POLITICS MATTERS: Is it only a matter of time before there is another serious attack on an MP?

I wish newbie local MP Angus MacDonald well in finding his feet in the vast labyrinth of the Palace of Westminster.

Committee corridors turn into dead ends just as you are rushing for that first important meeting! However, the House of Commons staff, in my experience, are first class at advising and tutoring fresh-faced new members of parliament about both the quaint geography of the Palace and the fine detail of the historic procedures governing day-to-day proceedings.

A more worrying recent development is the issuing to all 335 new members elected this month some welcome packs containing panic alarms with GPS trackers.

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Threats and abuse are, of course, nothing new to elected members, but it is the scale and severity which worries political security advisers.

The panic alarms, when activated, alert the police, who immediately send out officers. This facility has been available for all MPs since the dreadful murder of Labour MP Jo Cox in 2016.

The recent general election was unprecedented across the UK for the levels of intimidation and abuse aimed at parliamentary candidates across the political divide.

The new Home Secretary, Yvette Cooper, writing in The Independent, warned of an ‘alarming rise in widespread intimidation of candidates’ during the general election campaign and that there were ‘disgraceful scenes’ in some areas.

The Home Office is carrying out a ‘rapid review’ of the election to assess the level of risk faced by candidates whilst police forces across the country are investigating several relevant cases.

Former Labour MP John Woodcock, who now sits in the House of Lords, predicted that it is ‘only a matter of time’ before there is another serious attack on an MP unless there is more done to improve the safety of our parliamentarians.

I know from my own experience that the vast majority of MPs, MSPs and councillors would want to be open and accessible to their constituents. However, safety concerns and threats have led to parliamentary constituency offices becoming more secure and face-to-face surgeries converted to online.

A continued rise in the culture of threats and intimidation could deter many excellent potential candidates from standing for public office. Let’s face it, we are facing an attack on our democracy. Parliamentarians need to be accountable to the public for their actions - but should not have to do so in fear of their safety.

Congratulations

We had a memorable and enjoyable family celebration last weekend for my parents’ platinum wedding anniversary - 70 years!

We were joined by my brothers Les and Alan and their partners and the grandchildren, with my son Andrew FaceTiming in from California so that my parents could see their new great granddaughter, Kiana.

My father, John Stewart, was telling me that he met my mum, Alice, in the bunker at old Raigmore. My parents were both in the Auxilliary Air Force and the Raigmore Bunker was used for aircraft plotting exercises. Their joint experiences of plotting provided me with a useful skill for my early political career!

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