Do You Think We Should Bring Back The Death Penalty?

[fakenamefornow]

I have heard all opinion polls say most people think we should, assuming that's true, do you think we should. Four questions, did you vote leave or remain, do you still think we should leave, do you want the death penalty back and if most people do, do you think we should have it?

I voted remain
I don't think we should leave the EU despite the leave vote.
I don't want a death penalty.
I don't think we should have a death penalty even if that's what most of the electorate do want.

I understand.
I'm just not sure why people think referendums are a bad thing? surely in matters of great importance, like whether we stay within the EU, the people should have a say?

Because it was overly simple and most people don't know enough about it in order to be able to make an informed decision. So said the electoral commission in their pre referendum investigation into it.

snuggleblanket -do you mean what were MPs views on Brexit? If I remember correctly, about 500 for leave, about 150 for stay.

Referendums are not a bad thing as such.

They are democracy in its purist form, but that is not all democracy is.

Referendum have the problem where they create majorities which are binary and then do not listen to the other section of the population - in this case, close to half who voted and less than half of the population as a whole (and this does not include those living here with no intension to leave who have not got the right to vote for what ever reason, nor British citizens living abroad who have lost their right to vote who will be deeply impacted)

Such popularism does not build public consensus and they are open to abuse by those in charge who can claim a wider mandate than the vote was ever intended to suggest.

Remember in this case, the EU ref was advisory. This by its nature suggests there should be some discussion after the fact. The government has now said it is binding and there will be no discussion.

Decisions are being made based on the idea that people voted for it, yet they are not what they voted for. There are lots of Leavers stating this now.

Referendums are not the way to improve democracy. Democracy also includes the responsibility of listening to the interests and needs of minorities.

We vote for people to represent us. The idea is that we have chosen them to make decisions on our behalf- they know more about whatever it is than we do.

No. Never & I'm a remainer

*Today 11:34 BertrandRussell

We vote for people to represent us. The idea is that we have chosen them to make decisions on our behalf- they know more about whatever it is than we do

So the tories could have decided to withdraw from the EU without a referendum at all?

( sorry to be a bit dim )

Technically, I suppose, yes. But there was an overwhelming majority in favour of Remain on both sides of tthe House, so calling for a vote on the subject would have resulted in a massive defeat for the Tories, a vote of no confidence and a leadership election.

Does anyone actually think the only reason we don't have the death penalty in this country is because we were a member of the EU?
I don't see any connection between the 2 things at all. There are many non EU countries that don't have capital punishment. It's not something that has ever been exclusive to EU members.
I think this post is quite bizarre and I do not believe the UK would reintroduce the death penalty. I do however believe that the UK is right to leave the EU.

Get a grip. If this is the same study that was linked to in more detail recently, then what it actually shows is:
70% of those people who are in favour of the death penalty were likely to vote Leave.

It does NOT say 70% of leave voters favour the death penalty.

We have had numerous votes in Parliament since it was abolished on whether it should be reintroduced. I believe, like abortion, it is usually a whipless vote and therefore failed on MPs voting according to their conscience. I cannot see many MPs voting for it.
We couldn't reintroduce it whilst part of the EU following a change to the Human Rights treaty in 2002. We won't even if we leave.

*failed should have been relied. Dyac. It subtly changes the tone of the sentence and implies I think the votes should have suceeded. Which I dont.
Am pro-choice and against the death penalty.

Does anyone actually think the only reason we don't have the death penalty in this country is because we were a member of the EU?

That's not the point of the thread at all. The thread is asking if people think that we should always get what the majority of the public want. Historically opinion polls have always suggested strong (now I believe falling) support for the death sentence, despite this Parliament has ignored public opinion and not re-introduced it believing (I assume) that they know better what's right for the country and of course their own conscience.

Evidence of strong support for the death penalty? I don't think there is. You might get a strong yes if you frame questions very carefully but if you present a few balancing facts it would be different.

I saw earlier this week that the percentage of people in the UK in favour of the death penalty is 48%.

That's still far too close to the 50% mark than I would like.

Where Red?

BBC 2015

"Support for death penalty drops below 50% for the first time - BBC News

Support for the death penalty in Britain has dropped below 50% for the first time on record, the British Social Attitudes survey says."

www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-32061822

It's under 50% and presumably falling pretty quickly if down from 75% not that long ago.

Bertrand thanks for replying. It was your point about politicians representing their constituency. I was wondering, if how each constituency voted was reflected thus in the house, what would be the remain/Leave representation. Rather than the MOs view iyswim. And parliamentary rules like free votes and whips, will they come into play and with what effect, in relation to A50?

Well that has surprised me! It is a very small sample though so would be interesting to know how they collect that data and the demographic. If it's knocking on doors during the day you'll get a different response to an internet poll.

The thread is asking if people think that we should always get what the majority of the public want

Unfortunately what the majority of the public want can depend much too much on what mainstream media want. There is also an element of how well educated society in general is.

This was the map I saw on twitter. It is unsourced so I can't tell you how good the data is, but perhaps gives you an idea of how the UK compared to the rest of Europe.

We are not the most liberal minded. France is interesting and I suspect influenced by recent terror attacks.

I really am surprised.

I was thinking some more about referenda / plebiscites recently, as where I am in the US frequently puts issues to the public vote that would never ever ever go be voted on in the UK. For example, locally (town level) there was a vote on whether to raise taxes to invest more money in children's services; a next door town had a vote on whether to change their system of government. State-wide, there is a vote coming up on whether to change the law on battery hen farming and veal crate; legalizing marijuana; and whether to lift the cap on the number of charter schools allowed.

One very striking thing is that as well as the predictable campaigning on both sides of the various debates, ballot papers were accompanied by a very very detailed booklet setting out the arguments for and against each question in very simple but not dumbed down language. There were details on where to find more information, as well as the actual proposed amendment to the legislation, and a straightforward summary of "If the legal change happens, the consequences will be X; if the legal position stays the same, the consequences will be Y". Frankly, I have never seen such well-written and helpful political material!

Chatting to friends here, however, they are frustrated by the system because it takes so long to make any major changes (impossible to organise a referendum overnight). They liked the idea that we can elect representatives (whether that's MPs or local councillors) and give them the authority to make the decisions, even if they weren't entirely convinced about the mechanism for holding them to account.

I voted remain.

I don't think we should leave the EU despite the leave vote. OR, we should do some kind of Fudgit where we basically stay in. I am most concerned about the economy suffering and about all of us being stripped of our right to freedom of movement.

I don't want a death penalty. I'd actively protest against one.

I don't think we should have a death penalty even if that's what most of the electorate do want.

Because it was overly simple and most people don't know enough about it in order to be able to make an informed decision. So said the electoral commission in their pre referendum investigation into it

That's well and truly buried under the patio now, isn't it?

I don't think that there is much difference between French and English attitudes on the death penalty. 48% being for the death penalty in the uk is similar to 50% in France. These surveys are inaccurate anyway. I am surprised by how attitudes vary across Europe. The Balkan countries are very pro death penalty.

There is no way I want the death penalty retored.