The fact that only seven Labour MPs (plus one teller) managed to struggle through the Noe lobby last night hardly spells a major renewal of Labour’s commitment to civil liberties. It was no more than the number of Lib Dems (out of a rather lower total) allowing them to continue to claim the mantle of the defenders of civil liberties as Clegg did this morning. It is not a popular issue, it is true, reflecting a wider hostility to prisoners’ rights. Those who oppose any voting rights for prisoners always quote the examples of prisoners who attract no public sympathy rather than the large numbers of prisoners with mental health problems and drug dependency, most of whom should not be in prison at all. Continue reading
Tagged with Prisoners’ Rights
Prisoners’ right to vote
There’s something pretty galling about MPs opposing a prisoner’s right to vote when a prisoner who happens to be a Member of Parliament is, it seems, free to carry on being an MP provided they’re not sentenced to more than a year. In that context, a four year sentence doesn’t seem an ungenerous point at which to withdraw the right to vote. However, whilst we don’t endorse their views, we welcome the Jack Straw and David Davis attempt to get an early vote on the matter through the Backbench Business Committee of the House of Commons. These two may be illustrious former ministers, but it is right that backbenchers should be able to force votes on important issues. And, we’ll admit, whilst Jack will have to work harder to damage his reputation, we’ll enjoy the damage it will do to David Davis’s civil liberties halo!
