With Labour’s support, this has a much better chance of succeeding than if the SNP alone had pushed for it.

However, more support will be needed, from other parties, if the Tories are to cave in and allow 16-17-year-olds the vote.

The Labour party plans to exploit the government’s relative weakness in the Commons and the Lords to try to ensure 16- and 17-year-olds are allowed to vote in the EU referendum.

David Cameron wants the electorate for the referendum to be essentially the same as for general elections, but Labour and the SNP have said they want 16- and 17-year-olds to be allowed to vote in the poll, which is due before the end of 2017.

A Labour source said that, given teenagers have a “tremendous vested interest in whether or not we stay in the EU or leave”, there could be a strong appetite for amending the EU referendum bill in the Lords, even if Labour and the SNP fail to recruit the relatively small number of Tory rebels they would need to defeat the government in the Commons.

Source: Labour to push for votes for 16-year-olds in EU referendum | Politics | The Guardian