MP: Cologne sex assaults just like everyday life in Birmingham
A LABOUR MP has refused to apologise after comparing the organised sexual assaults committed by gangs of migrants in Cologne to the regular harassment of women on British streets.
Jess Phillips, the MP for Birmingham Yardley, was criticised for her “sickening” comments made on the BBC’s
Question Time programme where she suggested the recent attacks in Germany were no different to the situation faced by women in Birmingham.
She was criticised by that city’s residents, police officers and fellow MPs, who described her views as “shocking”. However, when asked to apologise for the remarks, Ms Phillips said that in “every city” in Britain women “constantly worry about being felt up and suffering street harassment”.
On New Year’s Eve in Cologne, dozens of women found themselves trapped in a crowd of around 1,000 men, who groped them, tore off their underwear, and shouted lewd insults.
German authorities have since said almost all of the New Year’s Eve sex attackers had a “migrant background”.
On Thursday night’s Question Time, a member of the audience suggested that the situation in Germany showed “mass immigration doesn’t work”.
The Labour MP replied: “There is violence against women and girls that you are describing. A very similar situation to what happened in Cologne could be described on Broad Street in Birmingham every week where women are baited and heckled.”
On social media, Simon Caswell, a Birmingham-based engineer, described the MP’s statement as “shocking” while Gareth Morris, a Birmingham police inspector, said the city centre was a “safe, positive and vibrant place” and added there was nothing to suggest any “crime patterns or trends related to immigration”.
A spokesman from the Birmingham Chamber of Commerce said: “I think her comments are rather disingenuous. I don’t think we have quite the same problems here as they had in Cologne.
“From my experience, and the traders I speak to there, it underplays what’s happened in Germany.”
Andrew Bridgen, the Conservative MP, told The Daily Telegraph: “It almost excuses the behaviour in Cologne. I actually find the comments quite shocking and I am sure that those who indulge in the nightlife of Birmingham will be equally shocked.
“Jess Phillips is a new and relatively inexperienced MP; there is a saying in politics that it’s often best to say nothing and appear stupid rather than to speak and confirm it.”
However, Ms Phillips last night defended her remarks. She told the
Birmingham Mail: “In every city there will be places where there are groups of men, drunk, and lots of stuff going on, and women have to constantly worry about being felt up and suffering street harassment. All the people saying it doesn’t happen – lots of men telling me it doesn’t happen – well no, it doesn’t happen to you.”