With very few exceptions, in any democracy the electoral roll must be open to everyone above the age determined by law (I'd make it 16 myself, but hey). If you are obliged to be in the income tax system, to pay council tax, or even to be called up to fight, you must be allowed the vote. In apartheid Rhodesia and South Africa all manner of "qualification barriers" were put in place in order to make sure that only the "right" people got to vote (in other words, mostly not blacks).

Right-wingers such as yourself have always opposed political education in schools for fear of leftie teachers indoctrinating the poor little dears. Taking that stance then suggesting a minimum qualification is, er, incongruous, to put it kindly. Maybe we should have GCSE = one vote, 'A' Level = two votes, degree = three votes, PhD = four votes, Eton = ten votes... We all know that you Tories recognise that the least privileged and the most disadvantaged people In society (the ones least likely to pass your GCSE) are the ones who traditionally turn into Labour voters. So nice try but no cigar.

If we want a politically-literate electorate we need proper political education, not some namby-pamby version wrapped up as "civics" or similar. Failing to be robust about this is a denial of basic democratic rights. Of course, a knowledgeable electorate would produce perceived drawbacks for a certain right-wing mindset...,