E-petition for return of the death penalty is doomed

A debate over whether the death penalty should be reinstated has been raging this week after an e-petition which could force MPs to debate the matter in Parliament gained support.

In an attempt to give the public more power over political debate, the government has launched a new website which allows petitions to be lodged and signed online. Should any one petition gain 100,000 signatures, it will automatically be considered by a committee of backbench MPs who will determine whether the issue should become the subject of a parliamentary debate.

A petition to restore capital punishment, an issue not debated in the Commons since 1998 but often cited as having wide public support, was among the first to gain publicity thanks in part to the efforts of political blogger Guido Fawkes (aka Paul Staines, above). But the issue of whether the proposition would pass, or indeed whether e-petitions are even a sensible idea, has split opinion.

The people must be heard. Sir George Young, Conservative MP and Leader of the House of Commons, has declared his support for the e-petitions website in today's Daily Mail, calling the scheme a "realistic way to revitalise public engagement".

"If lots of people want Parliament to do something which it rejects, then it is up to MPs to explain the reasons to their constituents," he said, referring to the capital punishment issue. "What else is Parliament for? People have strong opinions, and it does not serve democracy well if we ignore them or pretend that their views do not exist."

Certain crimes deserve death. "My instinct is that some crimes are so horrific that the proper punishment is the death penalty," said the Conservative MP Andrew Turner. He is not the only Tory politician to speak in favour of capital punishment in the Daily Mail today.

"People aren't happy with the current system," Priti Patel MP stated. "Without a doubt, I would favour restoring capital punishment for the most serious and significant crimes, like child murders. For me that would be unquestionable." Philip Davies, Conservative MP for Shipley, was more vociferous in his support: "I'd go further and restore it for all murderers."

The death penalty would save lives. Paul Staines, who blogs under the name 'Guido Fawkes' and is one of the e-petition's most vocal supporters, made his case in today's Times. "Capital punishment is the classic example of the disconnect between politicians and people," he writes. "Most MPs oppose it while a majority of the public has supported it ever since abolition in the Sixties."

The death penalty's abolition has simply not worked, he argues. "In 1964, the homicide rate was 6.3 per million; last year it was 13.5 per million. It is fair to posit that had the 'life-for-a-life' deterrent remained, thousands of lives would have been saved."

This petition won't get anywhere. The Daily Mail's 'Euroseptic' columnist, Mary Ellen Synon, has two words for campaigners: Lisbon Treaty. "The treaty's Charter of Fundamental Rights, Title 1, Article 2, section 2: 'No one shall be condemned to the death penalty, or executed.' That over-rides anything Parliament may decide on hanging."

She continued: "Now, what this e-petition thing could do is try to force a Commons vote on withdrawing from the treaty... but the Government's 'moderators' on the e-petitions will make sure that never happens."

The Spectator's David Blackburn was equally damning of the petition's chances, even if it makes it to the Commons floor. "Perverse though it sounds, capital punishment is an easy debate," he writes. "MPs will gaze into their navels and ruminate on all manner of philosophical questions and legal quandaries before deciding, by an emphatic margin, against lifting the ban. I usually baulk at making predictions, but I'd put my house, pension and golf clubs on that being the outcome." ·