Blair or Jailhouselawyer standing on higher moral ground?
Tony Blair: A political genius who lost us our moral authority
Prisoners’ Voting Rights
Asked the Prime Minister’s reaction to an ECHR ruling today that murderers held in prison should be allowed to vote in elections, the Prime Minister’s Official Spokesman (PMOS) said that we would consider the detail of today’s judgement. However, it had been the view of successive Governments that prisoners convicted of a crime serious enough to warrant imprisonment had lost the moral authority to vote. That remained our position. Asked to explain why prisoners had lost the moral authority to vote, the PMOS said that they had carried out criminal activities which had been judged to be sufficiently serious by a court to warrant imprisonment. That judgment related to how society viewed these matters. Asked if the Government would appeal against the decision, the PMOS said that we would take time to consider the detail of the judgment before announcing what we were going to do.
Briefing took place at 15:45 Wednesday 31st March 2004
A mixture of law, politics, autobiography and humour. Once described as "The Devilish Advocate" (Guardian), I do have the ability to provoke a response. Sometimes it comes from someone who uses a thought process, and sometimes from jerks usually associated with the knee.
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