FEAR OF MURDER IN ENGLAND MOVES HOUSE OF LORDS

Grey River Argus, 4 June 1948, Page 5

FEAR OF MURDER IN ENGLAND MOVES HOUSE OF LORDS

Death Penalty Still Desired 1 i LONDON, June 2.

The House of Lords, after a daylong' debate, voted by 181 votes to 28 in favour of a motion by Lord Llewellyn (a former Minister) to relieve from the “Criminal Justice Bill”, the clause providing that the death penalty shall be abolished. Another ex-Minister, Lord Simon, asserted that he never remembered British opinion being so definitely against any measure as it was against the abolition of the death penalty. He said that with the waiving of the extreme penalty for murder, British women had never before so feared a knock at the door after dark. Lord Bruce said he believed the death penalty was a deterrent to murderers. To abolish it would be an experiment in innocent lives. The House of Lords will now send the Bill back to the House of Commons for reconsideration.

Death Penalty Still Law

(Rec 9.58) LONDON, June 3. During the debate in .the House of Lords on the death penalty, Lord Chief Justice Goggard sharply criticised the Home Secretary, Mr Chuter Ede for what he termed his “unconstitutional” action in announcing a reprieve for all murderers before the House of Commons no-hang-ing clause had become law. He said that the law of the land was still that convicted murderers should suffer the death penalty. But the Home Secretary had announced that not only would those men at present under sentence of death be reprieved, but that all future murderers would be reprieved. Lord Goddard said: — “If this is not altering the law bv administrative action, I do not know what it is.” The Lord Chancellor, Lord Jowitt, intervening, agreed that if the House of Lords killed the no-hanging clause then the Home Secretary would have to consider a new situation.

WILL CABINET COMPROMISE WITH SOME MURDERS ?

(Rec 11.0 p.m.) LONDON, June 3. The Cabinet will to-day consider the situation arising from the House of Lords’ rejection of the no-hanging One suggestion is that Cabinet may either again leave the decision to a free vote of the House of Commons, or seek a compromise by introducing a special Bill defining degrees of murder, with some of these carrying the death penalty and others long terms of imprisonment.