LONDON -- There has been a mixed reaction in Britain to the government's announcement it will lower the voting age from 18 to 16 before the next national election.

The Labour Party administration says it's part of a package of changes to strengthen British democracy and help restore trust in politics. The opposition says it's a power grab by the left.

Britain's voting age last fell in 1969, when the U.K. became one of the first major democracies to lower it from 21 to 18. Many other countries, including the United States, followed suit within a few years.

Now the government says it will lower the threshold to 16 by the time the next general election is held, likely in 2029. That will bring the whole country into line with Scotland and Wales, which have semiautonomous governments and alr

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