A majority of people say the UK should bring back the death penalty, according to a new poll.
The support behind reintroducing capital punishment is mostly being driven by millennials – born in the late 1980s to mid 1990s – with three in five (58 pc) backing the idea, with a quarter (27 pc) against.
The survey, carried out by public opinion think tank More in Common, showed Britons backed the use of the death penalty for heinous crimes such as serial murder and deadly terrorist attacks.
Some 56 pc were in favour of rapists facing capital punishment, too.
Public support had increased since More in Common last carried out the poll in autumn 2023 from 50 to 55 pc, reported The Times.
The new poll was carried out after there were debates about whether it should be brought back following the sentencing of triple child-killer Axel Rudakubana.
The murderer avoided a whole life sentence as he was aged 17 when he carrier out his sick stabbing spree in which he killed little Bebe King, six, Elsie Dot Stancombe, seven, and Alice da Silva Aguiar, nine.
Rudakubana, 18, began a 52-year sentence last week at one of Britain’s most notorious prisons, Belmarsh in south-east London, where he was placed in isolation for his own safety.
He was convicted of murdering three girls and ten counts of attempted murder.
Luke Tryl, executive director at More in Common, told The Times: ‘If the terrible crimes committed in Southport trigger a national debate about the death penalty then the public’s starting point will be one of support for its reintroduction.
‘Overall, 55 per cent of Britons say the death penalty should be reintroduced for certain crimes — but asked about acts of terrorism or serial murder, support then rises even further to 70 per cent.
‘While it seems unlikely this government will reopen the debate, it will have to work harder to convince people that existing sentences for terrorists and murders really are tough enough, and that killers like Axel Rudakubana will never be set free.’
Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer has been openly vocal about being against the death penalty.
During his career as a barrister he was called to the bar in several Caribbean countries where he defended convicts sentenced to death.
In 2018, while Brexit shadow secretary, flew to Taiwan to lobby against the punishment. He was previously director of The Death Penalty Project – a campaign group that provides free legal representation to individuals facing the death penalty.
A Downing Street spokesman said: ‘The government has no plans to bring back capital punishment. Parliament abolished the death penalty more than 50 years ago, and in free votes has consistently voted against it being restored in recent decades.
‘In 1998, parliament made clear in a free vote that it was opposed to the death penalty for all offences.’
The 1965 Murder Act abolished the death penalty for murder in the UK and abolished for all crimes in 1998. The last executions were by hanging and took place in 1964.
Meanwhile, a survey of 2,016 adults by More in Common found a majority support banning under-16s from social media, reported The Telegraph.
Tory leader Kemi Badenoch revealed last week she refuses to allow her child to have a smartphone and would ban them for under-16s.
She has given a ‘brick’ phone to her 11-year-old daughter who had had just started secondary school.
Ms Badenoch told the BBC’s Laura Kuenssberg on Sunday: ‘We need to give our children the very best start in life.
‘We didn’t have these things when we were young and even as adults we find it addictive. If adults are addicted to this, then what chance do children have?’
Ms Badenoch added that teachers had told her that children who have smartphones had lower levels of concentration than children who didn’t.
‘I am someone who strongly believes that young people should not be using smartphones, ideally up until the age of 16,’ she said.
‘I have a child who’s nearly 12, she’s just started secondary school, she’s not been given a smartphone, she has a brick phone.
‘And the reason why is because it is very difficult to control the sorts of information that they are getting.’