Prisoners’ voting pattern check

WHY should prisoners get the vote? They are inside because they are deemed too much of a risk to be out in public, so why should they have the same rights as the law-abiding public? Another reason for not allowing them to vote is that few of them would be in their “home” constituency.

Also, a large number of prisoners voting in a prison in a rural area could falsely distort the result, thereby affecting how the people who live in that constituency are represented in Parliament.

However, to see whether any prisoners should be given the right to vote this simple test should be done – check the electoral roll for the area of the last known address of every prisoner to see if they are 
actually even listed on the roll and if the vote has ever been exercised.

Apart from some prisoners serving time for white-collar crime and a number of serious domestic crimes, I think the actual number of prisoners who have ever bothered to vote will be minimal.

Parental control lacking in town

From: Nigel Bywater, Morley, Leeds.

WITH the recent cuts to council funding, it was a bonus that 
the Christmas lights around Leeds have managed to still get funding.

I happened to be present at last week’s Morley Christmas lights switch-on, and I was disgusted at the lack of action from those in charge and the numerous police and parents who were present.

A large number of children, from the age of about four to 14, trampled a flowerbed full of recently planted winter flowers. Jumping up and down to the music, the flowers, that will have cost us taxpayers about £100, were pummelled into the ground.

Police and PCSOs walked past, while around 100 flowers were trampled. Is Morley a wilderness of parental control?