Prisoners to get the vote.

[gaelic cowboy]

But in that sense, how is the right to vote different from the right to not have your liberty restricted by being stuck in a prison?

You could just as easily say that since some people might be locked up unjustly, nobody should be sent to prison for anything, and so we will all know where we stand.

I think restricting peoples liberty is enough really it is bad enough we are doing things like that with out taking the vote too. It can have nasty consequences if it's bluntly used or unevenly applied my guess we would have loads of poor people stopped while toffs would still have there vote.

I basically do not trust people with taking anyones vote off them it is a step too far in my view.

[Rhyfelwyr]

I think restricting peoples liberty is enough really it is bad enough we are doing things like that with out taking the vote too. It can have nasty consequences if it's bluntly used or unevenly applied my guess we would have loads of poor people stopped while toffs would still have there vote.

I basically do not trust people with taking anyones vote off them it is a step too far in my view.

But surely forcing someone to live in a small cell for years is a much bigger step than not letting them take a trip to the ballot box? Obviously there are electoral issues, with the fact that most prisoners are working-class and are likely to vote a certain way, but that does not change the fact that they still effectivley surrender their rights as 'rights' when they break the law. From then on, anything they get is a privilege.

At least we all seemed to be agreed on that I guess. It is just a matter of personal preference with how far you want to in the grea area.

Nowhere near controversial enough for the Backroom.

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

OMG, Nazi's didn't give prisoners the vote!!!

[gaelic cowboy]

A compromise might be that people would show how they were working to regain the rights they lost with the vote being one, we encourage long term prisoners to rehabilitate inside say a lifer might eventually get back the vote after several stages of proven work.