Meeting of the Parliament (Hybrid) 24 February 2021
I am strongly opposed to prisoner voting and have been for a long time. I hope that my decision is based on careful consideration of both sides of the argument, not on arrogance, a lack of compassion or nastiness; neither is it a knee-jerk reaction.
That careful consideration is, to my mind, important; so, too, should be scrutiny in the Parliament, and the Scottish Conservatives will make no apology for restating our case in this party business debate.
There are two key aspects to the debate: what might be termed the more philosophical approach and what might be seen as the more practical approach often identified by the public. Both of those approaches come together in the view that those who have committed a crime have not only broken the social contract in philosophical terms, but put themselves outside the law voluntarily, having chosen not to value the privilege of citizenship and civic virtues. As such, they should be denied the opportunity to decide who will make the laws for the time that they are in prison.
Disenfranchisement reinforces society’s denunciation of criminal activity, which is what leads many in society to believe that prisoners cannot be trusted to respect the will of the people and abide by the law. Incarceration is a period of removal from the normal freedoms and privileges of society, such as personal liberty, the right to privacy, and some freedoms of speech and expression. Weakening those privileges is the aspect that most fuels public anger.
As Liam Kerr rightly said, there are serious criminals in prison serving 12 months or less who might well end up voting in the next election. It is not just their victims who are angry about prisoners having the vote; the public at large feel that it is inherently unfair and wrong that prisoners are permitted to vote. I am sure that that is why—this was shown in the latest YouGov poll on the issue—63 per cent of people are against prisoners having the vote. Of course, that is about the same percentage who believe that the current justice system does not hand down sentences that fit the crime.
Many people argue that prisoners deserve a second chance, and that permitting them to vote provides them with the necessary respect and responsibility to prepare them for the outside world once they have served their time. For me, that is a privilege that should be accorded only once they have demonstrated that they have again become law-abiding and upstanding citizens. In any case, there is no evidence to tell us that prisoner voting cuts reoffending rates. If there was convincing evidence of that, that might have greater influence on the debate.
I accept that it is important to distinguish between those who have served their time and those who are still in prison. Once an individual has completed his or her sentence, he or she should be free to participate in public life again. This whole debate is a balance between citizenship and redemption, that is why former prisoners should immediately be handed back their citizenship and freedom once they have served their sentence.
Voting in elections is a democratic right, but it must be earned; it is not a given right in every circumstance. Voting is about having a stake in society and allowing prisoners to vote would mean that politicians were arguing that criminals have the same right as others to elect those who make the law. In my book, that cannot be right, and I do not think that many members of the public—or even many members in the chamber—think that that is right. Indeed, I think that many members of the public will seriously question in May why prisoners should be free to vote from their cells when many other people will be making huge efforts to attend a polling station.
I am utterly convinced that prisoners should not be voting, and I whole-heartedly support the motion in the name of Liam Kerr.
15:24