The Capital Punishment Debate In Britain

The recent conviction of Lucy Letby for murdering seven babies led to some talk on local news sites of reintroducing the death penalty for murder. This is actually a perennial subject, one that is raised regularly when a serial killer is brought to book or some terrorist outrage is inflicted on innocent people.

There are lots of petitions on Change Dot Org concerning the death penalty; they vary from calling for it to be reintroduced in South Africa to being banned in the United States, but surprisingly there is only one active on the UK Government site at the moment; as of Saturday night it had garnered a mere 39 signatures.

There have been earlier such petitions, including one that closed on October 20, 2020 with 12,691 signatures.

This reads in part: “The death penalty should be an option for convicted terrorists, mass murderers, serial rapists, paedophiles and child killers. Only one appeal should be allowed, with no right to legal aid, which must be lodged and heard within 3 months of conviction.”

The second sentence is ludicrous, but the sentiment of the petition, that it should be reserved for the worst of the worst, is difficult to argue against, especially when the person concerned has been convicted of heinous crimes on overwhelming evidence. 

One objection often raised is that executing terrorists will only make martyrs of them, and possibly encourage others to follow suit, especially when the terrorists concerned are religious fanatics, Islamists in particular. What though are the benefits of the death penalty? At least one pundit has argued that it discourages professional criminals from carrying weapons, in particular guns, which are for the most part illegal anyway. In the third decade of the Twenty-First Century it would also probably discourage especially young men from carrying knives. Last year, there were 69 fatal stabbings in London; 14 teenagers were killed, (down from 30 in 2021). Many teen murders are impulsive or committed for trivial reasons. Even a tenuous threat of capital punishment would almost certainly put a dent in those figures, but rest assured, it will never be restored. The vast majority of politicians are opposed to it and have been for decades. There may at some point be a vote in the House, but there will never be a referendum on it. The last time the people were given that choice was BREXIT; the Establishment has never accepted that and is still working behind the scenes to undo it. What chance the rope?