Civilised countries don't extradite people to be murdered, and the UK, as part of its pretence to be a civilised country, supposedly has a consistent opposition to the death penalty. Except, apparently, when the Americans want to murder UK citizens:
Senior MPs of all parties have condemned the decision to allow two murderous British Isis fighters to face the death penalty in the United States – as the government admitted it had also secretly lifted objections in previous cases.
Ministers faced a furious backlash after confirming they had not demanded a “no execution” assurance in return for handing over the jihadis, the remaining members of the “Beatles” group.
The move was branded “abhorrent and shameful”, with warnings the UK would be guilty of “arrant hypocrisy” the next time it urged any other country to abandon the death penalty.
[...]
At one point, [security minister Ben] Wallace said he had “respect” for countries that allowed the death penalty, although it is UK policy to oppose it worldwide.
Significantly, the minister revealed that Britons had been sent abroad in the past with no block on use of the death penalty, agreeing to supply MPs with details “for your summer reading”.
So, senior UK government Ministers are secret death penalty supporters, who have repeatedly extradited UK citizens to be murdered in foreign countries. That's something UKanians should find intolerable. They should be demanding this Minister - and government's - (metaphorical) head, and demanding that UK law categorically forbid extradition in death penalty cases.
(If you're wondering what the situation is in New Zealand, the Extradition Act allows the government to refuse extradition in death penalty cases, but does not require it. Pretty obviously, we need to fix this, to prevent spineless Ministers from doing a Britain and compromising our values in order to grovel to murderous foreign powers).
