Prime Minister Andy Burnham has condemned as "abhorrent" the plan to livestream the execution of a notorious mass murderer by firing squad. The proposal, approved by US President Donald Trump, would broadcast the death of Fort Hood killer Nidal Hasan.
Speaking on The Rest is Politics podcast, Burnham said: "It's something that I can't say I ever want to see anywhere in the world. It's something that I find quite abhorrent in many ways." He added: "We can only in these times speak for our own values, what we would do and what we're about. We don't stand for that. We wouldn't support that and I certainly would never support that so I'm happy to make my view clear."
Britain must stand firm on right and wrong
The Prime Minister insisted the UK government did not need to offer a "constant running commentary on everybody else," but stressed Britain must stand firm on "what we believe is right and wrong." He added: "Let Britain stand for something in a world that seems to change every day."
Trump sparked global fury after approving the live execution of Hasan, a former US Army major and radicalised military psychiatrist who massacred 13 people at Texas military base Fort Hood in 2009. When quizzed on the White House lawn on Friday (October 9), Trump said: "Did I approve? I absolutely did."
First public execution since 1936
The US President added: "I'm going to make a determination about that, but he will be killed...I really don't care how he goes as long as he goes." The Pentagon confirmed Hasan will face a military firing squad on December 3. Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth is aggressively pushing to stream the execution live online in a bid to act as a "deterrent" to terrorists.
If the broadcast takes place, it will mark the first public execution in the US since Rainey Bethea was hanged in Kentucky in 1936. It would also be the first judicial killing in history streamed live to the world.
International and domestic backlash
Human rights group Amnesty International warned the move drags America into the same dark club as rogue regimes like Iran, Afghanistan, Saudi Arabia, North Korea and Yemen. The United Nations blasted the streaming plan as "tantamount to a public execution" that directly violates international bans on torture.
Even Trump's close allies have turned on the plan. Republican Senator Thom Tillis branded the livestream "beyond disgusting," warning it mirrors "what oppressive dictatorships like Iran and Afghanistan do." Former Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley said "that is not the company we want to keep." Meanwhile, Vice-President JD Vance added: "If it's ultimately live-streamed, I'm not going to be watching it."
