that you can't be blamed for not having a plan... but in reality they just come across as planless ditherers.

We had a plan for when elections can be held but circumstances have demonstrated that it's not that good an idea. To cater to students when there is plenty of time and help for them to sort themselves is silly. They're the smarter end of grownups. Theoretically.

Should 16 year olds vote? No. There has to be a cut off point and 18 is fine. Labour only wants foreigners and kids to be able to vote because they're easier to con. Any adult should be able to vote here if they take citizenship.

Students can register at home or uni but not both. They can change it at any time except just before an election (not sure what the gap is).Our poor system has allowed duplicate registrations and the Tories plan to deal with loopholes, especially proxy and postal voting fraud.

We should have more referendums not less. We didn't get to vote on any of the stuff the EU has imposed over the years, despite promises by Labour and the Lib Dems. We might not be in this position if we'd been able to veto the EU ambitions of Major and Blair.

AK, I'm not actually arguing for any particular position with regard to the student vote.

What I am saying, I think, is that if any good is to come out of the whole mess that has been unleashed by the Brexit referendum, then it must be on the basis of having a serious conversation (perhaps we need a Royal Commission?) about what UK democracy means, and how it should work. Some issues readily observable and thrown up by it so far:

Voting age;

Who gets to vote (foreign residents? Expats?).

Should we resort to referendums ever, and if so, what for? Should we have a minimum vote requirement for referendums if they are only held on serious constitutional issues (eg a minimum proportion of the voters turning out/ the need for - say a 2/3 majority to change anything)?

FPTP -v- PR for general elections?

Should we have a specific timetable for elections and agreement about when elections must not be held?

Can students register to vote in 2 places or only one? Should they be allowed to choose where they vote?

There's lots more, but those jumped out at me without thinking too hard about it.

I really do want a serious debate all this. Our democracy is a mess, and is failing. It also gives people dissatisfied with the result of a vote too easy an opportunity to shout "it's not fair".

"Commission gives up on EU budget deal in 2019
“There’s going to be progress up to December, but no agreement,” Commissioner Oettinger says."

https://www.politico.eu/article/commission-gives-up-on-eu-budget-deal-in-2019/

"Budget Commissioner Günther Oettinger acknowledged Wednesday that leaders will not reach a deal on the 2021-2027 EU budget this year.

“I think there’s going to be progress up to December, but no agreement in December,” the commissioner told reporters.

...However, in a combative press conference, Oettinger challenged the narrative that EU budget costs for countries will rise significantly after 2020. EU countries remain hugely split on the budget proposal and Germany in particular has been vocal as part of a “frugal five” grouping concerned about limiting spending in Brussels.

Oettinger said suggestions that Germany’s budget bill would double to €33 billion are “completely wrong” and are “lies” not in line with the numbers discussed by the Commission with Berlin. Over the weekend, the Financial Times reported German government estimates that “show Germany would be hit with a sharp rise in its net EU budget contributions, from €15bn in 2020 to upwards of €33bn in 2027. ”..."

[It seems to me that the delay is likely to be because they're waiting to see if the UK revokes article 50, and they need to know whether or not they'll have lots of UK money to play with. It looks as though Germany isn't too keen to fill the gap that will be left if the UK ever manages to leave].

Meanwhile:

"Nord Stream 2 clears final hurdle — but delays loom
Gazprom-led project finally receives green light from Denmark, but completing the project may take a while."

https://www.politico.eu/article/nord-stream-2-clears-final-hurdle-but-delays-loom/

Mark look at your question from its reverse. If elections are mostly held at times when students are present within constituencies containing universities, why should students be forced to vote in their home constituencies? If they don't travel, they are disenfranchised. A possible resolution to this problem would be to allow and encourage postal voting, but as we know this encourages other problems of potential greater severity.

AK, if you're going to argue stuff, you need to have read the answers to your questions. I repeat, the different dates in December have nothing to do with the issue. It's this end of the electoral period that matters. And since Parliament agreed, I don't know what you're moaning about. If students pull their finger out they can vote wherever they want by getting a postal vote. If they can't or won't sort it and then moan, they don't deserve a degree, never mind a vote.

Alan, that's a better response, if I may say so, but it still presupposes that you're correct that most of the students will have gone home by the date of the election, and I still need to be convinced that such a view is accurate.

It also opens up an interesting question, on which I have no decided view, but which is again a question going to the heart of how our democracy operates. Where SHOULD students vote? Is it right that they can choose to vote in their home town/city or in the town/city where their university is based, i.e. is it right that they should have twice the opportunity to choose where their vote can be most effective than is true for everybody else? Is it right that towns and cities which have universities should have an MP of a particular political persuasion elected largely on student votes (i.e. the votes of a temporary and transient population), when an MP of a different political persuasion might have been elected by the permanent inhabitants of that town/city in the absence of student votes? The old town -v- gown issue, in other words.

I don't know the answer to that question.

Interestingly, your point holds up a bit better when compared to the dates of most elections since 1945. Of those, I think only 1992 (9th April); 1966 (31st March) and 1945 (5th July) would have been held in what were probably university holidays. Is there a convention about this, or did that happen by chance? Has the student vote issue become more important only since Tony Blair encouraged 50% of young adults to go to university?