MP is rapped for swearing during liveTV interview
BIRMINGHAM MP Jack Dromey was told off during a live lunchtime TV interview for swearing twice on air.
Discussing abuse aimed at MPs, the Labour politician said he said got “s***” from right-wingers.
Mr Dromey (Lab Erdington ) was speaking on BBC Two’s Daily Politics show.
And he was told to stop swearing by the show’s host, political journalist Andrew Neil.
Mr Neil asked him about claims that left-wing Labour activists who say they support party leader Jeremy Corbyn had been using social media such as Twitter to abuse MPs they disagreed with.
Mr Dromey, a shadow business minister, told him that abuse of politicians had been “getting worse for some years”.
He added: “Now, I personally don’t get, that much, if you’ll excuse the language, s***.
“But the s*** that I get comes overwhelmingly from the right.
“But it doesn’t matter where it comes from, it is unacceptable. And anyone who practises that is completely wrong.”
Mr Neil interrupted to say: “I think
Iwhen we are talking about abuse it would be best if we didn’t use abusive language on daytime television.”
Mr Dromey replied: “But sometimes it’s appropriate because I feel very strongly about what you see?”
Mr Neil told him: “Yeah, but don’t think that was appropriate.”
He added: “I understand but don’t use it again please.”
The interview took place following the publication of a report which warned that racism and bigotry aimed at politicians had been “on the rise” since the 2015 general election .
It highlighted a number of cases of abuse during the latest campaign, including reports by Tory former minister Andrew Percy, a convert to Judaism, that he had been called “Zionist scum”.
Tory Sheryll Murray has told how she was left “sickened” when her posters were daubed with swastikas, while Ameet Jogia, an Indian-origin Conservative party candidate who stood against Labour’s Barry Gardiner in Brent North, reported finding a voting booth vandalised with graffiti, stating: “Vote Labour Barry, not Jogia. Keep p**** out of politics”.
The report said: “We conclude that more could and should be done by political parties to prepare candidates for the ruthless nature of campaigning. This might include personal safety sessions and briefings from experienced campaigners.”
Labour and the Conservatives have both accused the other of failing to act to stamp out abuse by their members and activists.
Conservative MP Simon Hart has secured a debate in Westminster Hall on the abuse and intimidation of candidates and the public in UK elections.
And he said in an interview with the Daily Mail that Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn should do more to condemn attacks made by his supporters.
But Labour says that the Conservatives are guilty of vitriolic personal attacks on election candidates.
Labour chair Ian Lavery and Cat Smith, shadow minister for voter engagement, said Tories ran a “negative, nasty” general election campaign full of smears and untruths about opponents, particularly shad-
I think when we are talking about abuse it would be best if we didn’t use abusive language on daytime television
ow home secretary Diane Abbott. In a letter to Conservative party chairman Sir Patrick McLoughlin, they said: “Such attacks on politicians, the consequent intimidating and abusive language and threats of violence towards them online, deter many people from entering politics.
“Parties and politicians have a responsibility to set an example, by treating others with dignity and respect, including those with whom we strongly disagree.
“The Conservative Party has instead promoted personal attacks as a core component of its national campaign.
“Abuse against candidates on social media is completely unacceptable.
“The Conservative Party perpetrated this on an industrial scale by spending millions of pounds to post highly personalised and nasty attack adverts on voters’ Facebook timelines without their permission.”
Birmingham MP Jess Phillips has spoken out against abuse of politicians after someone took a photograph of Labour MP Yvette Cooper on a train, apparently sitting in first class, and posted it on Twitter with the words: “Was it too busy in standard?”
Ms Phillips said on Twitter: “This can no longer be seen as individual incidents. This is targeted to control, isolate and manipulate. It has to stop.”
TV host Andrew Neil