Do MPs need more protection?

Sorry, my "why" was largely rhetorical. I understand that it's political. But there comes a point when ethics should take precedence over politics - otherwise what's the point?

I'm not suggesting that the Labour Party is any less guilty of prioritising political expediency by the way.

I just despair of a political culture in which our politicians apparently stand for nothing other than their own chances of getting re-elected.

Ahh - last sentence in first para was mangled!” They might be able to build up a better Con party “ that should have read.

@MrsBennetsPoorNerves Because of red wall politics. Labour can probably win back red wall seats. The local Cons want the “working class anti immigrant” vote so try and cling on. Why is Braverman still around? They might as well be Reform. If the right wing, Brexit, anti immigrant Tories left they might be able to buy old up a better Con party. As they are, no hope.

Labour might have issues in a few seats where there’s a Jewish population and antisemitic views are still seen to be an issue (eh North London) but it’s a small number of seats. The Cons have problems everywhere so act with caution about right ring candidates. We have a Truss supporting idiot here . I don’t agree any party not rooting out these people but they don’t for political reasons. And how long did it take Labour to start dealing with antisemitism? Decades!

Starmer is in the same boat, but there is a difference in that Starmer has acknowledged that there is a problem and has made significant attempts to tackle it. I won't say that he has got every judgement right on this, because clearly he hasn't, but he is at least publicly committed to rooting it out.

Sunak has suspended Lee Anderson - quite rightly - but refuses to acknowledge that Anderson is part of a wider problem of islamophbia within the Tory Party, despite senior party members such as Baroness Warsi repeatedly saying that there is an issue. Why is he afraid of naming it?

@MrsBennetsPoorNerves Well no he cannot entirely say “it’s not me” but Starmer is in the same boat. These parties are choosing unsuitable candidates to win over the local electorate because they know their feelings. This was maybe fairly benign politics 50 years ago but seems far more strategic and pandering to the masses now. Listen to the views expressed this morning. We need to hear them but we need to do something about it.

I’ve no doubt the parties try and select suitable candidates but local activists want who they want, left and right. A labour mp was sent to prison who represented Sheffield Hallam. Momentum is big in Sheffield. He suited them. Clearly not a suitable person to be an mp though. Are we saying that’s the leader’s fault or the fault of local selection who wanted one of their own? Tricky.

Yes I agree Neriah

Skipping quickly past the fact that this person is clearly mentally ill, and that it is politically impossible to be both left wing and an anarchist...

Everyone should be safe at all times. Including MPs. What I find difficult to stomach is diverting more public resources to protect a bunch of people presiding over the destruction of the public services that the rest of us have to live with, some of whom (yes, looking at you Anderson) are very deliberately fuelling the fires. No, MPs should not be at risk due to their jobs, but why should they get more protection when I can't get a single officer to take a report of hate crime, or it takes five days to respond to burglary that they won't even bother to try to detect anyway?

Agree with this. My own Tory MP is of a similar ilk, and I assume that there are constituents that agree with her.

I disagree with you though with regard to Sunak. He is the party leader and needs to show leadership. By refusing to call Anderson's behaviour racist or Islamophobic, he is failing to exercise effective leadership. He can't just shrug his shoulders and say "it's not me".

The issue is, and it isn’t restricted to the Tory’s, or even to UK politics, governments thrive on creating division. The whole idea of you vote for us because them over there don’t care about you and won’t help you. In truth politicians care very little about the general public and mostly about themselves. Again, this isn’t a one party problem, I find politicians across the world to be very similar.

When politicians who are meant to be representative of the country insight racial hatred and their colleagues refuse to condemn them, of course maniacs thrive.
Right now we have a choice of a bunch of anti-semites or a crowd of islamophobics. Fantastic.

Of course it’s to do with Sunak. He’s leader of the bloody party. He’s meant to be in charge.

Sunak is NOT Anderson. Or Jones or Ali! These people seek to represent the worst of constituents . It’s nothing to do with Sunak. People of the far right and far left are problematic. Sunak is not extreme. He alone cannot get rid of extreme views any more than Starmer can. Look how long he’s been trying. We just have awful people in this country.

@MrsBennetsPoorNerves Agree entirely but listening to the Nicky Campbell show this morning we have a very intolerant electorate - some of Anderson’s constituents phoned in. Awful people who back his views all the way - and more. We have a big problem - it’s going to get divisive and Trumpian.

I think people who hang around outside MPs homes should be arrested and charged. I agree that Sunak is part of the problem with his dithering and obfuscation.

It’s increasing difficult for politicians on all sides to stay neutral. The British public overwhelmingly support an immediate ceasefire.

And there is a threat to MPs from the far right too. Which the OP seems determined to ignore.

The former chair of the Conservative Muslim Forum disagrees with you.

https://twitter.com/implausibleblog/status/1762401214472262042?s=20

Thank you @BIossomtoes for your kind words. Jo's death did really rock me, even though I had long since lost touch with her when she died. It felt very close to home, although obviously so much worse for those who were actually close to her at the time of her death.

@TizerorFizz, sadly I agree that Labour still has an antisemitism problem. I hope that they will do more to address this, and face up to the fact that the problem hasn't just gone away. And I hope that someone will eventually find the courage to address the islamophobia in the Tory party. Neither should be tolerated.

@BIossomtoes Where have you been in the last few weeks? It’s widely acknowledged Labour still have an anti Semitic problem! They’ve just had to get rid of two candidates for their remarks on Israel: Ali and Jones. No doubt they aren’t the only ones with these views. Any Labour candidate in an area where support of Palestine is high and has a Labour leaning electorate, will be pushed into a corner regarding views on Israel, as reported by the Guardian where they mention a Labour meeting in Lancashire which has been the source on the antisemitism comments.. It’s going to be increasingly difficult for Labour candidates to stay neutral.

So sorry @MrsBennetsPoorNerves, that shook the entire country. It must have been dreadful so close to home. I find the way the right are whipping up division terrifying. The Tories have just as big a problem with Islamophobia as Labour used to have with antisemitism but Sunak’s just ignoring it.

Look, Jo was a friend of mine when I was at university. The circumstances of her death are still very upsetting to me, so I'm really not interested in getting into a pointless internet debate with someone who openly supports the likes of Lee Anderson. Your own agenda is clear, and I have no time for it.

The motivations of Jo's killer are a matter of public record - you can Google if you don't already know. It really isn't rocket science to work out what kind of political rhetoric was feeding the far right at that time. I am not going to spell out what is already blindingly obvious simply so that you can have the satisfaction of trying to pick holes in what I say.

You don't need to remind me of anything.

Peddling hate is nothing new. Lee Anderson didn't invent it, he is merely helping to perpetuate it. My old friend, Jo Cox, was murdered several years ago now. Those who were actively working to stir up hate and division in the months preceeding that have blood on their hands as far as I'm concerned.

Oh OK. You're one of them.

That makes you a big part of the problem as far as I'm concerned. People like Lee Anderson and Suella Braverman thrive on whipping up exactly the kind of hatred and division that fuel the security issues faced by so many of our elected representatives right now.

Of course he’s not responsible. The Met Commissioner delivers policing. The mayor sets priorities. That isn’t so detailed as to say certain protests gets a light touch and others don’t. The operational decisions are made by the police themselves.