Now abuse is "A danger to democracy"
Posted: 29 Mar 2024, 16:40So the case of Mr Berthold Dwinger would suggest, anyway.
Berthold Dwinger (what a name!) is a 74 year old retired welder who doesn't seem to like politicians much.
He sent abusive emails to James Cleverly and Keir Starmer.
The 74-year-old told Mr Cleverly, the Home Secretary, that he was “lucky” we didn’t have guns in the UK, as he’d shoot him and “every single one of you front bench b------s, you ugly p---”.
A month later, frustrated at the opposition leader’s position on the conflict in Gaza, he sent an expletive-riddled email all in capitals to Sir Keir, telling him his party were “no better than the Tories” and that they were “two cheeks of the same a---”.
When arrested, he told police he stood by his words that he would strangle the Labour leader. When told that his words could cause Sir Keir offence, he replied “poor boy”.
So far, so normal. Lots of people don't like politicians, some even send them abusive emails. Some like Mr Dwinger, even put their names to them. He was done under the 2003 communications act for threatening and malicious communication.
In a statement to the court, Sir Lindsay Hoyle, the Speaker of the House of Commons, decried the emails as putting “democracy itself at risk” in potentially scaring MPs into leaving their posts.
Hoyle also referred to the deaths of both MP Jo Cox in 2016 and Sir David Amess in 2021, adding that MPs should be able to perform their duties in “an environment of safety”.
Which is where I start to disagree. Sending an abusive email to an MP is not, in my view, a threat to democracy or anywhere near it.
Hoyle's attitude seems to suggest that any abuse of MP's is not on, that it is a criminal matter and no one should ever criticise them.
Berthold Dwinger (what a name!) is a 74 year old retired welder who doesn't seem to like politicians much.
He sent abusive emails to James Cleverly and Keir Starmer.
The 74-year-old told Mr Cleverly, the Home Secretary, that he was “lucky” we didn’t have guns in the UK, as he’d shoot him and “every single one of you front bench b------s, you ugly p---”.
A month later, frustrated at the opposition leader’s position on the conflict in Gaza, he sent an expletive-riddled email all in capitals to Sir Keir, telling him his party were “no better than the Tories” and that they were “two cheeks of the same a---”.
When arrested, he told police he stood by his words that he would strangle the Labour leader. When told that his words could cause Sir Keir offence, he replied “poor boy”.
So far, so normal. Lots of people don't like politicians, some even send them abusive emails. Some like Mr Dwinger, even put their names to them. He was done under the 2003 communications act for threatening and malicious communication.
In a statement to the court, Sir Lindsay Hoyle, the Speaker of the House of Commons, decried the emails as putting “democracy itself at risk” in potentially scaring MPs into leaving their posts.
Hoyle also referred to the deaths of both MP Jo Cox in 2016 and Sir David Amess in 2021, adding that MPs should be able to perform their duties in “an environment of safety”.
Which is where I start to disagree. Sending an abusive email to an MP is not, in my view, a threat to democracy or anywhere near it.
Hoyle's attitude seems to suggest that any abuse of MP's is not on, that it is a criminal matter and no one should ever criticise them.