And no, unlike some people have suggested, this has nothing to do with the Catholic Church.
Da yoof (it won't all be like this, I swear) of today are very much involved in politics. They just might not know it... from Scouts organising campaigns against the rain tax, to marchers on the Wave, to going to Copenhagen to rally for a deal - young people are perhaps more involved than ever. There are big causes to warrant involvement and climate change, for a topical example, perhaps has a certain resonance with the young. We're around on this planet (hopefully) for quite a while, and according to some predictions, if we carry on as we have been doing, it'll be a very different world when we shuffle off this mortal coil. This gets cheerier... I assure you.
In the 6 months leading up to the next election, big issues like these will be debated far and wide, hopefully minus Simon Cowell - you can imagine it can't you? Clegg gets knocked out (impartial hat is slipping, I know, it's only a metaphor) and we get to DEADLOCK with that heart beating music, Dermot has his arms around Gordon and Cameron, both sweating, waiting for Louis Walsh to decide the future of the country...
But really, Strictly Come Debating aside, issues will be firmly on the table. Which party will lead us out of the recovery in a sustainable and sensible way? Which party will ensure that those who can't afford to pay for the recession, don't? (I'm seriously trying to be impartial here, stop laughing at my efforts) Which party will invest in green technology and green jobs? Which party will secure necessary funding to ensure education continues to improve and more young people get the best possible start in life? These questions need answers. Our politicians will probably do their best to put forward the Labour, Conservative and Liberal Democrat solutions to the issues we face. But it probably won't be enough. It wasn't enough to get more than 60% of young people voting at the last General Election. If we follow politics we hear soundbites from all three parties so much that we can probably repeat them verbatim. If we don't follow politics, then many say they can hardly tell the difference - all three parties are "virtually the same". They're not, they're absolutely not, and this is where I finally get to Virgin Voters.
Virgin Voters is a site set up by Kerry McCarthy MP and myself to try and get young people talking to politicians. We want a conversation between people whose first GENERAL election will be in 2010, and the people looking for their votes. PPBs are great (particularly a certain recent one which I happened to quite like), debates on Newsnight are great, if you like that kind of thing... but we have to face the fact that although many of us delight in indulging in a little party political point scoring, it turns a lot of people off. Virgin Voters is trying to open up a forum of debate to people who might not notice the continuous and rather alarming change in Brillo's hair colour on This Week as they may be...shock horror...doing something else on a Thursday night. It's about discussing issues and the political solutions on offer. Kerry and I are, if you didn't already know, somewhat affiliated to the Labour Party, but as she says on her blog, this is very much intended to be cross party, a "conversation" (I know that sounds pretentious, but I can't think of another way of putting it at the moment). Plus, it's not about us...
If you're political - go and fight your corner, if you're not, go and ask whatever questions you'd like answered and if you're an MP or PPC, well stop reading this and go engage dammit!
Virgin Voters is on Facebook and Twitter @virginvoters
