A majority of British people support the return of the death penalty, a Mail on Sunday poll has found.
As MPs prepare for a likely Commons debate on capital punishment later this year, the first since 1998, the survey shows that 53 per cent of voters back its reintroduction. Just 34 per cent are opposed to the move.
The last hangings in Britain were in 1964, but the issue has risen up the political agenda again as a result of the e-petitions scheme, an initiative that allows the public to help set the Government agenda and means anyone can set up an internet petition on any subject.
If it attracts more than 100,000 signatures, MPs must consider debating it in the Commons, and the return of the death penalty heads the list of demands, with more than 40 of the first 200 petitions calling for it.
The Survation poll reveals a striking gender divide over the issue: while 63 per cent of men back the move, just 44 per cent of women are in favour.
And preferences for the manner of execution have clearly changed in the half-century since the last judicially sanctioned deaths.
When asked which method they preferred regardless of their views on the ethics of the issue an overwhelming 66 per cent opted for lethal injection, which is widely assumed to be the most humane technique. Only 12 per cent still think that hanging should be used.
Nearly half, 48 per cent, of those asked believe that murders and other serious offences would go down if it were reintroduced, while 32 per cent think the level would stay the same. Mass murder, child murder, terrorism and war crimes are the main offences deemed deserving of the ultimate sanction.
The poll also reveals other clear trends: the death penalty is more popular among older people than the young; and is least popular in the south of the UK. Only 41 per cent of Lib Dem voters are in favour, compared with 45 per cent of Labour backers, 67 per cent of Conservatives and 72 per cent of UKIP supporters.
But an overwhelming majority of all voters, 82 per cent, believe that the current justice system is too lenient. Continued on Page 47
Twenty-six police officers were wounded in riots that broke out two days after a man was killed by police. At least one of the officers has suffered head injuries after protesters clashed with police in Tottenham, north London.
So far police have made 42 arrests in connection with the trouble, which flared up after people took to the streets last night to demand revenge 'justice', after Mark Duggan, 29, was shot and killed by police on Thursday. Police cars, a shop and a double-decker bus were burned and there were reports of looting amid scenes reminiscent of the violent unrest in the same area 26 years ago when PC Keith Blakelock was hacked to death.
More than 100 officers and riot police faced crowds of more than 500 people protesting about the death of Duggan, who was described last week by police sources as a 'gangster'.
There are concerns that the riots were fanned by Twitter, with some of those taking part posting inflammatory comments from the scene and calling for reinforcements. One picture of a police car on fire in the area was re-tweeted over 100 times within an hour.
The violence last night broke out soon after a crowd of about 120 had begun to gather at the High Road from about 5:30 p.m. The target was the police station which was being guarded late last night by lines of officers and police vans. As the disorder spread, and the numbers of demonstrators swelled, two police cars being used to block the road were set on fire by masked youths.
A shop was set ablaze and then a double-decker bus was also engulfed in flames and reduced to a twisted shell. Witnesses also reported looting. Teenagers and younger children were seen carrying valuables through the shattered glass front of an electrical shop. Windows were smashed at a bank and pictures on Twitter showed the building being looted. There were also reports that youths had stormed a McDonald's and had started making their own burgers and chips.
Several fire crews could only stand ready nearby as they were barred from the High Road where the fires were. One fireman complained that earlier, three engines had been sent to the scene without being warned about the riots. He said: 'We were sent to a road accident but it was the police cars on fire. We were then ordered to leave them burning and to drive off, probably for our own safety.
'I cannot believe what we have just driven through. As we pulled out of the station, there was a car on fire on the High Road and there were people in the middle of the road -- it was very scary. We didn't give them a chance to try to stop us. I am still shaking.'
Meanwhile, two news photographers were viciously beaten and robbed by masked youths armed with crowbars and other makeshift weapons and reporters on the scene were threatened by looters. The photographers said there was 'total lawlessness' in the area with the contents of shops strewn across the streets and the police unable to gain access.
One said: 'It is utter carnage out there. We have been beaten up quite badly and had about £8,000 of equipment stolen. We were quite discreet but as soon as we got a camera out we were set on by youths with masks who were armed with crowbars.'
A local MP called for calm last night. On David Lammy's website, he said: 'We already have one grieving family in our community and further violence will not heal that pain.'
Continued on Page 47
"Tottenham is a multicultural hotspot with many different ethnic groups inhabiting the area. It is often referred to as a black area because it contains one of the largest and most significant populations of African-Caribbean people. These were among the earliest immigrant groups to settle in the area, starting the UK's Windrush era soon after West African communities - notably the many Ghanaians - begun to migrate into the area. Between 1980 and the present day there has been a slow immigration of Colombians, Albanian, Kurdish, Turkish-Cypriot, Turkish, Irish, and Portuguese populations. South Tottenham is reported to be the most ethnically-diverse area in Europe, with up to 300 languages being spoken by its residents.
Tottenham has the highest unemployment rate in London and the 8th highest in the United Kingdom. It therefore has some of the highest poverty rates within the country.
There have also been major tensions between the African-Caribbean community and the police since (and before) the 1985 Broadwater Farm riot which stemmed from major issues of racism and police brutality.
Although Tottenham is well known for its diversity and culture, it has also been one of the main hotspots for gangs and gun crime in the United Kingdom during the past three decades. This followed the rise of gangs and drug wars throughout the area, notably those involving the Tottenham Mandem gang and various gangs from Hackney and all of the areas surrounding Tottenham, and the emergence of an organised crime ring known as the Turkish Mafia was said to have controlled more than 90% of the UK's heroin market."
#4
A punk that tried to kill someone gets killed instead and the place riots. Sounds to me they were just looking for a reason to steal and vent anger.
Posted by: Charles ||
08/07/2011 13:12 Comments ||
Top||
#5
"Sounds to me they were just looking for a reason to steal and vent anger destroy other people's property."
Isn't that usually the case, Charles? >:-(
Posted by: Barbara ||
08/07/2011 13:56 Comments ||
Top||
#6
A small price to pay for the rich diversity of multi-cultural enrichment.
A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
Twenty-six police officers were wounded in riots that broke out two days after a man was killed by police. At least one of the officers has suffered head injuries after protesters clashed with police in Tottenham, north London.
