§ Mr. J. F. Pawsey (Rugby)I crave leave of the House, Mr. Speaker, to present a petition prepared by the people of Warwickshire, and specifically the parish of Binley Woods within the county of Warwickshire. The significance of the petition lies not in its numbers but rather in the fact that it is a spontaneous petition. It has been prepared not by a pressure group or by a political party but by the ordinary people of the ordinary parish of Binley Woods within Warwickshire.
The petition sets out a request to this honourable House to reconsider the reintroduction of the death penalty for certain serious crimes.
With the permission of the House, Mr. Speaker, I shall read the petition:
To the honourable the Commons of Great Britain and Northern Ireland in Parliament assembled.The humble petition of residents of Warwickshire shewethThat the level of serious crime is increasing, that current punishments are not sufficient deterrents, and that no matter how serious it might be the punishment should fit the crime committed.Wherefore your petitioners humbly pray that your honourable House will reinstate the death penalty for certain crimes.And your petitioners, as in duty bound, will ever pray, etc.
§ To lie upon the Table.