As with Jo Cox killing we must never allow violence & hate to win Every politician needs police protection when away from Westminster
IT has happened again, and everything about it is so horribly, agonisingly familiar.
An MP killed in his constituency. A father-of-five this time, popular among MPs of all parties and known for his kindness in the House, killed just doing his job.
All good MPs understand that constituency work is why they are in office. It is where they see the mum with the disabled child who needs to be rehoused, or the dad whose benefits have been cut, and where elderly folk come to chat over tea.
It is where MPs meet “real people”.
But it is more than that too. It is where our representative democracy is seen to happen, the human interface between an anonymous X on a ballot paper and actual power.
New safety measures are needed but they must fall short of locking MPs behind glass.
Instead, we need to change how we interact. We all have a
AT work in the Palace of Westminster, our MPs are in the safest place in the land.
But once they go back to their constituencies, they are at continuous risk from the hatred, derangement and harassment that today colours public life.
The political party is irrelevant. There’s always someone who wants to take it out on his or her MP. That’s why they need – and must have – better protection.
In the constituency, they have to meet constituents in all sorts of settings from party offices to village halls, and at times private houses.
David Amess was killed in a church hall, supposedly a safe haven to conduct routine parliamentary business with the public.
It was anything but.
The Parliamentary Protection Squad is what it says on the tin. It doesn’t go out of the Palace to protect Members. Local police forces sometimes send along a bobby but it’s not routine. Even responsibility to dial down the rage – online, in our everyday interactions, in what we publish or say in Parliament. We have to learn to disagree better. Seeing the news, I was back in 2016 seeing a message that an MP had been shot and stabbed in Birstall, West Yorks. I knew that meant only one thing – my friend Jo Cox. There has since been a huge effort by her family and friends to bring communities together – including with our own project Britain Talks. Even among those who, like me, disagreed with David’s views, he was known for his personal kindness. Those who loved David will want, in the coming months, to build a positive legacy in his name. Kindness must be at the heart of that legacy.
For democracy to function, violence can never, ever win. if it is only a Special Constable, there should be a uniformed presence at these events, because would-be assassins know exactly where to go. MPs have to advertise where their surgeries will take place, or it would be a pointless exercise. That’s how Jo Cox’s killer knew where to find her. And Stephen Timms, and Nigel Jones. A small ad in a local paper offering advice to voters is tantamount to a target on their back.
This is not an issue of party politics. Representative democracy cannot function properly if our elected representatives go in constant fear of their lives. That risk cannot be completely eliminated but as this tragedy brings into sharp relief, it must be prevented as far as possible for the sake of not just MPs, but our way of life.