A Jack Straw poll?

I was rather amused watching Question Time this week, and the topic of when should there be a general election came up. Michael Howard and Menzies Campbell both said "bring it on". LOL. Piers Morgan summed it up that neither party was in a position to take on Labour and win. But, it did get me thinking that Gordon Brown could call a snap election if he felt comfortable with poll results. And, this article from the Sunday Telegraph indicates that this could be the case.

My concern is that if a general election is called too early, 80,000 prisoners will be denied their human right to vote simply because the government has so far failed to fulfill its obligation to the Convention and implement the judgment in Hirst v UK, the prisoners votes case. According to the JCHR:

"We acknowledge that many people will question why prisoners should be entitled to vote in elections and that the Government would be taking a generally unpopular course if it were to enfranchise even a small proportion of the prison population. Nevertheless, the current blanket ban on the enfranchisement of prisoners is incompatible with the UK's obligations under the European Convention and must be dealt with.

We consider that the time taken to publish the Government's consultation paper and the time proposed for consultation is disproportionate. While the issues involved give rise to political controversy, they are not legally complex. The continued failure to remove the blanket ban, enfranchising at least part of the prison population, is clearly unlawful. It is also a matter for regret that the Government should seek views on retaining the current blanket ban, thereby raising expectations that this could be achieved, when in fact, this is the one option explicitly ruled out by the European Court.

We recommend that the Government bring forward a solution as soon as possible, preferably in the form of an urgent Remedial Order. We strongly recommend that the Government publish a draft Remedial Order as part of its second stage of consultation. We would be disappointed if a legislative solution were not in force in adequate time to allow the necessary preparations to be made for the next general election".

If Jack Straw the new Minister of Justice does not sort this issue out very quickly, it could cost the tax payers millions of pounds in compensation if prisoners are still unlawfully denied the vote at the next general election.