Dear All
Across the world some countries still have the death penalty.
What is the death penalty, some would call it justice and others would say it is state approved cold blooded murder.
It is the politics of the mob, lynch mob justice.
Recently there has been a campaign fronted by Guido Fawkes to get Westminster by way of e-petition to force debate to reinstate the death penalty.
And it is easy to see why such a campaign would be popular in the minds of the public, hanging child murderers and killers do have an appeal especially to those with an emotional disposition.
But hanging people is murder, passing a law to justify doesn’t make it right and I won’t be presenting a religious argument here to support why it is wrong, others more capable than me will do that far better than I ever could.
So what are the arguments for the death penalty?
Capital punishment permanently removes the worst criminals from society.
Cost, money is not an inexhaustible commodity and the cash could be better spent on the old, the young and the sick etc, there is a limited supply.
And who is going to miss murderers, rapists, terrorists and paedophiles.
Retribution is seen by many as an acceptable reason for the death penalty according to survey results. It is the powerhouse of those who want the death penalty restored, good old fashion revenge.
The other argument is that of deterrence, but people who kill in the heat of the moment will have no thought about deterrence.
That is the general jist of the pro death penalty; they are saving and protecting society.
And the anti death penalty argument is better.
The most important one is the inescapable and virtual certainty that genuinely innocent people will be executed.
If the death penalty was introduced Britain would have killed innocent people, like the Birmingham Six and Guildford Four.
And before they died, we should remember that the Police tortured these people before their trials.
Another point is that there is no possible way of compensating them for this miscarriage of justice.
A third reason, that is often overlooked, is the sheer hell the innocent family and friends of people standing in the dock must go through in the time leading up to and during the execution.
We would kill innocent people and destroy their families.
And as we already know, we live in a corrupt country; politicians in elected office are more ready to protect the establishment while in power instead of being balance and check.
In this country we have had several inquires of shocking events and generally those involved are found innocent of any wrongdoing without exception.
Back to the e-petition, two members of Leicestershire Police Authority are backing a call to reinstate the death penalty.
Barbara Potter and Sundip Meghani are both Labour councillors in the city.
And both of them are in my opinion unfit to hold public office of any description.
Both these people have endorsed a national campaign launched by right-wing blogger Paul Staines.
Paul Staines’s idea is to force a vote on the issue in parliament by gathering 100,000 signatures in support of the restoration of capital punishment for people who kill children or police officers.
A campaign crafted to appeal to the masses targeting people’s emotional state regarding the protection of children.
As I say, it has an appeal but decision based on emotion such as this would have consequences further down the line.
Labour Councillor Potter said:
"Bring it on. Give these murderers the option of the noose, the electric chair or lethal injection. I think the vast majority would back this campaign. People are disgusted and appalled by those who murder vulnerable people such as children, or those who work to try and protect the public, like the police."
Labour Councillor Meghani, is also on side with Paul Staines by publishing support for the campaign on social networking website Twitter.
He said:
"I would have no compunction in using the death penalty on someone who kills multiple times, such as the recent massacre in Norway. It's a complicated issue but I'm in favour of capital punishment in some circumstances. I think it may be wrong to restrict the death penalty solely to the murderers of children and police, because that gives some lives more value than others. But multiple killers should be eligible for execution."
These people are fools and the Labour Party is invested with such people, they create mayhem and when the shit hits the fan, they come out with, ‘I thought I was doing what was right’.
Labour councillor Lynn Senior flowing against the tide said she was against the death penalty in all circumstances.
Maybe she has some idea what this would lead to.
Police authority chairman Barry Roper said:
"It's a difficult one to call. You're damned if you do and damned if you don't. I'd like to hear all arguments on the issue before deciding."
There is nothing to decide, it’s wrong and never justified.
The death penalty was abolished in 1965; there have been attempts to bring it back but MPs in a free vote always reject it.
Just because something is popular doesn’t make it right.
Politicians should be aware of falling for the cult of short term political popularity, trying to be all things to all men usual means being valued by none.
Paul Staines runs a very popular website which I have on my blog listed, the site is called Guido Fawkes.
It is a lion pit, people enter at their own risk and the language is harsh, emotional, and funny but can be very nasty.
It is what it is!
He said:
"The support for the death penalty is much bigger than politicians realise. MPs are out of touch with the public on this issue. If we could get enough signatures for a parliamentary debate it would be the first time that capital punishment has been debated in parliament since the Thatcher years."
Why do we elect politicians, we do so to reflect our views but importantly, we also rely on them to stand outside and give us good judgement even in spite of ourselves.
Stepping up a political level, Labour MPs Keith Vaz (Leicester East) and Jon Ashworth (Leicester South) and Tory North West Leicestershire MP Andrew Bridgen all told the Mercury they were against bringing back capital punishment.
However some MPs elsewhere in the country have voiced their support for the campaign.
Philip Davies, Tory MP for Shipley, in West Yorkshire, said:
"It's something where, once again, the public are a long way ahead of the politicians. I'd go further and restore it for all murderers."
Priti Patel, Tory MP for Witham, in Essex, said:
"It's about time the public had a greater say on the issues that we debate."
Politicians want to be popular and some will do anything to hold onto political office, but is a few quid sitting in the ATM machine more important than being morally bankrupt?
Anyone more or less can stand for public office, they can be the most ignorant, shallow and unfit person imaginable but if they get the votes they can push their agenda on you and your family.
And in all political parties people like this exist whether they be careerists, cranks, race politicians stirring up hate but hopefully there are enough good ones to oppose such people.
Because if we cannot stand up for democracy and against these people, they will take over, we will be living in a fascist state.
We aren’t saving the guilty, we saving that innocent man or woman wrongly accused who will be murdered by the state, we are protecting them and their family.
That is why I don’t support the death penalty.
Yours sincerely
George Laird
The Campaign for Human Rights at Glasgow University
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