The row over prisoners’ votes shows how there is no longer room for classic do-gooding, bleeding heart liberalism in contemporary politics. It is sad that there is no-one left on the left to say the right isn’t right as we are told to bow to atavistic tabloid hate against prisoners.

What are the facts? Different democracies in Europe have different approaches to those in prison being allowed to vote. Only in Britain do we insist that all those in prison no matter the nature of the offence or the length of sentence lose their rights as citizens. Remand prisoners are not struck off electoral registers but no help is given to them to vote. The European Court of Human Rights has worried at this bone for years just as it did over beating children at school, domestic violence or the right of British-Cypriots not to be dispossessed of their homes in northern Cyprus.

The European Convention on Human Rights was written 60 years ago by
British jurists. It does not mention prisoners’ voting. Nor does it mention gay rights, domestic violence, or capital punishment. It is the European Court which over the years has handed down rulings. Like the US Supreme Court it interprets old language. But we are all the better for expanding liberal democratic values across Europe. Right now the ECHR is bogged down with 100,000 plus cases from Russia. But is it not a good thing that Russian citizens can now appeal against the neo-authoritarian concept of politically dictated justice in Russia?

The court is a curate’s egg of senior conservative judges, some of dubious quality. But is every UK judge perfect? It is about as leftwing as the Athenaeum. Prisoners have had the right to vote in non-EU Switzerland for 40 years. Australia and other countries allow some prisoners the right to vote. In France, the loss of civic rights is added to jail sentences for many crimes – a compromise that we could introduce in the UK and be in compliance with the ECHR.

Instead we have a ranting hatred against Europe. Listening to many Tory MPs you would think it was some latter day Jacques Delors who was forcing Britain to allow rather more of our citizens to vote. But the EU is not the Council of Europe. The ECHR was created by Britain after the second world war. It quietly and steadily upholds the values of liberal democracy. Britain began decriminalising gay relationships and abolished hanging in the 1960s. The ECHR took this British example and used it to prod other nations to follow suit. Forty-seven countries are expected to follow its rulings. The people of other regions of the world – Africa, Asia, north and south America would die to have an ECHR to tell their governments want to do.

Instead we have a terrible outburst of illiberalism with a debate tomorrow to denounce the proposals which date back nearly a decade. Labour ministers should have sorted this out after 2005. Instead they left the ticking time-bomb for Ken Carke to defuse and he, in turn, has been left swinging in the wind by David Cameron who is much more of a crude populist than is realised as his one-sided dog whistle on multiculturalism showed.

But the worst aspect of this debate is that the Commons no longer has MPs willing to confront the creeping intolerance that suffuses public decision-making. Traditional social and political liberalism has been displaced by raw economic liberalism or a Labourist punitionism. There are no Roy Jenkins, Jo Grimonds, Michael Foots or any longer Ming Campbells or Charlie Kennedys ready to stand up for unpopular or even lost causes. The last senior politician to promote prison reform was Douglas Hurd. But he has retired from political fray. He has no successors. The press merely has to indicate its displeasure at a proposal like giving prisoners serving short sentences the right to vote and MPs of all parties queue up to join this illiberal, revengeful campaign.

Those sentenced to prison may enter as criminals. They should be encouraged to leave as citizens. Allowing political debate and votes in some cases creates a sense of future citizenship. Ken Clarke and his prisons minister, Crispin Blunt, who has suffered homophobic comments in the tabloids since he came out as gay have tried to uphold the law as enshrined in treaties Britain was once proud to promote. But they have been left to swing by Cameron and Clegg who are allowing their MPs to join in a hate-fest against the European Court of Human Rights tomorrow.

Populist illiberalism is the new politics of much of the continent. It is a shame to see it arrive in the Commons.

Photo: Amanda Slater