Well, it is the Silly Season. From Donald Trump to Priti Patel, the death penalty is somehow news again.
It is not going to come back in Britain, of course. It stopped being polled here years ago because it no longer provided the Establishment's desired result. That was the ability to point to the apparent views of the plebs and opine that, "If you left it them, then they'd bring back hanging."
Had the polls still shown much support for capital punishment, then David Cameron would never have held a referendum on membership of the EU.
But since the debate is being had for a few days, then look at the wide differences in existing sentencing based on class, ethnicity, and political persuasion. Then ask yourself, for the same offence, who would be hanged, and who would not be.
It was ever thus.
As you know a lot of paleocons are against the death penalty, and all libertarians are by definition. Talk about state power. As for Old Right types who favour it, or Alt Right and Far Right ones come to that, what do they think they'd get for the same crime as a neoliberal neocon? Which one would hang?
ReplyDeleteVery well said.
DeleteNothing better illustrates the bankruptcy of class-illiterate identity politics than the new Cabinet in general and Priti Patel in particular.
ReplyDeleteSpot on.
DeleteEnoch Powell and Denis Thatcher were both strongly opposed to the death penalty, it is interesting that Margaret Thatcher never tried to bring it back despite later claiming in her autobiography that she was still in favour of it.
ReplyDeleteShe claimed to support a lot of things that somehow she never got round to doing.
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