NC for obvious reasons!
Thank you to everyone for your support and concern. 💚💟💜
Thank you NOT to PP coming out with the usual, "She wuz asking for it!" line 🙄
To clarify a couple of issues:
All Candidates received detailed briefings from their local Police about potential threats, exhorting us to take them seriously and explaining how to report them.
These briefings were backed up by a YouTube video plus repeated emails and documents from Local Authority Electoral Returning Officer about personal security, cyber security, etc. for Candidates, Agents and volunteers who distribute leaflets and canvass the public.
Government safeguards UK elections
Government announces a range of new measures to crack down on intimidation, influence and disinformation, and safeguard UK elections.
https://www.gov.uk/government/news/government-safeguards-uk-elections
All Election Leaflets have to be cleared by the Electoral Commission as being legal before they can be distributed. If they are to be delivered by the Royal Mail, as all Party Of Women leaflets were, then they also have to be cleared by the Royal Mail to ensure that they are legal to be distributed by the Royal mail.
All POW Election Leaflets were very similar with a short "blurb" on the bottom of the front page that was specific to the Candidate or her constituency. There was nothing in any of the leaflets that was considered by the Electoral Commission or the Royal Mail to be unlawful, discriminatory or hateful.
The Police Officer in Sheffield who threatened to arrest the POW Candidate for handing out her POW leaflets was therefore out of order because there was nothing illegal about her leaflets. He is entitled to his personal opinion but IMHO his threat was an abuse of public office and Electoral Interference.
In my case, I received some abusive private messages which I did NOT report and some tediously familiar allegations on Social Media which I also did not report, eg. accusations that concerns about the safety of women and the need to safeguard children and vulnerable adults were actually a "cover" for "hating trans people".
However, I also received an abusive private message that was threatening in a very specific way. The same person also posted public messages on Social Media that were threatening and incited others to physical violence. They would put a target on anyone handing out my leaflets.
This would not be me, because I had Covid and was unable to go out, but volunteers who were all middle-aged or older women. We know from past experience that this would afford them no protection and they did not feel it was safe to leaflet, as they had planned, in specific parts of the Constituency.
I therefore reported these threats to Northumbria Police and to the Returning Officer, exactly as all Candidates had been advised to do.
The Returning Office referred my report to the Detective Inspector at Northumbria Police responsible for dealing with complaints about Electoral Fraud and Electoral Interference. He delegated this to another Officer to contact me. That Officer telephoned me and, after an unproductive conversation, slammed the phone down on me. The call did not disconnect and I heard that Officer and others in the vicinity discussing the issues I had raised. It took me a couple of minutes to work out how to record their conversation and the recording omits the worst of what was said, which was immediately after the Officer slammed down the phone.
I have received an apology from the Assistant Chief Constable of Northumbria Police and they have referred themselves to be investigated by their Professional Standards Dept. I have had a meeting with Northumbria Police, accompanied by my Election Agent, and have been interviewed by an Officer from their Professional Standards Dept. A further meeting is planned, with my Election Agent in attendance, in order for a different officer to deal with my original report of threats and Electoral Interference.
Northumbria Police have not suggested that I have done anything wrong in recording the conversation between officers after the phone was slammed down on me and the call failed to disconnect.
I gave my recording to a journalist from North News & Pictures (I will explain why in a moment): https://www.northnews.co.uk/
They approached Northumbria Police for a statement and that statement open with the following:
^“During a private conversation between colleagues, which has been recorded by a member of the public, completely unacceptable comments have been made."^
I feel this is disingenuous as I was not a random member of the public who happened to record a random ^"private conversation" between police officers. I was a Candidate in the General Election who had been contacted by Northumbria Police, who were supposed to be investigating a report of threats and Electoral Interference referred to them by the Returning Officer, and the "private conversation" ^was about me and the threats that had been made.
The reason that I passed the recording to North News and Pictures is that they had contacted me previously. This was after they had received an anonymous tip off (not from me) about the Cumberland Arms pub in Byker/Ouseburn barring me because I had worn a Women's Declaration International (WDI) Hoody and was standing as a candidate for the Party Of Women.
However, I had already asked the Free Speech Union (FSU) to deal with this issue and their Press Dept were dealing with media enquiries.
It is illegal for a pub to bar someone in these circumstances. A pub cannot bar anyone without good reason but in this case there was also breach of the Equality Act 2010 and the Human Rights Act 1998.
Following representation by the FSU the ban has been revoked, as the pub sensibly decided that this would be preferable to having the arse sued off them. They have not apologised for all the unnecessary upset and distress to me and to others who would be affected if I was barred, which I think is pretty despicable.
This case has been written up by the FSU:
"FSU member successfully fights back after being banned from pub for gender critical views"
3 July 2024
https://freespeechunion.org/fsu-member-successfully-fights-back-after-being-banned-from-pub-for-gender-critical-views/
The Journalist from North News & Pictures had said that if there was any further bother locally due to my standing for the Party Of Women, please to let her know in case she could help - so I sent her the recording. This is over 10 minutes long and North News posted a video made of some short clips from it on their TikTok:
https://www.tiktok.com/@northnewsandpics/video/7387792669210201376
This was downloaded and posted as a video on X by someone I don't know called @/FKASerioJosh.
The first time he posted the video he incorrectly identified the POW Candidate concerned as Kelly Dougall, @/POWTynemouth, rather than me, @/POWLizPanton - so he deleted his original post and reposted the video:
https://x.com/FKASerioJosh/status/1808950026703437825
As some (or most) of you will be aware, Harry Miller of We Are Fair Cop has been supporting Linzi Smith in her dealings with Northumbria Police.
Gender-critical Newcastle fan launches legal action against police ‘political’ trans activism
Linzi Smith claims Northumbria Police ‘bully and intimidate’ those with differing views
Telegraph 8 June 2024
(Linzi) has also launched a separate High Court challenge against Northumbria Police to prevent them from partaking in political activities, which give the impression they support transgender ideology.
“I’m angry with what the police have done to me,” she told The Telegraph on Friday night. “I’ve never been arrested, I’ve never been in trouble, I’ve always been law abiding.”
She has decided to take Northumbria Police to court to prevent others being put through a similar ordeal to the one she had suffered.
“I’ve been made to look like a criminal,” she said. “I can’t even go looking for a new job at the minute because I’m frightened of how I might be perceived.”
A pre-action letter sent to the force this week ahead of the judicial review being lodged, said political activities include “marching in Pride” and “making public statements supportive of trans causes”.
It adds that the police should further desist from “using or encouraging the use of flags, emblems, lanyards or symbols associated with trans causes in a public-facing way”.
The letter claims that Northumbria Police has undertaken activities that signal support for gender ideology such as being encouraged to march in Pride by its Chief Constable.
Another example given is that the force’s officers adopted flags and emblems associated with trans causes, while handing out “preferred pronoun badges”, at the Northern Pride event last year.
“The Defendants are engaging in activities, which may reasonably be regarded as signalling support for one side of a deeply contested social issue; and indeed one of the most divisive or toxic issues in contemporary society,” the pre-action letter states.
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2024/06/08/gender-critical-newcastle-fan-linzi-smith-sues-police/
A: https://archive.ph/K5oph
Some of the conversation I recorded was, I felt, relevant to Linzi's case so I also gave her a copy of the audio to pass on to Harry Miller.
Many thanks again for all the supportive comments! If there is any further news, I will let you know.
ps. The good news is the KJK has been getting email from women who want to know how they can stand for the Party Of Women too. xx