The clown above with the syrup appearing bonce, for all I know might be a nonce. In prison it is short for nonsense case. And the idiot is writing nonsense on the subject of convicted prisoners human right to the vote.
Prisoner votes 'nonsense': Batten
Friday, 17th September 2010
UKIP MEP Gerard Batten has hit out at the Government for "actively considering the best way of implementing" votes for prisoners.
"Under pressure from the Council of Europe Britain is now going to introduce votes for cons," Mr Batten said.
"At no point have the law abiding people of Britain been asked about this, because we know what the answer would be."
"The previous government ignored this for yours(sic) and that is what the Coalition Government should do now. It is an utter nonsense that criminals should retain the right to elect those who make the law. It is an affront and an insult to the law-abiding".
"If you are in prison, if you have broken the law, then your liberties are curtailed. After your sentence is served, then you are again a full member of society," he said "But the loss of those rights is entirely the fault of the criminal. If they want the full freedoms of being a British citizen, including the right of suffrage, then they shouldn't commit the crime."
"Of course there would be no question of criminals getting the vote in Britain if it wasn't for our entanglement in the legal systems of Europe."
It was followed by, get the toilet paper handy, this...
"Your Comments
Posted by David Curtis on 17/09/2010 at 16:47
The octopus wrapping it tentacles around England again!".
The coalition can swat this buzzing sound like a fly. Batten is being very economical with the truths and facts. Because the Committee of Ministers charged with supervising execution of the Hirst v UK (No2) judgment had this to say on the 15th September:
"4. noted, that according to the information provided by the United Kingdom authorities during the meeting, the new government is actively considering the best way of implementing the judgment;
5. regretted, however, that no tangible and concrete information was presented to the Committee on how the United Kingdom now intends to abide by the judgment;
6. called upon the United Kingdom, to prioritise implementation of this judgment without any further delay and to inform the Committee of Ministers on the substantive steps taken in this respect;".
Not only is Batten lying, the coalition has been caught out lying by the Council of Europe. Batten is right about one thing when he said: "Under pressure from the Council of Europe Britain is now going to introduce votes for cons,". Stupidly, he then follows it with a nonsense statement: "At no point have the law abiding people of Britain been asked about this, because we know what the answer would be." Labour conducted 2 dodgy consultation exercises, and the 47% majority supported all convicted prisoners getting the vote; only 4 people (not 4%) supported the government's view of a limited franchise!
Batten goes onto say: "The previous government ignored this for yours(sic) and that is what the Coalition Government should do now. It is an utter nonsense that criminals should retain the right to elect those who make the law. It is an affront and an insult to the law-abiding". It is true that Labour ignored fully complying with Hirst No2 for 5 years. Now it's payback time. Sanctions come into force. The coalition cannot afford to ignore fully complying now because to do so would bring down the coalition government. It is clear from Batten's bluster that he has not even bothered to read the Hirst No2 judgment. Nor does it appear he is even familar with the rules which guide the Court, Council of Europe and Committee of Ministers. Convicted prisoners have won the human right to elect the elected, which means that the elected does not have the right to select the electors. Had Batten bothered to read the judgment, he would have noticed that the government had argued that giving prisoners the vote would offend public opinion. The Court ruled that so basic a human right could not be removed on the ground that it might offend public opinion. The government was trying to hide behind the general public. Now it is exposed. Just like Batten's stupidity with this tirade.
"If you are in prison, if you have broken the law, then your liberties are curtailed. After your sentence is served, then you are again a full member of society," he said "But the loss of those rights is entirely the fault of the criminal. If they want the full freedoms of being a British citizen, including the right of suffrage, then they shouldn't commit the crime." Prisoners lose their liberty not other liberties, and other rights. Prisoners remain part of society, members of the public, even when imprisoned. The loss of the human right to vote is not the fault of the convicted prisoner, but the fault of the legislature (Executive and Judiciary). The Court has emphasised that, save in the case of someone, for example, comitting electoral fraud the crime is not linked to the franchise and the franchise is not linked to criminal conduct but for the very limited exception.
Batten bemoans: "Of course there would be no question of criminals getting the vote in Britain if it wasn't for our entanglement in the legal systems of Europe." The UK went into the sacrifice of some national sovereignity for the common good, which meant abiding by European and international human rights laws. The UK is not an island entirely unto itself. It is part of 47 Member States now. People must get used to it. Embrace the freedom of being European as opposed to being English or British.
No comments:
Post a Comment