EXPOSED: SHOCKING SCALE OF HARD-LEFT BULLYING
Damning Commons report lays bare hate campaign against Tory MPs during election
THE appalling extent of abuse of Tory MPs and candidates by a Left-wing hate mob can be revealed today.
A cross-party report into the general election found one MP suffered an anti-semitic attack while canvassing. Racist graffiti about another Conservative candidate was daubed in a polling booth. Other politicians were left in fear of their lives after being subjected to vicious intimidation, including paedophile smears.
A Conservative MP, whose car tyres were slashed outside her family home, reported three serious death threats to police.
A fellow Tory lost his seat after a group that claimed to be neutral
‘Dignity and respect’
despite clear links to the Labour candidate branded him a ‘nonce’.
The all-party parliamentary inquiry into electoral conduct said political parties were failing to do enough to help candidates deal with the level of hostility they can now face.
It said it was disappointing that parties had not agreed on a standardised system for reporting discrimination, an idea first recommended in 2013.
It also warned that parties needed to do more to ‘better select, prepare, support and, where appropriate, discipline candidates at all levels of election: local and national’.
Key recommendations include calling on parties to offer training – such as personal safety sessions so candidates can cope with the ‘ruthless nature of campaigning’ – and improving the welfare support those standing to become MPs received. It warned this was insufficient. Suggestions include providing candidates with details of help lines and counselling services they can access.
The report highlighted the examples of abuse targeted at Tory MP Andrew Percy and candidate Ameet Jogia.
This afternoon Conservative MP Simon Hart will use a Commons debate on the issue to call on Jeremy Corbyn and his hard-Left campaign group Momentum to rein in the intimidation.
The Labour leader has condemned the abuse, which he says is not carried out in his name. But Mr Hart will urge him to take firm action to put a stop to the bullying by his activists.
Mr Hart, who represents Carmarthen West and South Pembrokeshire, tabled the debate after hearing worrying accounts of the terror faced by his colleagues. He warned of a ‘damaging corrosion of democracy’.
He added: ‘Rather than just putting out feeble messages online saying you condemn all this, Jeremy Corbyn needs to actually do something about it.
‘Mr Corbyn and the leaders of Momentum need when there is even the faintest whiff of this stuff to say “You are not welcome in our party or to campaign on our behalf and wear the Labour badge if this is how you’re going to behave”.’
Labour tried to deflect the criticism by accusing the Tories of carrying out vitriolic personal attacks.
In a letter to Tory party chairman Sir Patrick McLoughlin, Labour opposite number Ian Lavery and voter engagement spokesman Cat Smith wrote: ‘The Conservatives ran a negative, nasty campaign, propagating personal attacks, smears and untruths, particularly aimed at one of the most prominent women MPs, and indeed the first black woman MP, Diane Abbott.
‘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.’
Theresa May has ordered a review of the law after saying she had been shocked at the number of colleagues who had talked to her about intimidation and harassment during the campaign.
The Prime Minister has ordered her No 10 policy unit to draw up plans to better protect MPs.
Action could include making political motivation an aggravating factor in court cases.