No votes for prisoners, says MEP

Paul Nuttall, UKIP’s Deputy Leader

Proposals by a government committee to give voting rights to prisoners in the final six months of their sentence have been greeted with anger by local MEP Paul Nuttall.

"This is outrageous and would mean that murderers, terrorists and paedophiles would have the right to vote while behind bars.

"It is also nonsense that those jailed for less than 12 months should also be able to vote.

"I believe that the blanket ban should remain in place - as do the majority of the general public," said Mr Nuttall, UKIP deputy leader.

"The committee has come up with this saying it is the only acceptable course of action if Britain wants to appease the European Court of Human Rights and to avoid setting a bad example on human rights to the rest of the world.

"Quite frankly we should not even be contemplating appeasing the Strasbourg court, our own Parliament should decide who can and cannot vote in this country.

"We must stand up to this Mickey Mouse court and we must withdraw from the EU as a matter of urgency," he added.