Could the Death Penalty return to the UK

The reason I post this is not just for speculation but fact as if the house of commons receives more than 100,000 e-votes it could be considered for debate as this has been spearheaded on the the new government e-petition website to force a new house of commons vote on the controversial subject. I myself personally am against it in all shapes and forms and oppose it irrespective of how brutal the crime is. I do not wish to live in a Country that uses this barbaric practice and personally believe this is just down to media and public frenzy after the recent London riots. Your thoughts please.

http://rt.com/news/britain-death-penalty-reversion/
http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/new...nalty.html
http://www.businessinsider.com/death-pen...ion-2011-8

I voted yes because then maybe it will act as a deterrent to these chavs.

When we had the death penalty before innocent people were executed. For that reason more than anything else I'm against its reinstatement.

I voted not sure, yes it would be a deterrent for some, but those who commit the most serious crimes would still do so.

It would be a deterrent for sure, but for the mere fact that innocent people have been put to death, it can't be justified in my opinion.

(09-08-2011 19:48 )rickhardo Wrote:  When we had the death penalty before innocent people were executed. For that reason more than anything else I'm against its reinstatement.

I voted yes as I take rickhardo's point but now we have DNA testing I think we can be a lot more precise about who has done what. And I'm only saying that the death penalty should be used when there is as much certaintly as possible about guilt.

Also, not only will it act as a deterrent but could also address the prison overcrowding issues.

I see where you are coming from Black Harry J. It somehow feels right that people who commit the most heinous crimes should pay with their lives.

But the death penalty is meant to be seen as a deterrent to committing horrible crimes and yet there is a queue for people to be executed in Texas where everyone knows that if you do something horrible then the death penalty awaits but it doesn't stop those crimes being committed.

So it's not really a deterrent. So what is it? Vengeance?

Life imprisonment and I mean life should be the deterrent but then people who commit the worst of crimes really don't take these things into consideration.

For all those criminals who have been executed and are plainly guilty there is always the one that is innocent and their families have to live with that for the rest of their lives.

It's an emotive subject.

I actually spent the whole day at work today debating this issue with my Boss who just for the record is a Christian but still believes in Capital Punishment, personally many issues surrounding this controversial subject and facts prove that this is clearly the wrong thing to do and I oppose this practice for a number of reasons. Firstly it has allready been proved without a shadow of a doubt that this acts as no deterrent as states in America with the death penalty actually have a higher homicide record than states without it. Also mistakes can be made from time to time and after the sentence has been carried out there is no turning back so this also turns into an unjustified murder by the state or Country. I personally condemn all the evil that exists within this world and our society and believe a life should mean life, not by taking someones but by locking them up for the rest of their days and instead of making prisons like hotels there should be no privileges for those guilty of the most heinous crimes, at the present these inmates are even getting access to things such as SKY TV, the Internet and Mobile Phones, this needs to be looked at instead of even thinking about bringing back one of the most barbaric practices that this country has ever seen. A big thank you to everybody who has voted with some interesting results, I suppose it makes a change from debating the babe channels for a while anyway.

(09-08-2011 20:04 )iamthatjack Wrote:  It would be a deterrent for sure, but for the mere fact that innocent people have been put to death, it can't be justified in my opinion.

I don't believe it would be a deterrent. You only have to look at America, serial killer capital of the world. That's besides the point though. Certain criminals deserve to be put to death. Those that rape and kill children for instance, deserve to put down. Would save taxpayer's money I'm guessing also.

It's a difficult one, some crimes are so disgusting that I couldn't blame a victims family for requesting it.

I just don't think it has any place in modern society. We need to sort the prison system out so that it is a decent deterrent; not leaving out rehabilitation, but it needs to be a proper hard punishment.