Prime Minister Theresa May has ordered an investigation into intimidation experienced by candidates during the last election after a barrage of complaints by MPs about death threats and harassment.
May asked the committee on standards in public life to prepare a report, saying she was “horrified by stories from colleagues about the scale and nature of the intimidation, bullying and harassment they suffered during the general election," the Guardian reported.
May’s announcement came MP's debated about the real life abuses they faced including on social media. Many MPs have already moved to improve their security since Labour’s Jo Cox was murdered by a rightwing extremist in 2016, but a large number have complained of a new level of harassment in the run-up to the 8 June vote.
Rehman Chisti the Tory MP for Gillingham and Rainham, said a Labour member in his constituency allegedly told him to “fuck off back” to a certain country, which the police are now investigating.
Cllr Ameet Jogia, during the 2017 snap election became a victim of a racial abuse too. He was contesting against Labour's Barry gardiner in Brent area.There was a racist grafitti scrawled on the wall of a voting booth in Wembley, in his constituency, that read: “Vote Labour Barry, not Jogia. Keep Pakis out of politics.”
The 30-year-old was alerted to the message by one of his supporters who spotted it in a polling booth, at The Ascension Church in north London. The photo also made rounds on social media, where Ameet's friends and family tried to comfort the Tory candidate. Jogia, who went to investigate shortly before voting closed at 10pm, said he was ‘saddened’ to see the ‘racist’ message still there.
“There are very strict rules that no messages should be placed anywhere in the polling station let alone the polling booth that would influence anyone’s decision. This message clearly said ‘vote labour…”
He allegedly brought it to the attention of a presiding officer but claims they ‘literally just shrugged their shoulders saying it was 10pm and nothing they could do’, the Metro reported.
Jogia then told the Asian Voice, "I have launched a formal complaint with Brent Council and the Electoral Commission as to why such a message was left unnoticed for so long. The authorities are investigating the matter with the police."
