Justice secretary says government will have to give some prisoners the right to vote even if majority of MPs back motion calling on government to ignore court ruling
A clash between government and parliament looms over giving prisoners the right to vote after Kenneth Clarke, the justice secretary, insisted the government was "grasping the nettle" and had no intention of defying the rule of law.
Clarke said the way in which the government complies with the European convention on Human Rights was "still to be settled", but he said the government would do "the minimum necessary" to ensure it does not defy the European court of human rights (ECHR).
His comments appear to be at odds with Downing Street's claim that the government would "take account" of what the Commons said before deciding what to do about this issue.
The government has been required by the European court ruling to give some prisoners the vote, exposing it to large compensation claims if it does not comply.
A motion tabled by the Labour former justice secretary Jack Straw and the Conservative former shadow home secretary David Davis and due to be debated on Thursday calls on Britain to ignore the ECHR and refuse to give prisoners the right to vote. It insists the right to vote should not be extended, but acknowledges UK treaty obligations, a statement that appears to recognise the government's duty to comply with the court's judgments.
An amendment tabled by the Conservative MP Anne Main goes further by instructing ministers not to pay compensation to prisoners.
Downing Street said the attorney general, Dominic Grieve, will not put the case for compliance on behalf of the government, but will instead set out the legal background to the case. "We are simply listening to what parliament has to say," a spokesman said.
Ministers will abstain when the debate comes to a vote, but the motion is expected to be carried with the support of Tory backbenchers, who have been given a free vote on the issue, along with 40 or so parliamentary private secretaries.
The shadow cabinet has said its members will abstain while other MPs will have a free vote.
Clarke stressed that the government "would never have touched" this policy, had it not been for the pressure from the European courts, but said the prime minister agreed that the government had to accept the ruling.
Clarke told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: "It's not the most popular thing. We are going to do the minimum necessary to comply with the ruling we have been given on our obligations on the European convention on human rights."
He added: "I think the prime minister accepts like everyone else that government complies with its legal obligations. We lost this judgment five years ago and I can't remember a tremendous fuss being made. We are grasping the nettle."
But he described as "nonsense" the idea that the vote would be given to murderers and rapists.
What the court had criticised was a complete ban on prisoners' votes, he said.
"I don't think anyone is remotely suggesting that all people being punished in Her Majesty's prisons are going to be given the vote," he said.
Originally the Ministry of Justice said anyone serving sentences of less than four years would get the vote.
But the justice secretary's comments today suggest ministers may raise the bar on the category of prisoners eligible for casting their vote on polling day.
Clarke said there would be a cut-off point but this had yet to be decided.
He said that when the bill waa eventually presented to parliament, "I shall have the pleasure of explaining to parliament where we think we can go to comply with the minimum necessary".
Sadiq Khan MP, Labour's shadow justice secretary, said of Thursday's motion: "It is important that MPs get to debate this issue, but despite numerous requests by me the government has refused to share the legal advice on which their decision to grant certain prisoners the vote is based nor have they answered the other questions I have asked.
"There are therefore questions about whether Thursday's motion is compliant with our obligations under the European convention on human rights. As a result, it is right that the shadow cabinet abstain on Thursday."
Earlier this week, the influential Tory thinktank Policy Exchange called for the government to withdraw from the convention if negotiations to limit and reform the European court fail.
It published a poll showing two-thirds of British voters support a UK-based supreme court rather than one in Strasbourg, the home of the European court.
Source: http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2011/feb/09/government-defy-european-court-vote-prisoners
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