Should prisoners get the vote?

MPs have overwhelmingly voted to keep the ban on prisoners voting, in defiance of a ruling by the European Court of Human Rights. The government says it has been advised that unless the UK law is changed it could face compensation claims from prisoners costing well over £100m.

Who should be allowed to vote? Should people lose their right to vote when they commit a crime? Have you ever lost your right to vote? Is voting a privilege or a right?

Comments

1..paul tapner wrote: Everyone says voting never changes anything, so does it really matter? Besides I'd imagine lots of people who moan about it never bother to vote themselves.

2.RedandYellowandGreennotBlue wrote: Serious offenders should not be allowed to vote. . If you commit a crime, ALL rights should be forfeited! Maybe the victims of criminals should challenge the European Court by saying their human rights have been breached.

3.Alex wrote: The problem here is sound-bite-thinking. I have seen comments along the lines "If you go to prison, you forfeit all of your rights." No, you do not. You forfeit your right to liberty - but you do not forfeit your right to life; your right not to be tortured; your right to be reasonably protected by the state; and so on. Imprisonment therefore entails the forfeiture of some of the prisoner's rights, but not others.

4.Sane or not wrote: Initially my reaction was 'why should they, they have done wrong'. Thinking again I'd say 'yes they should'. If you are only locking up a tiny proportion of society, it will have little affect on the outcome and we should have nothing to fear. If you are locking up too many, then you have a problem with what you are locking people up for, you have a civil liberties problem, and those locked up should have the vote.

5.Jason_Overthinker wrote: Under no circumstances should any prisoner be aloud to vote and under no circumstances should they recieve any form of compensation. As far as I'm concerned they lost there rights when they commited a crime worthy of incarceration. I would be extremely pleased if we didn't follow the European courts guidance and followed true democratic values by following the will of the people in the UK.

6. Rajiva wrote: Casting a vote is a fundamental human right in a democracy equal to or more than the right's of all MP's to claim their expenses. Obviously the brains of the coalition are uncomfortable and scared - today its the vote for those in jail, tomorrow no votes for those who are retired, than no votes for people who are un employed - where will these stupid government STOP.

7. frank wrote: Why do people think that everyone in prison is a criminal? There have been, and still are, many miscarriages of justice.

8. hubert huzzah wrote: If Prisoners (regardless of offence)are not permitted to vote they are completely excluded from society. So, what motive would they ever have to reform or change when they come out again. Most posters on Have Your Say cannot vote in Russia and so do not have a direct interest in that society and might well have no interest in improving Russian society at all. That then becomes a harsh treatment of those outside prison when former prisoners leave prison, unreformed and carry on much the same as before.

9. Lord Horror wrote: It would be more sensible to implement the death penalty for every single offence - large or small - for which prison is an option. Which would leave the prisons empty and no need to exclude anybody from democracy.

Section 5. Picture

Герой.

UNIT 11

Section 1. Практикум Линн Виссон

Текст 22

Интервью с Михаилом Швыдким, председателем ВГТРК