Dear Mr Cameron
As your ministers and officials gather for the “Cobra” security meeting today in the wake of the hacking to death of a soldier in Woolwich, South East London, please consider this. As the shock of the incident begins to wear away, this is a wake-up moment for you, your Government and the country. It is simply not good enough to punish the men responsible by housing them in one of Her Majesty’s Hotels with free board and lodging. This is terrorism. You need to display courage and determination in responding to this horrific killing of an off-duty soldier. The images of the blood-stained assassin cleaver-wielding without remorse have shocked us all. This is now the time to consider the reinstatement of the death penalty. Please ask your Cobra colleagues to think about it, and then go to the country for a referendum on this issue.
Ed Miliband said "this terror on our streets cannot be allowed to stand....those responsible face the full force of British justice". Oh wow. I bet the radicalised Muslims in this country are quaking in their boots. The full force of British Justice means a long Prison term. All the while the people responsible will be able to continue preaching their message of hatred and intolerance to those alongside them in Prison and to the outside world.
58 nations currently have the death penalty and 60% of the world’s population live in countries where the death penalty exists. The European Union Human Rights Charter has effectively abolished the death sentence. But this dreadful killing in the name of a religion should not be treated as just another crime. This is an attack on the very fabric of our society. If we are merely to wag a finger at the perpetrators and scold them, then we can expect a growth in Islamic fundamentalism turning to radicalisation. Of course the arguments against the death penalty are well rehearsed. We will make martyrs of terrorists by their lawful killing by the State. I say so be it, Mr Cameron. You need to show to the world that the British Government is not going to be weak-kneed when faced with such brazen acts of terrorism. In circumstances where it is 100% clear who the perpetrator is, and the murder is a clear act of terrorism as in this case, we should give the Courts the option of a death penalty. Let the woolly-headed liberals bray and tut, this is war against terrorism, and as such, we must have the ultimate penalty for those who would bend us to their evil will.
You are tough-talking premier who doesn’t shy away from difficult decisions about the economy, schools and the NHS. Go down in history as the man who led the fight against terrorism in Britain from the front. Give the people a choice: A referendum on reinstating the death penalty for certain crimes. Crimes not just against an individual whose life has been taken away, but crimes against the state, and the people of this country.
Let the people decide. I think you know how they will speak.
Yours sincerely
Terry Robertson
