Downing Street Says » Prisoner Voting

» Tuesday, January 18, 2011

Prisoner Voting

Asked about the forthcoming Commons vote on the issue, the PMS said that a debate would be welcomed and that the Government would listen to what Parliament had to say. He added that the Prime Minister had made clear his position: that he would like to keep to an absolute minimum the number of prisoners who got the vote. He said that he thought there could be about 2,500 cases to consider, and that compensation claims could arise from them. He said it was a matter of legal advice as to what the correct threshold should be, but that the policy was clear.

Asked whether the benchmark had been chosen, the PMS said it was a legal question, and that lawyers had been consulted. He added that this was an issue where case law would develop and so there was no fixed point.

Asked whether legal advice would be published, the PMS said it was not usual practice to do so.

Asked why the debate would be welcomed, the PMS said that the debate had come via the Backbench Committee, which this Government had set up because it was interested to hear the views of backbenchers.

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