The Council of Europe has hit back at the MPs’ rebellion against a ruling to give voting rights to prisoners.

The overwhelming Commons vote has no legal force, but it prompted a warning from Strasbourg that the UK Government must still “honour its international obligations”.

The Council of Europe enforces decisions of the European Court of Human Rights which triggered a storm by delivering a legal judgment that denying voting rights breaches prisoners’ human rights.

Now a senior member of the council’s parliamentary committee has made clear the Commons vote changes nothing.

Christos Pourgourides said in a statement: “I am deeply disappointed by last night’s vote, in defiance of the ruling by the European Court of Human Rights on prisoner voting.

“I had hoped that the parliament of one of Europe’s oldest democracies – regarded as playing a leading role in protecting human rights – would have encouraged the United Kingdom to honour its international obligations, as our assembly urged only last month. Every member state must implement the judgments of the court.”

The statement went on: “The UK Government has said that it intends to implement this judgment, and I encourage it to find a way to do so that is consistent with its international legal obligations. There are different ways this can be done, as shown by the range of positions on this issue in Council of Europe member states.”

Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg acknowledged that the government was caught in a “dilemma” as a result of last Thursday’s vote.

“Clearly there is a dilemma, which is that Parliament – or at least those that were in the vote yesterday – have clearly expressed their distaste for granting votes to prisoners,” he told the Press Association during a visit to Devon.

“The court has made it very clear that we are now in breach of law and we will have to go away and see if we can find a way forward.

“I think it’s worth remembering the court isn’t saying that we should be giving all prisoners the vote. I don’t think anybody would ever suggest that we do that.

“There is a question whether there are specific circumstances in which we might need to do so in order to make sure that we continue to be a law-abiding nation who abides by court rulings that are placed upon us.”

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