08/01/07 - Votes For Prisoners Proposal

Swindon's Conservative Parliamentary candidates have voiced their strong opposition to any change in the law that would allow serving convicted prisoners the right to vote.  In a letter to the Swindon Advertiser, Justin Tomlinson and Robert Buckland note with concern the current consultation process about this issue, and have urged the Government to reject any measure that extends the right to vote to serving prisoners.
The letter reads as follows:

"Sir,

We note with grave concern that the Government could soon be giving convicted and serving prisoners the chance to vote in local and national elections. The Lord Chancellor has published a consultation paper in the light of a European Court of Human Rights judgement that the UK's blanket ban on voting by prisoners was in breach of the Human Rights Convention.  A sentence of imprisonment is a serious punishment involving loss of liberty. The right to vote is an expression of liberty, so we believe that its use by prisoners would be wholly inappropriate.

We urge the Government to reject any proposal to allow prisoners to vote.

Yours faithfully,

Robert Buckland (Conservative Parliamentary Candidate, South Swindon)

Cllr Justin Tomlinson (Conservative Parliamentary Candidate, North Swindon)