Do MPs need more protection?

[OneMerryRedSnail]

If so what needs to be done?

Or do they take on the job knowing the risks?

https://news.sky.com/story/left-wing-anarchist-guilty-of-terror-offences-after-declaring-he-wanted-to-kill-mps-13072775

Wow! No-one has an opinion on this ??

@OneMerryRedSnail I do. When in Westminster there is protection. In their constituencies, it’s limited. The police should remove any protesters from outside their homes. Targeting like that is not acceptable. Possibly search people who come to the surgeries? Would be off putting but metal detectors maybe?

We are becoming a divided and nasty society and seem to be importing anger from elsewhere. I think the Speaker is a genuinely good person but politicians cannot help themselves it seems.

What puts people off, especially women, is the abuse. My DD has shelved any idea of politics. She also earns 3 times more than a mp. So who needs a pay cut when the risk feels too high. We don’t get the best talent in parliament. We won’t if it’s a thankless task for little reward.

I work closely with MPs and the level of abuse and threat they receive is unbelievable. Especially women. No one should have to put up with that. Sadly I don't know what the answer is. More police protection in constituencies perhaps, but I'd also like to see more done to identify and punish the people who threaten them. Social media has made it so easy.

The simple fact is that the majority of MPs could easily take on better paying and less stressful jobs in the private sector, and if we don't stop the abuse they receive then they will. I'm sure lots of people will say good riddance but actually that is not a good thing for our democracy - we want the brightest and best to be making our laws and representing us, not just those who were thick-skinned enough to withstand daily threats and abuse.

Yes, they need professional armed security, 24/7 if necessary, for our democracy to work for all of us.

I think when you have sunak turning a blind eye to hate speech and racism from his own mp's all bets are off. I think the police need to stop being so lily livered about the pro-hamas element that is becoming more and more vocal in the UK, and stamping down hard with custodial sentences for any kind of threat to an mp. There is a really horrible atmosphere in the UK atm and for the first time I really truly fear for the future.

@MarnieMarnie Labour has had to try and clear out its anti Jewish lobby too. They all have their poor MPs and the ex Sheffield Hallam one is in prison. So Labour needs to watch its quality and language too. Sunak has inherited some poor MPs and Labour will have issues too as the anti Jew lobby is still alive. Why we get such people elected to parliament says a lot about minority views infiltrating selection of MPs.

I agree @superking I don’t think some MPs are good enough but good bright people simply won’t do it. The pool of MPs who are good enough to be ministers is shrinking. Calibre has been replaced by ideology and point scoring. Promotions are not about quality. They are about appeasing a party faction.

Every matter of importance leads to nasty rhetoric instead of solutions. We are becoming ungovernable because factions are given too much prominence. From Enoch Powell, to Derek Hatton, via Momentum to ERG. They all disgust me and are agitators. We therefore end up with MPs being abused and the Speaker in some difficulty. Overall he’s a good fair speaker but factions attack for their own ends. The SNP knew what would happen and of course it suits their narrative.

We’re in a mess atm

Truly

Other EU countries are seeing it too. Politicians utterly messed up and lacked foresight years ago and were all now seeing the impact

This will not improve and no one is addressing it squarely and honestly

Yes, they need more protection.

I also think the salaries are low for the level of responisbility and abuse.

I think there needs to be serious attention paid to the level of abuse allowed to proliferate on social media.

However I also think there are too many politicians themselves who say inflammatory things, they may need a code of conduct on how they do their business. For example when the official Conservative Twitter (X) account cropped a video of Sadiq Khan where he misspoke - that sort of behaviour shouldn't be happening, they are just driving the problem themselves.

Some need protection from their mouths

If an MP feels at risk, I'm sure they can ask for extra protection unlike the police officers, front-line council workers, bailiffs, traffic wardens, etc, etc

They face numerous risks. Read Laura Kuenessberg on the BBC app! It’s constant and appalling. There are some who are scared and it’s not the same as a public worker. They are not followed. They don’t have demos at their homes. The Police do very little!

The Sunday Times says 3 women MPs are getting security guards. Death threats.

Quite simply, yes. They do need better protection.

We cannot have a proper functioning democracy in which our elected representatives feel that they and their families - even their neighbours in some instances - are at serious risk.

Yes. Two have died and one has been seriously injured in the last few years. They need proper protection.

The only one to address it in UK was Lee Anderson MP and he's had the Tory Whip withdrawn....

@OneMerryRedSnail What!!! No one thinks this was the right way to address anything. Except the Right of course. People like Braverman. The whole point is protecting people who represent us. It’s not accusing the mayor who isn’t running the police.

Sorry to burst your bubble but Sadiq Khan, is the equivalent of the Police and Crime Commissioner and is responsible for the totality of policing in the capital .....

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.

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.

Can I remind you that David Ames was murdered and Mike Freer had his surgery firebombed sometime before Lee Anderson opened his mouth?

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.

@MrsBennetsPoorNerves "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"

What 'hate and division' do you refer to, and who do you think 'stirred it up'?

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.

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.

@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.

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.