Priti Patel denies backing death penalty but wants criminals to feel ‘terror’

British home secretary Priti Patel has denied having ever supported the death penalty, despite previously calling for it to be reintroduced, as she used her first interview as home secretary to say she wanted criminals to “literally feel terror”.

The Brexiteer was appointed to the home office by Boris Johnson^[2] last month after two years as a backbencher, prompting controversy over her past support for capital punishment.

However, Patel has now insisted that her previous claims did not mean she was an “active supporter” of the death penalty. She told the Daily Mail her comments on the issue were “constantly taken out of context” and claimed that footage of her endorsing the death penalty “may have been clipped”.
In her latest interview, she claimed she had previously been asked about deterrents in crime and said: “I think we need more deterrents obviously”.
Appearing on BBC, Patel said: “I... think when we have a criminal justice system that continuously fails in this country and where we have seen murderers, rapists and people who have committed the most abhorrent crimes in society, go into prison and then are released from prison to go out into the community to then re-offend.”
“And actually on that basis alone I would actually support the reintroduction of capital punishment to serve as a deterrent.”
^[1][3][4]

References

1. ^{^} Priti Patel (timesofindia.indiatimes.com)
2. ^{^} Boris Johnson (timesofindia.indiatimes.com)
3. ^{^} Daily Mail (timesofindia.indiatimes.com)
4. ^{^} BBC (timesofindia.indiatimes.com)

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