Priti Patel wants criminals to ‘literally feel terror’ but her comments should fill all of us with fear

Emily Apple


Priti Patel has said she wants criminals to “feel terror” at the thought of offending. In her first interview as home secretary, she pledged to get a grip on violent crime after Boris Johnson committed to recruiting 20,000 more police officers.

Se told the Daily Mail:

Quite frankly, with more police officers out there and greater police presence, I want (criminals) to literally feel terror at the thought of committing offences.

Start your day with The Canary News Digest

Fresh and fearless; get excellent independent journalism from The Canary, delivered straight to your inbox every morning.

Related articles

Be afraid. Be very afraid.

But as Twitter users pointed out, every single one of us should be scared by Patel’s comments:

 

And as the Network for Police Monitoring pointed out, there are some very real implications to what Patel is advocating:

Support for the death penalty

Patel previously said in 2006 she was in favour of the “ultimate punishment” for the worst of crimes, and supported the death penalty during a Question Time debate on the subject in 2011.

Asked about the death penalty, she told the Mail: “I have never said I’m an active supporter of it and (what I said) is constantly taken out of context.”

But her comments on the BBC paint a slightly different picture:

I do actually 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 do the types of crime they have committed again and again.

I think that’s appalling. And actually on that basis alone I would actually support the reintroduction of capital punishment to serve as a deterrent.

Social media users weren’t impressed with Patel’s attempt to spin her previous comments:

No matter what she claims, Patel’s views on capital punishment are part of the public record. Her appointment and her comments are yet another reason why everyone one of us should be scared of Boris Johnson’s premiership. But being scared doesn’t mean being cowed. And we all need to get active and fight to get rid of this vicious nasty government.

Additional reporting by PA.

Since you're here ...

We know you don't need a lecture. You wouldn't be here if you didn't care.
Now, more than ever, we need your help to challenge the rightwing press and hold power to account. Please help us survive and thrive.

The Canary Support
  • Show Comments

    1. You would think Britain was a hot bed of crime the way Patel talks wouldn’t you? Context is needed here. The alleged increase in knife crime in London I would suggest is that the police are reporting it to the media who sell papers with their headlines. I strongly suspect the truth is there is no such rampant increase in knife crime in London, it is just being reported on more.
      Don’t forget, Patel was sacked by Treason May, whilst allegedly on holiday in the Golan Heights she met with Netanyahoo and other prominent Israeli politicians. God knows what she was cooking up with them but this woman has no morals or integrity.

    Leave a Reply

    Join the conversation

    Please read our comment moderation policy here.

Related articles