This chart shows that Britons 50 to 64 have, on average, about 30 years to live with the decision. Britons over 65 have, on average, just 15. Why should a country listen to these foot-in-the-grave oldsters?

“Not long to live” was a theme in all such pieces. YouGov tweeted a similar poll, re voters’ actuarial tables. The GQ piece says, “On the reasonable assumption that leaving the EU would take Britain a minimum of ten years, those of retirement age have little or no stake in the country’s next era.”

Let us follow this logic to its natural conclusion. People with a terminal illness, or a chronic condition that will, on average, shorten their lives, should be unable to vote. Their stake in the future is smaller than that of people who are healthy. Likewise the obese, whose lives are, on average, shorter than those of the physically fit. The average rich person lives substantially longer than the average poor person — therefore, say leftists, poor people should be unable to vote. White people live, on average, longer than black people. Presumably progressives think that black people shouldn’t be able to vote either.

Who knew that, to the modern liberal, the ideal voter is a rich, physically fit Caucasian?

Conversely, the Left might consider that young voters are likely to see many future elections and referenda. The elderly likely won’t. Surely you take a vote more seriously when its outcome will affect 100 percent of your remaining life rather than — say — a fifth of it.