footage of her endorsing the death penalty “may have been clipped”.
Ms Patel was sacked as international development secretary by Theresa May in 2017 after holding
undeclared meetings with the Israeli government, but made a stunning return to government under Mr
Johnson.
In her latest interview, she claimed she had previously been asked about deterrents in crime and said: “I
think we need more deterrents obviously.”
Appearing on the BBC’s Question Time in 2011, Ms Patel said: “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, because I do think we do not have enough deterrents in this
country for criminals.”
She also told the Mail on Sunday in 2006, the year she was chosen as a Conservative candidate: “If you had
the ultimate punishment for the murder of policemen and other heinous crimes, I am sure it would act as a
deterrent. We must send a clear signal to people that crime doesn’t pay. The punishment must fit the crime
and yes, I do support capital punishment.”
Mr Johnson has pledged to spend £1.1bn on 20,000 more police officers over the next three years. As the
cabinet minister tasked with implementing the policy, Ms Patel said she wanted to make potential criminals
literally feel terror.
“I’ve always felt the Conservative Party is the party of the police and police officers,” she said. “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.
“My focus now is restating our commitment to law and order and restating our commitment to the people
on the front line, the police. The key thing is that we empower them to stop criminality. The Conservative
Party is the party of law and order. Full stop. The defence of our nation, defence of our streets and law and
order are at the heart of our values.”
But Ed Davey, the Liberal Democrats’ home affairs spokesperson, said: “Priti Patel’s notion that making
people terrified of the police will cut crime shows just how out of touch she is with what’s leading some
young people into crime in the first place.
“So often young people say they carry knives because they are afraid of other young people in gangs. We
need more police so these young people can feel less afraid as they now trust the police to be there, not
because the police add to their fears.”