BBC loses way in Moral Maze on the Prisoners Votes Case

BBC loses way in Moral Maze on the Prisoners Votes Case

More than 70,000 citizens will be denied their chance to vote in the general election this Spring. They're prisoners and the ban has been in place since 1870. In 2005 the European Court of Human Rights ruled that the ban breaches prisoners' right to free elections. Prison reform charities have warned that the government has had enough time to sort this out and if the general election goes ahead and prisoners aren't allowed to vote, it could be challenged in the courts. Have criminals by definition lost their moral authority to vote or could it help with their rehabilitation and keep them in touch with society and their role as citizens? How do we balance the rights of prisoners with our rights to punish them, and who should decide which takes precedence?

People:

* BBC michael buerk
* BBC claire fox
* BBC clifford longley
* BBC kenan malik

Witnesses:

Bobby Cummines
Chief executive of UNLOCK and reformed offender.

Sir Ivan Lawrence QC
Criminal lawyer mainly engaged in defence for 48 years, and Conservative MP for 23 years where he was chairman of the Conservative Party legal and home affairs committee.

David Green
Director of Civitas, institute for the study of civil society.

John Walsh QC
Barrister at Doughty Street Chambers specialising in immigration and prison law. He is also chair of the trustees of Irish Chaplaincy in Britain, which supports Irish prisoners abroad.

If you can stomach it, you can listen to it again on Sat 13 Feb 2010 at 22:15.

Speaking to my friend, a judge, straight after the broadcast, he said: "Doesn't it make you angry?". It was a rhetorical question, because he continued: "Voting is a fucking right, not a privilege!". It was slapping down Sir Ivan Lawrence QC, who is guilty of failing to take into account, when he opened his eloquent gob, the legal maxim 'ignorance of the law is no excuse'. My friend concluded that: "At least it has stoked the fires". I agree.

For that small mercy I am grateful. But, like Oliver Twist asking Mr Bumble "Please, Sir, I want more". For example, when the BBC stitched up Nick Griffin on Question Time, he complained about the bias and demanded more air time which the BBC has said it will give him to compensate for their unacceptable conduct.

I felt sorry for Bobby Cummines, all alone, drifting up shit creek in a dingy without a paddle, having to think on his feet, and at times completely out of his depth. All credit to the man for giving it a go. He was under pressure of a 8 minute time limit (The Prison Reform Trust told me I could only have 2 minutes at their gig in Parliament on the 8th!).

At the centre of the maze is the fountain of all knowledge on the Prisoners Votes Case, available to the BBC upon request, but the BBC choses instead another guide who has expertise in another area altogether and as a result both are lost in the Moral Maze. If a prisoner needs assistance in relation to release, then Bobby Cummines is your man. If a prisoner has a legal problem in relation to his custody, then I am your man. And, if in either case the Prison Reform Trust is approached there is the danger of part of the problem rather than the cure.

I will be returning to this topic in due course. Meanwhile, I will leave this message for the BBC: There are several routes into the Moral Maze, but only one route out from the centre, therefore it is more logical to start from the centre and work your way out than not be sure about the way in!

Listen Again.