Harsher punishments planned for those who intimidate election candidates
People who threaten and intimidate candidates and campaigners during elections will face stronger penalties, ministers are to announce.
The new proposals are aimed at making sure no one is put off standing for office, after a rise in threats against candidates at the 2024 general election.
They will be set out next week in a strategy paper aimed at safeguarding the UK’s election system.
Freedom of expression
Ministers are keen to stress that they want to ensure freedom of expression is protected, while also cracking down on threatening behaviour against those competing for votes.
Communities minister Rushanara Ali said: “We want to ensure our democracy is resilient and thriving, that people are able to engage and participate in our democracy, free from the fear of harassment and intimidation.
“Harassment and intimidation is completely unacceptable and having a chilling effect on our democracy.”
Courts will be given powers to impose tougher punishments on people who target candidates, campaigners, elected politicians, and electoral staff with threatening or hostile behaviour.
Online and offline
The punishments could apply to both real life incidents as well as those online, the Government suggested.
Some 55% of candidates at the 2024 general election experienced some form of abuse, according to research by the Electoral Commission.
Activities included slashing candidates’ vehicle tyres and targeting their families.
Ministers have sought to step up work to protect elections from interference, and those involved in them from threats, via the Defending Democracy Taskforce.
In the Commons, Speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle is meanwhile hosting the Speakers’ Conference, examining the growing threats faced by MPs.
The conference has warned this is having a stifling impact on democratic debate, and is dissuading people from standing in parliamentary elections.
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Can’t fault this. Too many of our politicians have been subjected to this through the rise of social media.
The police and courts need to take this seriously.
On the other hand you have the likes of Farage belittling the problem by claiming that he was told by the Speaker, for his own safety, not to hold surgeries which turned out to
be outright lie.
But, and this is a big but, would I be prosecuted for telling a party candidate whose views i find abhorrent, where to stick their leaflet?
Yes, it seems a good idea to try to stop all these threats. Much heavier penalties on the Social Media companies who do not monitor and take down such material as well as banning the posters is needed. Perhaps we should be moving towards the removal of pseudonyms and make folk post under their own names. That obviously needs some caveats, but it might make the worst offenders think twice.
As for the leaflet, perhaps one should just return it with comments along the lines of “I do hope you lose!”
Quite right.
Politicians should be able to handle hecklers by superior answers!
Threats, intimidation and physical assaults are not heckling.
First of all, we need to enforce existing laws when it’s clear who the culprits are. Second we need to create laws that make social media providers responsible in the same way publishers are, as in this the law, this is unacceptable, remove this content and show the authorities who is responsible when people, as is usual, use fake profiles. I don’t see what’s difficult about this? Get it done!