The governor in charge of Strangeways during the riots has backed moves to give prisoners the vote.
Brendan O’Friel said controversy was being deliberately stirred up over the ‘non issue’ for political reasons.
Mr O’Friel was in charge of HMP Manchester during the infamous 25 days of unrest in 1990.
He told the M.E.N: “I think it is a totally sensible thing to give prisoners the right to vote and then encourage them to vote.
“Whatever those people have done it is a question of trying to make sure that they are going to make a contribution to the community rather than being a drain on it.
“Anything we can do to encourage them to take responsibility and think positively is a very good thing.”
The government is grappling with the issue after the European Court of Human Rights ruled that denying the vote to prisoners was a violation of their human rights.
David Cameron said the idea made him ‘physically ill’ but ministers insist that refusing to obey the ruling could leave Britain open to fines worth tens of millions of pounds.
Last week the House of Commons voted overwhelmingly to reject any lifting of the ban, which has been in place since 1870.
MPs backed a motion opposing the move by 234 to 22.
Mr O’Friel said ‘an awful lot of hot air’ had been expended by both Labour and Conservative opponents of the move and accused the two major parties of ‘competing on tough rhetoric’.
He added that he thought relatively few prisoners would take up the ballot saying: “ I suspect not a huge number would actually vote.
“The sort of background prisoners come from and the sorts of people that they are mean they probably won’t be hugely interested.”
Mr O’Friel, who retired in 1996 and now lives on his native Isle of Man, said the right to vote would need to be accompanied by civic lessons.
He said: “I hope there will be a real effort to educate prisoners about the responsibility of voting because 10-1 they will know little about the political process”.
He said the prison population faced much bigger problems with mental health and illiteracy and added that in 33 years as a governor no inmate had ever asked him about voting rights.
Tweet
Comments
Login or Register to comment
On the basis that voting is a public duty which requires some effort, no doubt the rabble of human detritis currently banged up for assorted crimery won't bother anyway. Too busy playing on their Playstations and smoking skunk.
remove this idiotic govnernor, these scumbags lost the right to vote as soon as they did a criminal act......
Why not just them the keys to the doors, they have roof over their head 3 meals day, which is more then i get sometimes! When they commit crimes and are putaway, they loose every right to a normal life that law abiding citizens have the right to.
Having a situation where the government gets to decide who can and can't vote is a recipe for corruption and undermines the whole purpose of elections.
Mr O'Freil...."" said the prison population faced much bigger problems with mental health and illiteracy and added that in 33 years as a governor no inmate had ever asked him about voting rights""
I think you have just negated the point you tried to make.
Will it change the outcome of any election? Astronomically unlikely - a fuss about nothing.
"The government is grappling with the issue after the European Court of Human Rights ruled that denying the vote to prisoners was a violation of their human rights."
Since when did voting become a human right? There is no article in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights that explicitly grants all persons the right to vote. Voting is a CIVIL right and always has been.
Human rights are being twisted here by clever lawyers at the ECHR.
"The government is grappling with the issue after the European Court of Human Rights ruled that denying the vote to prisoners was a violation of their human rights."
It really bugs me when people fret over the human rights of prisoners. Wouldn't want to hurt their feelings now would we? I'm sure they took extra care in making sure they respected peoples human rights when they commited their crimes.
It costs about £1000 a week to keep a prisoner locked up why not give them £700 a week cash save the tax payer £300 a week per prisoner. Prisoners would not have to commit crime as they will have £700 a week, prisons would be much emptier thus saving a huge amount of money.
Why shouldn't prisoners have the right to vote? This whole "they gave up their rights by committing crime" nonsense really shows a poor attitude for the fellow man.
Prisoners have been convicted of a crime and sentenced to time in prison; that is their punishment. They have little/no contact with family or friends (save a monthly visit), spend up to 23 hours a day in a small cell with anything up to 3 other prisoners, have the indignity of having to use the toilet in front of someone else, To deny them other rights is simply vindictive.
Not everyone who is inside is a rotten to the core individual. Some have made mistakes, some are there through serious miscarriages of justice. Some are there because they have committed crimes, so will serve the punishment they deserve.
I don't have a liberal handwringing attitude to prisoners, but this "hang em and flog em" rubbish really does show what a barbaric society Britain is turning into.
“The sort of background prisoners come from and the sorts of people that they are mean they probably won’t be hugely interested.”
So why a big hoo-har about giving them the vote?
I don't know why the major parties are so against Prisoners voting. After all, the Government is ultimately responsible for the derisory sentences and fines criminals are given. If I was a Criminal with no care or respect for the strangers who's life I destroyed, I would be grateful to the Government for treating me so well, so would happily vote for the party that wants to treat me even more leniently.
Its us law-abiding citizens that have given up on voting, because we detest the hypocracy and similarities between the Parties.
Most people in prison are poor. The campaign against them voting is a campaign by the right wing press to perpetuate the myth that the poor are poor because they are feckless or choose to be so. Not to excuse crime in any way shape or form but how would YOU turn out if you were born in the gutter and live in a society that gloats in your face that you are a nobody?
Most people have broken the law and they only obey it because they don't want to go to jail, not because they're good!
I agree it's not an human rights issue. It's a civic right.
In my opinion, Human rights are an issue about having food, drink, shelter, right to live in peace and without fear etc. It would be good to teach many criminals about the human rights of their victims, but a lot of them aren't bothered about things like that, and don't want to know.
I also very much doubt if many insiders will be interested in politics or are politically motivated. Bit similar to the Monty Python skit where the man can't have babies but demands the right to have them, so a resolution is passed by his activist movement.
Sorry, I tend to struggle with my lot in life already. I'm not attracted to lying in bed at night worrying about those who have burgled my house, stolen my motorbikes, wrecked my car or vandalised my house, or stuck a loaded shotgun in my face while working in a bank. I could go on, as I've been a hapless victim often enough.
id like to know how many of them voted before going in the clink i say if you do the crime you lose the right to vote as well as all other .normal every day things they would like to have.
Voting? Personally I would rather them breaking rocks,cleaning out canals or getting rid of graffiti! Punishment should be more than incarceration,it should be about teaching them a lesson so severe that they wouldn't want to go back to gaol,ever again!
IF THEY LIVE ABOVE THE LAW, WHY SHOULD THEY BE GIVEN THE POWER TO CHANGE IT?
Many prisoners will be me likely to vote on the inside where it'll be convenient to. If they were free, they'd need to make a concious effort to drag their backsides to a polling station or register for a postal vote.
"Most people have broken the law and they only obey it because they don't want to go to jail, not because they're good!"
Pure unadulterated rubbish!!! Most people obey the law because of an ethical belief of what's right and wrong. The law continually changes to reflect the changes in and views of the majority of society, the zeitgeist.
I suspect many prisoners (not all, mind you) will vote against whichever government is in power, as they will blame them for their continued incarceration.
They volunteered to loose the right to vote when they volunteered to break the law and go to prison.