Is 24/7 security for MPs the ‘tragic reality’ of modern British politics?
Sarah Sackman, MP for Finchley and Golders Green in North London, tells Jon Sopel why she believes heightened security for political representatives is the sad reality of today’s Britain in the wake of the murder of Ann Widdecombe.
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Protection for British MPs is a sad inevitability of British politics, says Finchley and Golders Green MP Sarah Sackman.
The Labour representative, whose Conservative predecessor Mike Freer left politics because of the death threats he faced, says the threat to MPs is “very real”.
The conversation has been sparked by the murder of Ann Widdecombe, former Tory MP, at her Devon home.
“I worry about me, and I worry about other MPs,” Sackman tells Jon Sopel.
“I also worry about what this means for our democracy when we have lost Jo Cox, Sir David Ames, and now Ann Widdecombe – the odds aren't great for MPs.”
These odds decrease further, she adds, for MPs who are women, or part of any of minority groups.
“When you look at the level of abuse that myself and other MPs – particularly women, particularly women of colour – as a Jewish woman, I feel it,” Sackman adds.
“The threat is very real, and I worry about that.”
She says she struggles, when speaking to young people and trying to encourage them to consider a career in politics, to look youths from minority groups in the eye and tell them it would be a “good and safe” path.
“The death threats, the suggestions of rape against your children, are designed to hound you out of politics, to not express what you really think on an issue,” she says.
“It's corrosive of our democracy, of the sorts of people that are going to get into it.
“It has a chilling effect on what people feel they can say. It also has a chilling effect on how we do our politics.”
Sackman says a highlight of her work in the North London borough is meeting constituents where they are – at supermarkets, on allotments, at community festivals – but the growing hostility and threats MPs face means she is often doing this behind a glass screen, or with a security guard present.
“The reality is that for many MPs, we cannot do those things without security,” she says.
“It undermines our ability to be the sorts of politicians that – in today's day and age, where there is so much cynicism and distrust – we really do need to be and want to be.”
But political violence, and violence against MPs she says, is nothing new – and it’s not unique to the UK.
“There's no denying that the internet, social media, the keyboard warriors who have been radicalised online into more extremist views, feeling that behind the veil of anonymity can threaten and hurl abuse without any sanction.”
Sackman says the responsibility lies, not only with the tech companies, but the politicians themselves.
“So often, the language we use, the incivility, people have to check their language,” Sackman adds.
“Of course, we want debate to be robust. We don't want anyone shying away from having a good argument, but we've got to be responsible about how we use language and make sure that we, as politicians, as leaders, aren't fuelling that fire.”
She believes it is “largely true” that in future, all MPs will need a security detail – but says this is ultimately a decision for the Home Office and police.
“I’m afraid it’s a tragic reality of what we're living with,” Sackman says.
But she says democracy, public life and debate are “too important” to let “haters” win.
“So yes, let's make sure there's proper security. Let's take the temperature of our debate and take responsibility as politicians for moderating that language and calling out those that incite violence,” she adds.
“But let's also talk about why our democracy is so precious.”