The End of the Rope

Fifty years ago today the UK Parliament passed a Private Members Bill into law. It ensured that no criminal in the United Kingdom would ever hear the following words again:

The sentence of this court is that you will be taken from here to the place from whence you came and there be kept in close confinement until [date of execution], and upon that day that you be taken to the place of execution and there hanged by the neck until you are dead. 

And may the Lord have mercy upon your soul.

In abolishing capital punishment, Parliament was miles ahead of public opinion. It took until March of this year for support for the return of hanging to drop below 50%. After many horrific murders, or terrorist attacks, or police officers dying on duty, there are often calls for the death penalty to be reinstated.

And yet it hasn't. So, thank you, Sydney Silverman, the MP who introduced the Bill. And thank you to every parliamentarian who helped to make Britain a more civilised place that day.