Nile Gardiner, a former aide to Margaret Thatcher, has called for the death penalty for convicted grooming gang members.

Speaking to Bev Turner on GB News' flagship US programme, The Late Show Live, Mr Gardiner argued that while the state should be "extremely careful about the application" of the death penalty, "it works".

Mr Gardiner, who serves as director of the US-based Margaret Thatcher Centre for Freedom, told Bev: "It's effective. Most people support it. It is a big deterrent.

"In the case of the recent grooming gang scandal, for example, there are a number of people who deserve the death penalty for that.

Nile Gardiner, a former aide to Margaret Thatcher, has called for the death sentence to be used against convicted grooming gang members

"If they were executed, it would be hugely popular, I think, with the British people."

However, Bev expressed caution at the idea of capital punishment making a return to Britain.

The Late Show Live host said: "I don't think any government would ever would ever do that for all sorts of reasons.

"But can you imagine the morning of waking up and knowing that somebody is about to die at the hands of the state?

Bev expressed caution at the idea of capital punishment making a return to Britain

"You would have children going into school that morning knowing that the Government is killing someone."

Bev went on to suggest that the British public may not be "ready" for the death penalty to be re-introduced.

However, Mr Gardiner said the case for capital punishment should be put to the people via a referendum - and that he believes "that side would actually win".

The former Thatcher aide added: "I think it's such a serious issue that it should be put to the British people.

"It would require, of course, getting out of all of these ludicrous European conventions and fully reasserting British sovereignty."

Donald Trump signed a presidential memorandum looking to restore the death penalty in Washington DC

The debate over capital punishment came after US Attorney General Pam Bondi's announcement that the Trump administration wants the death penalty to be rolled out nationally.

On Thursday, US President Donald Trump signed a presidential memorandum looking to restore the death penalty in Washington DC.

Mr Trump told reporters in the Oval Office that if "you kill somebody, or if you kill a police officer, law enforcement officer - death penalty".

However, Ms Bondi told the media that the administration would be seek to reinstate the punishment in the American capital, but "all over the country, again.”

The death penalty was used in Britain between the Anglo-Saxon era up until the middle of the 20th century.

The last executions to take place on British soil came in August 1964, when Peter Allen and Gwynne Evans were hung for murder.

According to recent YouGov polling, 57 per cent of Britons would support the use of the death penalty for terrorist murder, while 54 per cent would back the punishment for child killers.

Capital punishment is still used in 55 countries across the globe, with the top executioners being China, Iran, Saudi Arabia and the US.