No.
It might be a short answer, but it’s true. Our politicians are in danger more than they have been at any point in my lifetime.
Three years ago, I was lucky enough to be able to meet the amazing Jess Philips. Jess came over from Yardley to spend time talking to sixth formers and some year 11s from my school (including myself), answering questions and discussing politics in general to a group of kids not even in her constituency. Most questions were regarding her ambitions, asking things like whether she’d consider being prime minister, discussing her campaigns against sexual violence etc, but for me one thing was stuck to my mind.
Less than a month earlier, Sir David Amess was unfortunately murdered whilst holding a constituency surgery. With this being so ingrained in my mind, I took the opportunity to ask Jess about it. I put my hand up and said something along the lines of “With the recent murder of Sir David Amess, how do you as an MP feel about your own safety whilst carrying out your responsibilities?”
Jess responded honestly, sharing how you can never feel truly safe as an MP, and called to the murder of her friend Jo Cox just five years prior in a similar act of extremism. Despite this, she said it was something she knew she had to deal with. Sometimes being an MP requires powering through difficulty and fear in order to work hard for your constituents, and for Jess there was no greater privilege.
It was apt, almost some sort of sick joke, that the next election Jess would face – in July 2024 – she would have to endure one of the worst campaigns the city has ever saw. A group of thugs, backed by George Galloway, decided to stand one of their own – Jody McIntyre – against Jess in her constituency of Birmingham Yardley. Over the course of the campaign, Jess and her team had to deal with intimidation, threats and harassment from Jody and his team. This all culminated at the count for the general election.
Jess almost lost her seat to Jody, with Palestine and the general neglect Labour have shown towards Muslim voters being a key reason in this. On the very day of the election, a group of much older men decided to film, shout at and harass a community activist who had been delivering leaflets for Jess on election day. This incredibly sickening incident summed up the entire campaign for Jess, and she was displeased to put it nicely when she had arrived at the count.
I was fortunate, or more aptly unfortunate, to have been able to attend the count for all of Birmingham with the Liberal Democrats. Sitting down having a talk with a group of our councillors about the various declarations across the country showing the Lib Dems winning, I was a bit taken aback when I look up to see Jess shouting at us. Clearly frustrated and needing to vent, she was complaining about the incident earlier in the day against the woman who had been leafleting for Jess. She then walked away and we continued discussing the results for a while, until the declarations in Birmingham began.
Despite having not experienced the intimidation Jess and others across Birmingham had faced, I immediately understood their frustrations. A group of young men – all of which were there with one of the Yakoob-backed candidates – began chanting and heckling the declarations. Once the winner was announced and they had lost, they began booing and shouting over Liam Byrne whilst he made his speech. This continued for declaration after declaration. Jess was sitting on a table directly behind me throughout this, her response to the disgraceful behaviour by that group of men was to cheer as loud as possible for every Labour candidate who won.
In complete contrast to everything that was going on, Jess was sat there having fun. At some point I looked back towards her mid “Wooooo” and she gave me an embarrassed look and chuckle. Then it got to the declaration for Yardley. Jess knew the result before she got on stage, and standing next to Ladywood candidate Lee Dargue I said “this is going to be good”. Boy was I vindicated. When Jody’s count was read, the mob of thugs supporting him started chanting his name and preventing the returning officer from being able to carry on. He managed to power through it however, and then announced that Jess had won. The mob booed like hell. My mind immediately went to when I met Jess 3 years earlier, and what she said about Jo Cox. Luckily this was broadcast live – because it was absolutely incredible to watch.
Jess responded to the boos with an iconic curtsy to the crowd, and started her speech. Despite an interruption, where the returning officer had to threaten to kick the mob out, Jess powered through the speech. She highlighted how the campaign had been the worst she’d ever experienced, complaining about the various incidents against her and her team. Fittingly, she mentioned how the family of Jo Cox had asked to help campaign with her on polling day, and how she had to turn them down due to the actions of the group of thugs standing against her. She then switched to the positives of the day, expressing her delight at there being a Labour government and so on. Then came the end of the speech.
Jess finished her speech with something which will live in my head forever, saying “I’m happy my seat was a marginal seat. Marginal seats make better politicians, and that is what I am, and I always will be.”
Despite supporting someone running against her, I had to cheer her off the stage. She went through shaking every candidates hand, and then offered a handshake to Jody, who didn’t even acknowledge her. It could not have given her better evidence of the disrespect he and his mob had shown towards her.
Why have I shared this story? To put it simply, it encapsulates the state of our politics now. A group of socially conservative extremists, running campaigns on sectarian lines and attempting to divide communities, were almost able to get elected in Birmingham, and in many places were elected. It is now a fact of politics that thugs can disrupt Westminster politics. These are tactics similar to those employed by the likes of Tommy Robinson, except they’ve achieved far more success than Tommy could ever dream of.
Jess is an incredible woman. She is so passionate about her community, and has dedicated so much time helping to defend women against sexual violence. In many regards she is an inspiration towards me, someone who I look at and think ‘this is what an MP should be doing’, and she is fierce and strong. Despite all of this, she had to run the risk of being attacked in order to keep her job. For Jess, lots of this was rooted in misogyny, which a lot of it was, but the underlying truth is this is something which stretches beyond men attempting to overpower and dominate women. The underlying truth is that these events, these fears, have been a risk for a long long time, just now a large group have decided to exploit it.