Give prisoners the vote. But not because Europe says so | Simon Jenkins

It's wrong that laws can be imposed by the court of human rights. But Britain signed up to this club and its rules voluntarily

British prisoners should be free to vote. Denying them is silly, an archaic spin-off from Britain's primitive obsession with locking up ever more of its citizens. The tabloids howl that villains, thugs and perverts have no rights, and are lucky to be alive. Parliament dares not disagree.

Yet it is one thing to demand votes for prisoners, another to want parlia...