May orders abuse inquiry after Mail’s revelations
Theresa May last night ordered an independent inquiry into the ‘horrifying’ intimidation of MPs after it emerged that Conservatives are receiving at least three ‘ credible’ threats a week. the Prime Minister pledged to ‘ stamp out’ abuse faced by MPs and candidates as she said many had suffered ‘shocking’ threats, bullying and harassment in the election campaign.
the decision to order an inquiry came following a series of Daily Mail revelations about how Conservatives have been targeted – both verbally and physically – by Left-wing activists.
Fresh allegations of abuse emerged in a Commons debate last night as MPs accused the Labour leadership and social media firms of failing to tackle the problem.
tory MP simon Hart, who had tabled the debate, said at least three ‘ credible’ threats against Conservative MPs have been dealt with every week since the election by party officials, including ‘death threats, criminal damage, sexism, racism, homophobia, anti-semitism and general thuggishness’.
Another tory, MP Andrew Percy, who was the victim of an anti-semitic attack by a Jeremy Corbyn supporter, said the Labour party hierarchy was guilty of stoking the flames of aggression.
the inquiry will be conducted by the independent Committee on standards in Public Life, chaired by Lord Bew. But shadow home secretary Diane Abbott denied there was a particular problem from the hard-Left faction of her party. the Mail has led the way in reporting the intimidation against tory MPs after it was raised in the Commons last month by sheryll Murray whose posters were daubed with swastikas and had her office door urinated on.
Yesterday we revealed how Maria Caulfield, the MP for Lewes, had her car tyres slashed outside her family home and had reported three death threats.
Mr Percy, a convert to Judaism, told the Mail how he had been called ‘Zionist scum’, while Ameet Jogia, who stood against Labour frontbencher Barry Gardiner in Brent north, found a voting booth vandalised with graffiti stating: ‘Vote Labour Barry, not Jogia. Keep p**** out of politics.’ Yesterday in Parliament, MPs from all parties raised concerns about abuse they had faced ahead of last month’s snap election.
But Mr Percy warned Mr Corbyn was the motivation for many of the atacks.
He said ‘ i’ve had death threats for a number of years, What is different about what is happening at this election, in which i was subjected to anti-semitic abuse, my staff were spat at, my boards and property attacked, is it has been politically motivated.
‘the elephant in the room is it is being motivated by the language of some political leaders, when they accuse people of one political side of murder, when they dehumanise them in the way that is happening at the moment. there’s something more sinister to this.’
social media firms were accused of failing to act over attacks online. tory MP David Jones told how Byron Davies, who lost his seat in Gower, was victim of false claims he was being investigated for electoral fraud.
Mr Jones said: ‘there was a constant drip feed on social media from people simply making it up. social media companies would not help.’
rehman Chishti, the tory MP for Gillingham and rainham, told how a Labour activist shouted racist abuse when it was declared he had won on election night.
He said: ‘i have to say the culture in this election campaign was one of the most difficult i have experienced.’
the inquiry will assess the current protections in place and report back to Mrs May with recommendations on ways to tackle abuse.
Mrs May said: ‘i have been horrified by stories from colleagues about the scale and nature of the intimidation, bullying and harassment they suffered during the general election campaign.
‘robust debate is a vital part of our democracy, but there can be no place for the shocking threats and abuse we have seen in recent months.’
Lord Bew said he would use the inquiry to find ways to protect people in public life.
‘My staff were spat at’