Jo Cox Civility Commission progress: New police support for councillors and changes to safety spending limits

By Hannah Phillips.
Hannah is The Jo Cox Foundation’s Research and Policy Manager, leading the work of the Jo Cox Civility Commission. Hannah is a policy and research professional who has worked on local, national and international levels including at the London Borough of Lambeth Council, the UK House of Commons and the United Nations. In addition to her work at the Foundation, Hannah is a DPhil (PhD) Candidate at the University of Oxford where she examines how the phenomenon of abuse towards elected representatives has been politicised as a policy problem in the UK.

Since we launched the Jo Cox Civility Commission‘s call to action in January, the problem of abuse and incivility in politics has garnered more attention than ever. We are pleased that the media and policymakers are raising awareness about this issue and that progress is already being made on our 28 recommendations to tackle abuse and intimidation of elected representatives. 

Recent coverage on the issue of abuse in politics includes:

• MPs, such as Mike Freer, citing abuse as a reason they are leaving politics. 
• Frank Hester’s appalling comments about Diane Abbott, highlighting the insidious sexist and racist abuse targeted at black and ethnic minority women in public life. 
• Calls to drop the requirement for councillors to publish their home addresses because of safety concerns, ahead of next month’s local elections

At The Jo Cox Foundation, CEO Su Moore has appeared on podcasts and radio shows across the country to raise awareness of the urgent problem and what we can do about it. Su and I delivered a Stevenson Trust for Citizenship Lecture at the University of Glasgow and I spoke alongside Jess Phillips MP at a Cumberland Lodge Webinar about civility in politics. Jess’ reflection of the time she felt close to leaving politics felt particularly important:

At a children’s literary event, her son stood near the door “in case we needed to escape”. Jess said, “That’s the only time I thought that that’s it … I cannot do this anymore.”

These stories and others show the urgency of addressing abuse and intimidation towards elected representatives at all levels across the UK. 

Progress on our recommendations

Important progress has been made on several of our recommendations from the call to action. Two recommendations have already been adopted and others are on track to be implemented. The Home Office confirmed that they will be adopting our recommendation to expand the dedicated resource in each local police force to support elected representatives.  This support is particularly crucial for local politicians who have not before been offered consistent protection. As we cited in our report, the Local Government Association found that seven out of ten councillors surveyed had experienced abuse and intimidation. 

The government has also implemented our recommendation that any costs associated with candidate safety are exempt from election spending limits. This means that candidates can put in place measures they need to campaign safely and securely. 

We are monitoring and advocating for progress on all of our other recommendations. For example, we called on all elected representatives, and especially those in leadership roles, to model good behaviour and so far over 100 candidates have signed our Civility Pledge in the run-up to the May elections. 

Police colleagues told us that as a direct result of our recommendation on training*, resources have been updated for all police forces to clarify the roles and responsibilities related to supporting elected representatives. 

Recent research showed that nearly half of MPs staff surveyed experienced clinical levels of distress. From our ongoing engagement, we understand that Parliament is making important steps to improve the support for MPs’ staff and families, who are often seriously impacted by the abuse directed at local politicians and victims of abuse themselves. 

Advocating for long-term change

Ahead of the General Election, we will advocate for political parties to commit to our longer-term recommendations. For example, we are calling for impartial political and media literacy to be a mandatory part of the school curriculum, and for the introduction of significant public awareness campaigns aimed at increasing understanding of the role of elected representatives and promoting civility.

Abuse and intimidation should have no place in politics. Through the Commission, we have made great progress so far in beginning to tackle this issue and we will continue to advocate for the implementation of the remaining recommendations. 

We cannot make further progress without your support. Please read the call to action, endorse its recommendations if you’re an organisation or elected representative, and support our vital campaigning with a donation. Thank you.