Support for bringing back the death penalty has emerged among almost half of British students, according to a major new survey of young voters.
The poll, which questioned 1,018 undergraduates aged 18 to 21, found 47 per cent were in favour of restoring capital punishment, while 46 per cent said they opposed it for all crimes.
The findings place students almost exactly in line with the wider public, where 50 per cent support the death penalty and 45 per cent oppose it.
Capital punishment for murder was abolished in Britain in 1969. The last executions took place in August 1964, when Peter Anthony Allen and Gwynne Owen Evans were hanged.
Hamas backed over Israel
In the United States, the death penalty remains legal in 27 of 50 states, although 11 are classified as “abolitionist in practice”, meaning they have not carried out an execution in more than a decade, reports The Times.
The survey also explored student attitudes on global conflicts and domestic policy debates.
On the Israel-Gaza war, 28 per cent of students said the October 7 Hamas attacks were “defensible”, while 34 per cent described them as “indefensible”. A further 37 per cent said they were unsure.
Students were more critical of Israel’s response, with around half calling it “indefensible” and only 18 per cent saying it was justified, states GB News.
By comparison, previous polling suggests 45 per cent of UK adults believe Israel’s actions are not justified.
On defence policy, students showed strong backing for unilateral nuclear disarmament in the UK, with 72 per cent in favour compared with just 11 per cent of adults.
Support for wealth tax, transgender issues
The poll also found around six in 10 students support a wealth tax, although backing was weaker among Conservative and Reform UK supporters than among Labour, Liberal Democrat, Green, SNP and Plaid Cymru students.
On social policy, around one third supported transgender people using facilities aligned with their gender identity, while 47 per cent backed historical reparations for the slave trade compared with 24 per cent of adults nationally.
Nick Hillman, chief executive of the Higher Education Policy Institute (HEPI) and author of the report, said the findings came amid debate over so-called “culture war” tensions in universities.
He said: “We decided to ask students for their views on a range of issues because of the idea that a ‘culture war’ has taken root and because universities and those who oversee them have been wrestling with new rules on free speech.”
He added that students’ opinions were “strikingly different” on a small number of issues.
“They are more sympathetic to the proscribed terrorist group Hamas, more supportive of reparations for the slave trade and more in favour of unilateral nuclear disarmament,” he said.
“Comparing the views of students with those of all adults is revealing because today’s students are tomorrow’s leaders.”