One Month On

I have been out of prison for one month today, so I am reposting this.

And no, I am certainly not disqualified from standing for Parliament. The rules for local government are quite tight, but the ones for Parliament are incredibly lax. To be disqualified, then you actually have to be in prison at Close of Nominations, and then only in either the United Kingdom or the Republic of Ireland, since you can stand for Parliament from anywhere in the world.

That was introduced after Bobby Sands; before then, you could stand for Parliament from prison even in these Islands, as he did. Until very recently, there were men with long IRA records duly elected, drawing their salaries, and frequenting the House every day that it sat, only without going into the Chamber. Fiona Onasanya was the sitting, paid MP for Peterborough on every day of her imprisonment, and then voted in the Division Lobbies while wearing her tag.