Justine Greening warns Tories must listen to young people on Brexit

John Ashmore

Former minister Justine Greening has warned Theresa May she must heed the concerns of younger people as she negotiates Brexit.



In her first major intervention since leaving the Cabinet in the the recent reshuffle, the Putney MP also suggests her party should look at votes for 16 and 17-year-olds.

Ms Greening left her role as education secretary after Theresa May offered her a move to the Department of Work and Pensions.

In an interview with the Sunday Times, she said the Government needed to take account of young people's views on Brexit.

“You can’t do Brexit to young people, you’ve got to do it with young people," she said.

"That’s not a policy suggestion, it’s a simple fact.”

VOTES FOR TEENAGERS

Standing in at Prime Minister's Questions earlier this week Cabinet Office minister David Lidington rejected arguments from Labour's Emily Thornberry that the voting age should be lowered.

But Ms Greening indicated she took a different view, telling the paper: “I don’t think it’s an argument that should be dismissed at all.

“I got to vote one or two days after I was 18 in 1987. Was I too immature to have voted three days before when I was 17? Probably not.”

GRAMMAR TIME?

Elsewhere in the interview, Ms Greening suggested she was against expanding selection in the state sector - a position which puts her at odds with the Prime Minister

“For a lot of people growing up in areas without grammar schools, it was not a debate that was relevant. They don’t want grammars brought back.”