BRITAIN should have a referendum on reinstating the death penalty, Reform’s Lee Anderson has said.
The party chairman told The Sun that voters would overwhelmingly support bringing back capital punishment – but admits he has not convinced his leader Nigel Farage on the idea.
He said: “Referendums are very divisive. We learnt that with the Brexit referendum, it divides the country and gets families falling out with each other. So yes I would, but it would be divisive, very divisive.”
Mr Farage has consistently argued against the death penalty, warning that innocent people could slip through the net and pay the ultimate price.
Mr Anderson said: “We differ. People say, ‘Oh, Nigel doesn’t agree with the death penalty and you’re divided,’ what a load of b****s that is!
He adds: “This is how out of touch I think Parliament is. I think the public would vote for the death penalty. Parliament would never vote for the death penalty.”
Capital punishment was suspended in 1965 and officially abolished four years later.
More Britons support reintroducing capital punishment than oppose it, according to YouGov polling.
Data published last year found that 50 per cent of the public support it while 45 per cent are against it.
Mr Anderson aired his support for the death penalty in 2015 after claiming nobody had “ever committed a crime after being executed.”
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The MP for Ashfield has suggested it should be used for murders where the case is clear cut.
He has regularly cited the murder of Fusilier Lee Rigby by an Islamist extremists Michael Adebolajo and Michael Adebowale.
Adebolajo was given a whole life term meaning he will die in prison.
The last people executed in Britain were Peter Allen and Gwynne Evans on 13 August 1964.
Britain would be prevented from re-introducing the death penalty as it is a signatory of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR).