Votes for convicts?

The European Union wanting prisoners to have the vote has been circling around for a while, but it seems as though our representatives in the federal discussions decided to bend over and drop their trousers last night.

THOUSANDS of rapists, killers and ?paedophiles will get the right to vote after ministers caved in to pressure from Europe, it emerged last night.

Justice Minister Michael Wills said the ?Government would change the law to allow most prisoners to have their say at elections.

The plans could see as many as 28,800 criminals serving less than four years being treated the same as law-abiding members of the public. Offenders getting the vote could include those guilty of manslaughter and terrorist offences.

This is an absolute disgrace. Could I just raise a point with our delightful government and highlight that going to prison is not just about removing crazy people from the way of law abiding citizens, it is also supposed to be a punishment.

In a democracy there are rights and responsibilities. If you aren't responsible, e.g by breaking the law, then you lose some of your rights. Rights are part of a balance which makes society work. If you want to ensure that you have the right to vote, how about you ensure that you don't break the bloody law?

Breaking into someones house, for example, is a bad thing and quite clearly the wrong thing to do. You have no right to be there, to take things someone else owns, to frighten them, to ruin their property and invade their privacy. You should therefore be punished and locking you up and not letting you vote is fair enough in most people's opinions.

But this proposal is also deeply insulting to women. Now, I know the EU don't particularly like women and they certainly have no respect for them. The patronising attitude emanating from the buildings in Brussels, Luxembourg and Strasbourg shows they think that women aren't capable of looking after themselves and need men to help them. They also like to pass damaging legislation to stop them getting employed, such as granting them the potential to bankrupt a small business.

But knowing the fight women went through to get the vote in many countries, to then grant that right to people who break the law is an insult to the memory of those women who won that right. The Suffragettes and also those women who took on the jobs made vacant by men going to fight in the First World War.

So women, let's not have these guys desecrate the memory of those who worked so hard to allow us to participate in democracy. Let's exercise the right we now have and vote against those morons who want us to be run from Brussels and think that law breakers shouldn't be punished.

It's on June 4th and it's easy to do.