Lord chancellor: All prisoners will not get the vote

A review will be carried out into Britain's law banning prisoners from voting but this does not mean all prisoners will be able to take part in elections, the lord chancellor said.

Lord Falconer suggested prisoners could be categorised on the basis of what their crime was, with certain groups given democratic rights.

He insisted a European court ruling that a blanket ban on all prisoners breached their human rights did not mean it was always unlawful to do so, just that "we haven’t properly considered the way that we do it".

He told World at One: "If you have been convicted of an offence that puts you in prison, you are for that period of time being taken out of freedom in society and put in a different arrangement.

"It seems to me that it is absolutely plain that whatever happens, in relation to prisoners sent to prison for any length of time that will remain the position."