Capital punishment for murder was abolished in the UK in 1969. Recent polls show 50-55% of Britons support its return for some crimes, with higher support among Reform UK and Conservative voters. A parliamentary petition calling for a referendum on the death penalty for treason, murder, rape and terrorism closes today with under 1,000 signatures, while Reform MP Lee Anderson has called for one despite opposition from Nigel Farage.
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27 Opinions
Capital punishment is among act that satisfies mob anger. It solves nothing and it absolutely isn't a deterrent. If it was nobody who was executed in the past would committed their crime. Plus you can't un execute someone when you're wrong.
We got rid of capital punishment specifically because we kept hanging the wrong people.
I probably wouldn't vote in favour of capital punishment, but it is clearly a contested issue not aligned with party politics so a referendum may be the best way forward.
A civilised society must behave better than the worst and most base of its members. If someone murdered my loved ones, I'd personally want the death penalty for the perpetrator due to sheer emotion and desire for revenge. This doesn't mean that society has the right to take life, despite advancements in DNA testing almost eliminating the miscarriage of justice risk. I just don't want to live somewhere where the state's instrument of justice can take a human life.
NO Because we don't need to be constantly doing referendums for this that & the other, it gives whoever is in power the opportunity to duck responsible. We elect a government to govern that's what it should do. If it doesn't do that to your satisfaction, vote for someone else next time who will..
I am actually shocked that I would consider this. I always thought it was a no-brainier, but as society has declined, I have often wondered if the deterrents are no longer fit for purpose. I'm not sure how I would vote in a referendum, but I'm open to having the discussion across the nations.
It's a difficult one. I voted yes, purely because I'd like a say, but I think in a referendum on this subject would be very emotive and shouldn't be a simple yes or no vote. I personally think the death penalty should be reinstated for the worst crimes, but only where evidence is absolutely incontrovertible. In the absence of the death penalty, life must mean life when it comes to sentencing.
Brexit was a disaster for our country and an example of how people can be swayed and influenced .I don't want the far right getting hold of this one.
I, for one, am proud to live in a society that doesn’t kill its own citizens. Capital punishment was rightly abolished long ago, and it should stay that way. On top of that, there are a great many things that the general public aren’t equipped to have a say on. Notions such as this, clearly led by emotion rather than by any evidence that it would serve as a deterrent, are among those that the public should stay out of.
We definitely should have a referendum but before anything we're enacted we need to sort out our justice system. Capital punishment should only be used when there is 100% definite guilt from tangible evidence.