Don’t talk to him... his dad’s aTory
What Left-wing teacher told the classmates of war hero MP’s son
A CONSERVATIVE MP revealed yesterday how a teacher told his teenage son’s classmates not to talk to him because ‘his dad’s a Tory’.
Bob Stewart said four of his children had been ‘hassled’ by other students because of his job.
The 68-year- old MP is a former British Army officer who served in Northern Ireland and rose to become United Nations Commander during the Bosnian war.
MPs shouted ‘shame’ as he recounted the episode during a debate on the intimidation of Parliamentary candidates during the election campaign.
Mr Stewart, who represents Beckenham in south-east London, was just one of many MPs from different parties who described how they had been subjected to abuse and harassment. He said the shocking treatment had been ‘taken to a new level’ by the teacher’s behaviour.
Mr Stewart, first elected as a Tory MP in 2010 and who has a Distinguished Service Order from the Army, told the Commons: ‘ My children have been hassled by other kids in their local schools because of the job of their father.
‘There’s little that can be done about that because they’re children, and my kids are robust enough to withstand it.
‘But such behaviour is taken to a new level when during the last general election a teacher tells the class of my 13-year-old boy that nobody should talk to him because he’s the son of a Conservative MP.’
Home Office minister Sarah Newton, speaking for the Government, described Mr Stewart’s story as ‘deeply troubling’.
‘That is simply unacceptable,’ she said. ‘Those people in a position of authority and influence, such as a teacher, should be supporting and upholding the shared values of our country, and it’s disappointing to hear somebody in such a position letting their profession down.’
Yesterday, the head teacher of the school attended by Mr Stewart’s 13-year-old son issued a statement saying it was taking the matter ‘very seriously’.
She said such behaviour would be ‘wholly unacceptable and not tolerated by the school’ and would be meeting the MP. The committee on standards in public life is undertaking a review of intimidation experienced by parliamentary candidates. It is estimated that the cost of protecting MPs has risen to £3million a year following the murder of Labour MP Jo Cox last year.
At the debate yesterday, other MPs recounted tales of the abuse, harassment and intimi- dation they suffered during the general election. Christine Jardine, Liberal Democrat MP for Edinburgh West, said a fake Facebook profile in her name was created and accused her of flouting a ban on campaigning after the Manchester attack. She was actually at her husband’s funeral. She called for stronger protection from online abuse after recounting her experiences while she mourned for her husband.
‘On a day when I was coping with my own and my family’s grief I had to put up with the mindless, vindictive online attacks which followed,’ she said. ‘I know my own experience is far from the worst example. It is time those of us in Parliament, with the support network and the strength to resist this kind of intimidation, do something to protect those who do not.’
Pauline Latham, Tory MP for Mid Derbyshire, said she witnessed a colleague being subjected to false accusations and ‘vile abuse’ online. She accused Labour’s Chris Williamson, a key ally of Mr Corbyn, of using dirty tricks to defeat Tory Amanda Solloway in Derby North. Mrs Latham claimed he was involved in a fake Facebook profile in Mrs Solloway’s name that tied her husband’s bankrupt company ‘to tarnish her reputation’. Mr Williamson denies any involvement. Matt Warman, the Conservative MP for Boston and Skegness, said a receptionist had said, ‘where’s my shotgun?’ when she met him, a year after the murder of Mrs Cox, who was shot and stabbed during a constituency surgery. He said his initial reaction was to consider the remark another example of the ‘casual contempt’ with which many people treat MPs, adding: ‘Wrongly, I somewhat brushed off what is a comment that in any other context would be treated as obscene.’
‘Deeply troubling’