‘Alarming rise’ in abuse during campaigning for election
MPS faced an “alarming rise” in intimidation and abuse during the election campaign, the Home Secretary has said.
Yvette Cooper has announced that she will meet candidates who were victims of harassment and other abuse during the general election, after MPS revealed that they had suffered from intimidatory behaviour.
It comes after she received a dossier from the Government’s political violence tsar detailing incidents of abuse, as he warned of a “dark underbelly of extremism” in public life. The Home Secretary also announced she will chair a meeting of the Defending Democracy Taskforce next week to ensure “public safety, security and standards”. Yesterday, she said: “The recent general election campaign demonstrated some of the great strengths of our democratic
‘We must be able to debate and disagree on issues without ever resorting to intimidating tactics’
traditions, including a smooth and peaceful transition of power from one party to another, but during this campaign we also saw an alarming rise in intimidation, harassment and abuse towards candidates, campaigners and volunteers from all parties which simply cannot be tolerated.
“Some of those incidents are now being investigated by the police.”
“In our democracy we must be able to passionately debate and disagree on issues without ever resorting to intimidating tactics designed to silence voices, suppress votes or prevent free and full participation in our democratic processes.
“The disgraceful scenes we saw in some areas during this election campaign must not be repeated.
“In the coming weeks, I will also be speaking and meeting with MPS and candidates from across political parties who faced intimidation, harassment and abuse during the election campaign to hear about their experiences.”