MPs and political candidates face ‘industrial’ levels of abuse, minister says | Politics

Since the government draws plans for more strict penalties for those who are guilty of abuse, deputies and political candidates face the levels of “industrial” digestive and harassment levels.

The Minister of Democracy Rushanara Ali warned that his colleagues have harassed worse than ever and prevented many young people from becoming politically activated.

More than one candidate, who said that two deputies have been killed in recent years and that they had been harassed during the last year’s election campaign, the government said that the government has acted before more violence was committed.

Ali, “We lost his colleagues when I’m a deputy – my friend Jo Cox, Sir David Amess,” he said. “In the first week I was elected in 2010, we had a terrible situation where Stephen Timms was attacked.

“What we see is the level of abuse and hostility in the last year’s general elections, which rises to the point where industrial abuse and threats and intimidated-democracy had a creepy effect.”

“Wearing colleagues on weekdays, outside the week, especially in different parties – especially women, but not only – I hear that they are threatened and scared.”

Ali was one of the few candidates who were targeted by pro -Palestinian activists during the last year’s election. The videos showed the campaignists who followed their supporters in Bethnal Green in the east of London and shouting, another image depicting it with the devil’s horns.

His colleague Shabana Mahmood had to call the police twice to complain about harassment during a weekend.

However, MPs say that harassment is not concerned with a single political reason, and more to deputies, it depends on a fragmented voter who does not trust more than ever, while finding contact or finding more than ever.

Cox was killed by a far -right terrorist in 2016, and in 2021 by a supporter of the Islamic State.

A Report by the Election Commission After last year’s elections, 55% had some kind of problem with harassment, intimidation or abuse, and 13% of them were serious.

The President of the Commission Vijay Rangarajan said at the beginning of this year: “The abuse and intimidation for candidates and elected authorities are very important to protect individuals and their families.

A separate report “Today, the nature of the threats and abuse faced by politicians and abuse, a significant change and existing tendencies may worsen,” the joint speaker Lindsay Hoyle said.

Ali said he received more than one death threat last year.

“I just got a threat to torture and kill me yesterday,” he added during the election campaign that he received similar threats through E -mail and by task.

“Some colleagues had such experience,” he said. “Therefore, we must make sure that our democracy is safe and that people are protected when they decide to enter public life.

“I spent my whole life to encourage people to encourage politics, young people, women, different pasts, men and women.

Ali said that the government would take three concrete measures to facilitate life for candidates and supporters and prevent people from harassing those who participate in politics. Measures will be included in a election strategy certificate in order to include it in a design that is not specified during this parliament.

First, candidates will no longer have to publish home addresses about selection materials. Currently, people standing for parliament have the option to remove their addresses from their candidacy forms, but some are not acting as their own agents.

The changes of the government will allow everyone to remove their addresses from the forms, including their own representatives, including Council candidates. However, he will not go as far forward by the deputies on the Hoyle panel, but he said that even the option to add home addresses to election forms should be removed.

Secondly, the ministers plan to change legal guidance, so that if one is found guilty of harassing a candidate, campaignist or personnel, it will be considered as a aggravating factor. This will allow judges to give more sentences to these criminals.

Finally, the government plans to change the law to prohibit a candidate for the prohibition of scaring or abuse of standing as a candidate in the future.

The measures reflect not some of the suggestions made by Hoyle’s deputies group in their reports.

This panel also proposed to allow MPS to be protected by the Ministry of Interior during an election campaign, to bring identity and address controls for all candidates, and to allow the reversal officers to expand the exclusion area around a ballot box under certain circumstances.

Ali said: “It cannot be right for MPs, parliamentary members and others to threaten the murder. Unfortunately, the climate of hostility caused us to lose our colleagues.

“This is about those who are in public life and who want to be in public life.