Today, Victoria Thomas-Bowen, who threw an object at Nigel Farage during the election campaign, was given a suspended 13-week prison sentence after admitting assault.
The reaction to both the case and the subsequent sentencing concerned me, and, given the work I do, I want to explain the significance of this case in the context of growing abuse and intimidation in our democracy.
When the attack in Clacton first unfolded, I was disappointed to see many people suggest that it ‘wasn’t a big deal’.
As Civility Commission Manager at The Jo Cox Foundation, I know that abuse and intimidation of our elected representatives is one of the biggest threats to our democracy in the UK.
I invite you to put yourself in the shoes of a politician in 2024. If you were an MP, you operate in an environment in which, in the last eight years alone, two of your colleagues, Jo Cox and Sir David Amess, have been murdered at work. Others have survived assassination attempts.
Many more, colleagues, and maybe even you, receive regular abuse. A regular part of your staff’s day job is filtering threats on your social media accounts.
You may have had to deal with the office being vandalised. You might have been spat at on the street. If you are a woman, the abuse you receive is likely personalised and sexist. If you are a woman of an ethnic and/or religious minority, the abuse you receive may be even worse.
When you are out, perhaps on your way to your constituency advice surgery or on the campaign trail, someone approaches you – or, as the case may be, throws something.
Various thoughts run through your mind: is this the individual who contacted you about an urgent piece of casework? Is this person who sent you a death threat? Do they want a conversation or a confrontation? Are they holding a box of glitter or a gun? Is that milkshake in their cup, or acid?
Around the world, political violence is becoming increasingly common and even accepted as a ‘normal’ part of campaigning.
The outcome of this environment should not be to limit politicians from meeting with their constituents (as Nigel Farage himself suggested then retracted) although the UK’s practice of MPs holding regular advice surgeries is unusual compared to other democracies, and comes with risk.
It was in the context of these local events that both Jo Cox and Sir David Amess were murdered.
In recent years, Parliament, many local authorities, the police and others, including Hope Not Hate and the Community Safety Trust (CST), have strengthened the security support to politicians.
They navigate the delicate balance between politicians’ security and democratic openness, and precisely because of its rarity, the UK’s public access to politicians should be safeguarded in as secure a way as possible.
Despite our progress in keeping politicians safe, the spectrum of violence, abuse, harassment and intimidation still undermines democratic debate.
For example, the Electoral Commission found that over half of candidates surveyed in this year’s local elections experienced abuse. Nearly half (47%) of the women who responded said that they avoided discussing controversial topics because of security concerns.
Of course, the public should be able to protest and criticise politicians. Yet, abuse prevents accountability.
The media coverage about the incident that led to today’s case focussed on a milkshake rather than political debate. What could have been a discussion on the policy positions of Reform, descended instead into a conversation about the object thrown at the party’s leader.
Politicians have a responsibility themselves to practice respect and work towards a better political culture.
Through the Jo Cox Civility Commission, we campaign to address abuse and promote civility in our politics. In January this year, we we launched our call to action with 28 recommendations, one of which was that all elected representatives, and especially those in leadership roles, should model good behaviour.
It is to this end that we invite politicians and the public to sign up to our Civility Pledge, that we created jointly with Compassion in Politics.
I believe that culture can change. I work alongside people from many other organisations and sectors who are committed to bringing about this change.
We do this work, not because of the way that Jo died, but because of the values by which she lived. Our vision is a political culture in which diversity is celebrated and robust debate brings us closer in the spirit of Jo’s message that ‘we are far more united and have far more in common than that which divides us’.
This starts with every one of us.
So I invite you to consider how you interact with people you disagree with, because I believe that engaging in robust debate is better than throwing a milkshake.
Do you have a story you’d like to share? Get in touch by emailing jess.austin@metro.co.uk.
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