A CONTROVERSIAL e-petition calling for the restoration of the death penalty has been signed by a Wirral Euro MP.

The petition, presented by Paul Staines, writer of the libertarian Guido Fawkes blog, has already been backed by several MPs.

Leader of the House of Commons, Sir George Young, has warned it would damage democracy to ignore strong opinions among members of the public "or pretend that their views do not exist".

Sir George spoke out ahead of the publication on Thursday of the first submissions to a new e-petitions scheme which could see the most popular appeals discussed in Parliament.

Among the most prominent is one calling for legislation allowing child killers and those who murder on-duty police officers to face execution.

Wirral MEP Paul Nuttall has added his name to the e-petition and said: "I am in favour of restoring the death penalty for child and serial killers.

"I think capital punishment is needed for such heinous crimes and I know that many other people feel the same."

He said a YouGov poll last year found that 74% of people supported the death penalty for murder in some circumstances.

And he added: "Generally too much attention is paid to the so called 'human rights' of offenders, what about the rights of victims and their families?"

Sir George spoke out ahead of the publication on Thursday of the first submissions to a new e-petitions scheme which could see the most popular appeals discussed in Parliament.

Tory MP Priti Patel said such a debate was long overdue and that she favoured restoring capital punishment "for the most serious and significant crimes" - a position echoed by party colleague Andrew Turner.

The death penalty was abolished as a sentence for murder in the UK in 1965.

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