Tag Archives: prisoner voting

Tom Nicholson

Opinion: Prisoner voting rights

By Tom Nicholson | Tue 11th June 2013 - 8:55 am

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 …

Continue reading »
Posted in Op-eds | 9 Comments
Richard Wingfield

Opinion: Prisoner voting and the rule of law

By Richard Wingfield | Tue 20th November 2012 - 11:25 am

Liberal Democrats have always been proud defenders of the rule of law. As our manifesto stated in 2010, the values of ‘fairness and the rule of law’ lie at the heart of our foreign policy. However, just as we call on other states such as Burma, Belarus and Zimbabwe to respect the rule of law, so we must be ever vigilant that there is no weakening of this fundamental principle at home. The Liberal Democrat policy on the Justice and Security Bill at conference in September was a powerful reminder to the leadership on how seriously we, as a party, take this issue.

Continue reading »
Posted in Op-eds | Also tagged | 14 Comments
Advert

Recent Comments

  • paul barker
    A note on Reform, we have just seen the 2nd Poll showing Reform losing their lead. You might think that would attract some notice by Journalists or The Commenta...
  • Peter Chambers
    > Clearly the aircraft carriers were a pork barrel for Gordon Brown’s constituency. Doubtful. More to do with the US "pivot to Asia". The UK does not have...
  • Mark ValladaresMark Valladares
    @ Matt (Bristol), You use the word “vanguardism” as though politicians don’t have an obligation to lead, rather than merely following the loudest voice...
  • Mark Smulian
    I first worked with Michael on his three pamphlets published in the mid-1980s by Liberator and mentioned above by Geoffrey Payne. He was, obviously, an effectv...
  • Geoff Reid
    As well as being at the heart of the best Assembly/Conference coffee room conversations, Michael was for me the best compass we had over half a century. His lea...