Tory rebellion over prisoner votes

London: Nearly 6,000 violent thugs and more than 1,700 convicted sex offenders will be allowed to vote under plans to hand new rights to prisoners.

Inmates guilty of more than 28,000 serious crimes but serving less than four years will be allowed to cast a ballot in elections, government figures unveiled last night show.

Ministers caved in to allow some prisoners to vote after the European Court of Human Rights ruled that the existing blanket ban was illegal. Those set to benefit include thugs who committed 5,991 violent offences and 1,753 sexual offenders.

They also include criminals guilty of 2,486 robbery offences, 4,188 cases of burglary and a further 3,517 theft convictions. Drug abusers, with 4,370 convictions between them, will also win the right to vote in general elections.

Resistance

The figures last night triggered the threat of a new rebellion by Tory backbenchers, who plan to derail the change to the law when the government tries to force it through.

Ministers have not decided when MPs will get to decide on the issue, but just 39 would need to rebel to force a vote.

The Mail has learnt that Tory rebels will mount an ambush of constitutional affairs minister Mark Harper in a parliamentary debate on Tuesday.

Backbencher Philip Hollobone heard yesterday that he has been granted a 90-minute opportunity to question the minister.

Hollobone said he is prepared to table amendments to the legislation to try to reduce the four-year sentence limit to just one year — the cut-off for prisoner voting rights used in Malta.

He added: "There will be a very concerted effort to stop this from happening. The public will be outraged about it. This is going to be one of the bigger rebellions."

His colleague Philip Davies said: "As far as I'm concerned it's completely and utterly unacceptable to allow some of these vile creatures to vote."

The rebels will join forces with Labour, which now shows signs of opposing the government's stance on law and order.

The Ministry of Justice figures were uncovered by Labour justice spokesman Sadiq Khan. He said: "This is a slap in the face for victims of crime."

MPs on all sides of the House and the public are right to be angry about this decision.