What is really going on in politics? Get our daily email briefing straight to your inbox Sign up Thank you for subscribing We have more newsletters Show me See our privacy notice Invalid Email

Labour and the Lib Dems join forces to defeat David Cameron and give 16 and 17-year-olds a vote in the EU referendum.

The two parties will team up in the House of Lords to demand voting laws for the coming In/Out poll be changed to give younger adults a vote, as happened in Scotland’s independence referendum last year.

The news is anothe blow to the PM, who has already hit trouble on rules restricting Government campaigning , the date of the vote and the wording of the question.

“We believe that 16 and 17-year-olds deserve to vote,” Labour’s foreign affairs spokeswoman Baroness Morgan of Ely said.

“We all remember the intelligence and enthusiasm with which the youngsters of Scotland engaged in the independence referendum.”

(Image: PA)

It will be the first time Labour and the Lib Dems have used their clout in the upper chamber, where David Cameron does not have a majority.

An amendment to his EU Referendum Bill will formally be tabled in the Lords this morning and the PM will face a crushing defeat unless he gives way.

Mr Cameron is also under mounting pressure from within his own cabinet to give younger adults a vote.

Liberal Democrat spokeswoman Baroness Smith of Newnham said: “This is about the future of the United Kingdom - but if it’s about the future of anybody, it’s about our young people.

“The referendum in Scotland demonstrated 16 and 17-year-olds can be trusted to vote, they can be trusted to engage in political decisions.

“These are questions about their future.”