Direct Democracy proposal for Home Affairs, Security and Policing
Redefining the purpose of prison
It is still not clear if we are sending people to prison ‘as' punishment or ‘for' punishment. The People's Administration believes that it is vital that we address this as a society and so we therefore propose to let the people define the purpose of prison by putting the two potential definitions to the national vote.
According to UK law, being sent to prison is 'as punishment' and not 'for punishment'. By denying prisoners the opportunity to vote, the UK Government is intentionally breaking the European Human Rights Laws that it signed us all up to. This led to the Coalition having to consider paying out up to £100 M in compensation to prisoners for breaching their human rights and Parliament has now voted [10th Feb. 2011] in favour of maintaining this breach.
That's £100 M of your money that Parliament almost cost us whilst it's government and its 'leader' claim to be the best thing for the UK economy and for justice!
Until we resolve this issue, perceived failures of justice will only contribute to the [usually religiously-oriented] view and belief that Capital Punishment should be reinstated because it will somehow stop irrationally-minded people from committing murder [as if irrational or mentally unwell people can consider consequences]. A higher percentage of victims relatives later regret [what they come to see as purely an act of revenge] state-sanctioned murder of their victims assailant, than who don't. We would also as a society, be accepting that we now believe that violence does solve problems and therefore as part of the deal, we will have to stop teaching our children that violence doesn't solve problems.
Is it really fair that a single mother who is imprisoned for BBC license payment evasion [for example] is then further punished by having her right to vote removed?
It is known in UK general elections, that there is a swing of only 1 million votes that actually decides the outcome of all UK general elections. Removing the right to vote from prisoners eradicates approx. 10% of this swing and so the People's Administration questions the political motives behind breaching this basic human right.
UK law states that only the right to roam freely may be removed but that all other rights must at least in some part, be afforded. David Cameron's coalition have broken the law so as to further punish people who are already being punished and we believe that this is a highly personal attack on a whole section of society and, it is a moral-oriented attack.
In principal, our non-elected government is behaving in the same way as the many foreign regimes that it criticises for poor human rights records.
Once a definition is established, we will then be able to be far more efficient and more effective in how we deal with all aspects of the UK prison system including, how treatment in prison relates to the causes of further crime as well as the value of all rehabilitation programmes.
If we are sending people to prison ‘as' punishment in itself, then we shouldn't be wasting energy, time and money in complaining about any light treatment and other perceived benefits that prisoners receive and we should intensify rehabilitation programmes. The decision to send people to prison ‘as' punishment fulfils the purpose of punishment just in prisoners being kept in prison whilst keeping them from accessing the freedoms of our society - this is the punishment.
If we are sending people to prison ‘for' punishment in itself, then it does become necessary that we spend energy, time and money in complaining about any light treatment and other perceived benefits that prisoners receive. We would also then have to install punishment regimes and abolish all rehabilitation programmes as they would be in conflict with punishment.
It is the opinion of the People's Administration that people are sent to prison ‘as' punishment and not ‘for' punishment, as we believe that this would effect and benefit the prisoner in a way that would benefit society as a whole by leading to a potential reduction in crime.
Should the People's Administration install direct democracy, we propose to let the people define the true purpose of prison.
Voting for direct democracy outside a general election
It is up to us, the people [not the politicians] to use the power that we have always had, to choose to implement direct democracy as soon as possible.
This is not a protest campaign.
Following the People's Administration Direct Democracy Party [a mainstream registered party since March 2010] on Twitter, gives us your permission [when a majority] to invoke existing laws under UN Articles 21 and 61 [which the UK is signed-up to], so as to take immediate control of all policy decision-making by forming a legitimate UN-sanctioned direct democracy with majority election and without revolution, in the UK.
Follow: @self_rule
The People's Administration's constitution for reform to direct democracy and our voting protocols have both been accepted by the UK Electoral Commission and the UN as legitimate. In a general election, the People's Administration does not have to field candidates to secure your vote on the ballot paper. Outside a general election, you can vote for a legitimate reform to direct democracy now!
