2 min read
We are all shocked and horrified by the senseless and brutal murder of Jo Cox, the Labour MP for Batley and Spen. Speculation on the motivations behind this attack is pointless. The police will conduct a thorough investigation and in the fullness of time justice will be done. Our thoughts and prayers must be with Jo's children, her husband, family and friends.
I would not claim to know Jo well but we had met both before her election to Parliament and since. She was intensely proud of being the local lass elected by her neighbours to represent their district at Westminster. Through my own experience in charity work I recognised her unselfish desire to help the local community and work hard to make a difference. In her all too short a time in the House Jo worked vigorously across party lines for real change.
Jo's murder inevitably has raised the issue of the threats and dangers MPs face. During my time as an MP I experienced incidents which raised security concerns for myself and my staff. The most serious revolved around the death threats I received before and during the 2010 general election campaign.
I remember one incident when I was approached by two people in a car park in my constituency. They called me a "dirty Jewish pig" and said they were going to kill me. I ran as fast as I could.
I went home and I cried, not because someone had threatened me but because I felt that I loved my job and I was just not sure it was worth it for my family. It was a horrendous position to be in. No candidate of any religion, race or sexuality should go through it.
At the next hustings, I turned up with two police
At the next hustings I turned up with two police officers for protection.
On another occasion during the campaign I was approached by a man holding a leaflet saying I was not favourable to Islam, which is not true. There was a picture of me in a kippah which must have been taken in a synagogue.
Police fitted a panic alarm in my home, and members of the Muslim community in my constituency put up banners supporting me.
I cannot overemphasise my thanks to the local police officers. They were generous with their professional advice and assistance on personal, local office and home security.
Drawing detailed attention to our own or colleagues' security vulnerability is counterproductive and so in the main only the most serious security incidents ever get reported in the press.
Additionally, parliamentarians realise that others in public service - the police or armed forces for example - regularly put their lives on the line. In the past, MPs expressing general concern over their or their constituency staff's security have too often been dismissed as whinging.
The reality is that MPs live their lives in the constituency. When local advice surgeries are held for constituents it's not done by proxy or by video link. Any member of the public can come to meet their MP face to face in the local office, church hall or community centre venue. The local MP will also attend local events, functions, public meetings and undertake political campaigning all without the backing of specialist security measures.
On top of this they regularly advertise where they are going to be well in advance. This accessibility is vital for our democracy but as we have seen it can come with a price. In Jo Cox's case, it was a terrible one.
Lee Scott was Conservative MP for Ilford North from 2005-2015
