What John Hirst Taught Us About Our Pathetic Leaders
THAT John Hirst is a murdering racist is matter of public record. But can we at least admire his achievement in getting out MPs to face the problem with European laws? The European Court of Human Rights agreed with Hirst that banning prisoners from voting was wrong. The big debate ensues: should all prisoners, whatever their crime, be banned from voting?
It took an odious individual like Hirst to make the politicos debate the rules they agreed to:
He brought a case to the High Court in 2001 challenging the ban on prisoners voting under the Representation of the People Act 1983, but his claim was dismissed by Lord Justice Kennedy.
Hirst pursued the case to the European Court of Human Rights which ruled in 2005 that the ban breached the right to free elections under the European Convention on Human Rights.
European laws or British ones? Can we choose..?
Update:
MPs voted by 234 to 22 in favour of the motion tabled by David Davis and Labour former justice secretary, and Blackburn MP, Jack Straw.
The Government had put forward proposals which would allow around 28,000 inmates serving less than four years to be given the vote…
Yasmin Qureshi, the Bolton MP, voted against the proposal. She wants prisoners to have the right to vote. Why?
“When you lock someone up, you take away their main right, that of freedom.
Nowadays, prison is made up of three parts, punishment, retribution and rehabilitation and I see this as part of the rehabilitation. Most prisoners probably will not even exercise the right to vote.”
Brilliant! Only, isn’t voter apathy what allows the EU to set our laws..?
Posted: 12th, February 2011 | In: Key Posts, Politicians Comments (3) | TrackBack | Permalink
