17 November 2012 Last updated at 18:09 ET

Parliament to be given new vote on prisoner democracy

The European court has ruled that a total ban on prisoners voting is illegal

Ministers will give Parliament another vote on whether to give prisoners the vote this week, the BBC understands.

A government source has told the BBC that MPs will be given a series of options on Thursday.

Friday is the deadline for Britain to comply with a ruling from the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) that the current blanket ban on prisoners voting is unlawful.

The Ministry of Justice said it would not comment on a leak.

The BBC's Political Correspondent Carole Walker said she understood a draft bill would set out three options:

• Votes for prisoners who have been imprisoned for four years or less.
• Votes for prisoners who have been imprisoned for six months or less.
• No votes for prisoners at all.

Our correspondent says the legal implications of flouting the ECHR ruling would be made plain to MPs but for legal reasons ministers will not say which option they back.

'Clear' right

In February 2011 the Commons voted overwhelmingly against giving votes to prisoners and there is a risk that this week's vote could set up another clash with the ECHR.

Last month David Cameron told the Commons: "No-one should be under any doubt - prisoners are not getting the vote under this government".

At present, the only prisoners allowed to vote in the UK are those on remand.

Justice Secretary Chris Grayling, who replaced Ken Clarke in a reshuffle in September, said last month Parliament had a "clear" right not to accept the ECHR ruling.

But he added there would be "consequences" for the UK's position in Europe if MPs chose to defy the judgement.

Attorney General Dominic Grieve has previously warned that defying the Strasbourg court could be seen "as a move away from out strict adherence to human rights laws".

The ECRH ruled in 2005 it was a breach of human rights to deny prisoners a vote.

The court said it was up to individual countries to decide which inmates should be denied the right to vote from jail, but that a total ban was illegal.

Source : bbc[dot]co[dot]uk