Votes for Prisoners: Two can play at Strasbourg’s game
Posted on May 5, 2012So the European Court of Human Rights has once more trampled over our sovereign right to set our own laws – this time ruling to outlaw the extremely popular ban on convicts being able to vote.
Technically, the ECHR has not said that we must allow all criminals to vote, though there are certainly some who think that they should. What the Court ruled is that a blanket ban is supposedly illegal.
Plenty of people would be delighted if the British Government simply ignored the ruling, and refused to pay any fines it might levy as a result. However, if the Government is really keen to ensure we obey the rule of law – even absurd Strasbourg law – then there is another solution.
Why not do as the ECHR asks, and abolish our blanket ban by allowing some prisoners to vote – but only those convicted of one very specific and very obscure crime which is unlikely to be committed and even more unlikely to be prosecuted?
A good example would be the offence of “Impersonating a Chelsea Pensioner” – a historic crime for which no-one is currently in jail. We would technically be ticking the box for Strasbourg, while in reality thumbing our nose at them.
If they can act ridiculously to thwart our intentions, then surely we can do the same in return.
Tags: Chelsea Pensioners, Coalition, Conservatives, Crime, Criminals, David Cameron, Democracy, ECHR, EU, Euro, Eurosceptics, Freedom, opinion, Parliament, Politics, Sovereignty, Strasbourg, UK, Votes for prisoners
Categories: Opinion, Politics, Westminster
Or we could leave…?
24.05.2012 15:18
Or allow prisoners the right to vote, whilst ensuring that it has to be in person at the pilling booth. and make sure that they are not allowed out on polling day.
24.05.2012 16:24