Reform UK MPs Lee Anderson and Rupert Lowe have called for the death penalty to be reintroduced in Britain in the wake of Axel Rudakubana’s sentencing.
The Southport killer was handed a life sentence with a minimum term of 52 years by Judge Goose this afternoon.
He concluded that the concurrent nature of the punishment means that it is highly likely Rudakubana will never be released from prison.
But according to Anderson and Lowe, the punishment doesn’t go far enough.
The pair have both tweeted in the aftermath calling for the death sentence to be reintroduced in Britain for the first time since the 1960s.
Anderson posted a picture of a noose while Lowe posted “It is my opinion that now is the time for a national debate on the use of the death penalty in exceptional circumstances.”
The party’s chief whip also told The Express newspaper: “I have been consistent on the issue of the death penalty.”
“This animal has no right to breathe the same air as the rest of us.”
The last instance of capital punishment in the UK took place in August 1964, when Gwynne Evans and Peter Allen were executed for murder.
The following year, Parliament passed a law suspending the death penalty across Great Britain (this did not extend to Northern Ireland) for all crimes except high treason, “piracy with violence”, arson in royal dockyards, and espionage.
It was only with the Human Rights Act coming into force in 1998 that the death penalty was banned under UK law in all circumstances.
A 2022 YouGov poll has shown that 40 per cent of people still support the death penalty, down from 51 per cent in 2010.
Related: US Capitol rioter explains why she won’t accept pardon from Trump