Voting by Prisoners

Part of Backbench Business — [20th Allotted Day] – in the House of Commons at 1:09 pm on 10 February 2011.

Alert me about debates like this

Photo of Denis MacShane Denis MacShane Labour, Rotherham 1:09, 10 February 2011

The hon. Gentleman takes me on to my next point. In other EU countries, prisoners can vote according to the sentence. In France, a judge adds a loss of civic rights to sentences for serious crimes, which is a compromise that satisfies the European Court of Human Rights and could easily be introduced here. However, sadly we are turning out backs today on more than a century and a half of prison reform. Retribution seems to be the order of the day for those who commit crimes. My view is that although someone may enter prison as a criminal, we should hope that they leave prison as a future citizen. Allowing people to take part in, think and read about, and ultimately-for non-serious cases-vote in elections would help the osmosis of turning criminals into future citizens.