Votes for prisoners - Tell them where to poke it.

The government want to give prisoners (serving sentences of four year or less) the right to vote. They say that they are obliged to do so following a ruling by European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg (2004). Decent law abiding people know the difference between right and wrong, I considering myself to be law abiding and I know that this is just plain wrong. It's something I feel in my gut. The only people who should have a say in how this country is run are those who make an honest contribution to it. I also think that due to ridiculous re-offending rate in this country, that there should be a two year ban on voting after leaving prison.

Shadow justice secretary Dominic Grieve said:

"The principle that those who are in custody after conviction should not have the opportunity to vote is a perfectly rational one. "Civic rights go with civic responsibility, but these rights have been flagrantly violated by those who have committed imprisonable offences. "The government must allow a parliamentary debate which gives MPs the opportunity to insist on retaining our existing practise that convicted prisoners can't vote."

If this goes through then 45% of the prison population will have the right to vote. I wonder how many will vote Labour? I would like to think that if the Conservatives win the next election, they will tell the European Court of Human Rights where to poke their prisoner voting rights. This is an issue that should be put to the people.