Author Archives: Tom Nicholson

Opinion: Prisoner voting rights

Prison fenceThis week, the Supreme Court is considering the legality of the Government’s ban on prisoner voting. A majority of MPs are set against even limited suffrage for prisoners. The idea makes David Cameron “physically sick” and Jack Straw believes “those who break the law cannot make the law.”

Many supporters advance the same perfectly sound arguments, particularly from a human rights perspective. But a strong, pragmatic case for full prison enfranchisement can also be made by assessing this most populist of policies against the aims of sentencing in the criminal …

Posted in Op-eds | Tagged | 9 Comments
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Recent Comments

  • Neil Sandison
    Paul Barker has hit the nail on the head .We are increasingly a party of older people fighting old battles . That there will be a younger electorate at the next...
  • David Allen
    “We have a crisis of democracy which is manifesting itself in increasing support for extremists" Point wrongly put, I think. The rise of Farage, and the t...
  • Peter Hirst
    Concepts around money and wealth vary depending on how much you've got. To some it's about survival, to others a transactional process that empowers and liberat...
  • Nick Hopkinson
    Thank you for writing this Paul. It is important to try to demystify Burnham’s policies. I understand he is going to give a major speech next week....
  • Peter Martin
    "However, real devolution requires more than transferring responsibility. It also requires fiscal devolution I've made the same point previously. W...