Prisoner voting is back on the agenda. The European Court of Human Rights has rejected
the British government’s appeal and declared that the coalition has six months to draw up proposals to change the law.
David Cameron now has to decide whether to ignore the Strasbourg Court or go against the will of his MPs, who voted overwhelmingly to
oppose giving prisoners the vote in response to the court’s initial decision. In many ways, ignoring the court is the safer option. Tory MPs aren’t inclined to back down on this issue
and if Cameron tried to make them he would create a lot of ill-will and take an awful kicking from the press. On top of this, there’s no enforcement mechanism for the European Court of Human
Rights, and the Master of the Rolls, Lord Neuberger, confirmed last week that the government was under no domestic legal obligation to implement its judgements.
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