The prisoner voting debate is coming to a head, and Dave has turned once too often. The
Times has received (£) what it describes as a government legal memo, urging the government to defy the demands of
the European Court of Human Rights. After last week’s parliamentary debate, the government’s lawyers calculate that the ECHR can only put ‘political pressure rather than judicial
pressure’ on British institutions.
This is a seminal moment: political will has not been met by administrative won’t. But would non-compliance succeed? Last month, Austria’s attempt to withdraw the franchise from all prisoners serving more than a year was thrown out by the ECHR; but one suspects that Cameron will chance his arm in this great game because the prize is worth winning: ‘The PM who brought rights home’ is a mantra that will aid his re-election.
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