On 23rd June 2016, adults in the United Kingdom voted to leave the European Union (EU) in a referendum. The process of exiting the EU has become known as “Brexit”. Only people aged 18 years old
and above were allowed to vote in the referendum. In all Scottish elections the voting age is now 16; this meant lots of young people who could vote in Scottish elections did not get to vote in the EU referendum. The UK and Scottish Governments did very little to talk with children and young people about Brexit and find out what they thought.

Children in Scotland and Together (Scottish Alliance for Children’s Rights) wanted to make sure that children and young people were heard in this process. We applied for funding from the Scottish Government in June 2018 to set up an independent panel that would make recommendations to the Scottish and UK Governments about what children and young people feel is most important to them as we leave the EU.