Keir Starmer is securing himself dose of instant karma courtesy of Reform UK

If Sir Keir Starmer thought giving votes to the kids was one in the eye for Nigel Farage, he may find instant karma is going to get him. Cynical and clever in equal measure, the PM's move - while a manifesto pledge - was clearly brought forward to help neuter the threat from a surging Reform UK.

Yet polling finds the new political party created by former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn and his ally Zarah Sultana would take around 10% of Labour's current vote. In effect, the Labour cult figure's new socialist outfit would likely undo all the gains Sir Keir could derive from giving votes to 16-to-17-year-olds.

Labour would see its vote share shaved by three points on average, while Corbyn's new party would also nab votes from the Greens.

It should be noted that young voters - who bear the brunt of mass immigration, street crime and housing the most - are not uniformly left-wing anyway, with many younger men now backing Reform.

I once wrote only Boris Johnson has the brand and name recognition to rival Farage (hence Tory desperation to countenance a return for the former PM) but, in reality, Corbyn still has star power on the Left.

His comeback then is a nightmare for Labour, especially with backbench rebellion against Sir Keir's welfare cuts, and given Reform parking its tanks on Labour lawns in patriotic working-class communities across the land.

Labour can bellyache all it wants about Farage agitating and the real issue not being immigration but austerity (yeah, cause Labour is really helping on both fronts!), but the Reform leader connects in a way the PM and his party can only dream of.

Chances are Corbyn will land well on the Labour Left but likely split the vote, enabling Reform to come in through the middle. If Labour laughed at their cleverness in extending the vote to teenagers, they might not be laughing so hard now.