Now defy Europe on prisoner votes, Cameron is urged by Tory backbenchers  amid risk of rift with Lib Dems

By James Chapman for the Daily Mail and Jack Doyle for the Daily Mail
Updated: 05:25 EST, 14 April 2011

Challenge: Prime Minister David Cameron yesterday

David Cameron faced growing Tory calls last night to defy demands from European judges to hand prisoners the vote.

Downing Street sources said the Prime Minister was ‘deeply disappointed’ by the European Court of Human Rights’ refusal even to consider an appeal over its ruling that a 140-year-old ban on inmates taking part in elections is against the law.

Mr Cameron will consider a range of options over the next few months – including simply ignoring the court’s demands.

That would be an unprecedented step which risks an explosive rift with the Liberal Democrats. But little else appears likely to satisfy Tory backbenchers who insist a line in the sand must be drawn to defend British sovereignty.

Senior MPs said last night that 8,000 rulings from the court have simply not been implemented by other countries.

The Prime Minister is being warned by senior Cabinet colleagues that he stands no chance of getting legislation handing even small numbers of prisoners the vote through Parliament. Ministers had argued that one of the key objections of the Strasbourg court to Britain’s ban – that Parliament had not considered the issue for more than a century –  has now been addressed.

MPs voted overwhelmingly in February to reject the ECHR’s demands that Britain hands prisoners the vote on the grounds that their human rights were being infringed.

They agreed that the ban must be maintained because convicted criminals have ‘broken their contract with society’.

They voted by 234 votes to 22, a majority of 212, to defy the ECHR’s ruling.

Dozens of Conservative MPs insist after decades of toeing the line, the time has come for Britain to tell Strasbourg judges that they have exceeded their authority.

But this week, the court insisted the ban must be lifted regardless of the vote in Parliament and insisted the Government must bring forward new laws within six months.

Leading opponents of votes for prisoners urged Mr Cameron to resist the court’s demands.

Tory backbenchers pointed to a speech last week by the Master of the Rolls, Lord Neuberger, who said Parliament was free to choose whether it listened to judges in Strasbourg or ignored them. MPs said ministers could simply refuse to pay the estimated £150million in compensation claims from inmates denied the vote.

One possibility is the Government will introduce legislation, but encourage Conservative MPs to vote against it.

An eight-page leaked Government document confirms that the European court has no legal powers to force the Government to pay compensation for denying prisoners their human rights.

Foreign body: The European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg, France

‘The direct sanctions for failure to comply with Strasbourg judgment are political rather than judicial,’ the document says.

‘We are not aware of any country that has been expelled from the [European] Council for non-execution of a judgment.’

The paper also reveals that if the Government made a ‘genuine attempt’ to introduce legislation to allow prisoners to vote, even if it was voted down, they would escape censure.

The legal advice said this would be enough to ‘persuade Strasbourg that the UK has done its best’.

Esher and Walton MP Dominic Raab, who helped engineer the Commons vote on the issue, said: ‘The Strasbourg Court has triggered a constitutional clash it cannot win – if we stand firm.

‘We cannot be forced to implement the judgment – senior British judges have made that clear. We cannot be forced to pay compensation, and there is no serious risk of Britain being kicked out of the Council of Europe.

‘If we do not draw the line here, and stand up for the democratic rights of the British people, there will be even more perverse rulings to come.’

Standing firm: MPs Dominic Raab and Priti Patel are urging Mr Cameron to defy the European Court's order to give prisoners the vote

Former shadow home secretary David Davis said: ‘Parliament should not and in my view will not back down in this matter.

‘We are in the right both morally and legally and the court is guilty of extending beyond its remit. It can instruct Governments but it cannot instruct a Parliamentary democracy.’

Conservative MP for Witham Priti Patel said: ‘David Cameron has been vocal about his personal view on this issue. This is a strong opportunity for him to show decisive leadership and say enough is enough.

‘This is morally wrong as well as democratically wrong and we must say that we will not take instruction from an unelected group of European judges. The Government should not simply ignore this ruling, it should say publicly that it is going to defy it.

‘This is about Parliamentary sovereignty and it is about who governs Britain.’

Eurosceptic MP Bill Cash said: ‘The British Parliament must be its own master and make decisions on behalf of its people. The Government must not simply buckle to bullying by Strasbourg.’

The ruling was made by a five member panel of Grand Chamber judges. It was headed by Jean-Paul Costa, who has been the president of the European Court since 2007. Last year, Mr Costa took a swipe at the UK for daring to propose its own Bill of Rights, warning it would be a ‘bad idea’.

He is paid from the £49million annual European Court budget, which is paid for by member states including Britain. However, the court does not reveal details of his salary in its reports.

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