Minister Steve Baker was followed and filmed by a pro-Palestinian activist on Saturday
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Minister Steve Baker has said there is a case for an existing public body to remind activists that politicians are not “fair game” for “intimidation, intimidation and bullying”.
Baker spoke PoliticsHome over the safety of MPs after he was confronted by a protester last weekend, prompting him to contact police. It is the second incident that the Northern Irish minister has experienced since the start of the war in the Middle East.
Footage of the incident was viewed thousands of times on social media. Baker emphasized that the protester kept his distance and did not threaten him.
He told PoliticsHome he believed there was a case for a ‘neutral party’ such as ACPO or the Electoral Commission to make it clear to the public and activists that harassment laws apply to MPs as well as British citizens.
“I think there is a case for an authoritative, independent body that makes it clear to activists and the general public that the law applies equally to MPs in all respects, including the way we are treated on the streets. We are not fair game for harassment, intimidation and bullying,” he said.
Baker said a number of lawmakers have contacted him and talked to him about their experiences of being followed and asked intrusive questions by activists. He said if a stranger follows an MP, there is automatically a fear that the person is carrying a knife.
“I discovered that this is a common pattern among MPs. I have now heard a number of MPs saying that people are engaging in this type of behaviour, and also asking questions about their children,” he said.
“And say, ‘It’s okay because you’re a public figure’? They have no right to ask about your children… the law of harassment applies to us just like everyone else.”
Baker said he was also confronted after the Brexit referendum when an activist chased him down the street. The Wycombe MP thought at the time he could have had a gun in his pocket.
“The most frightening event was in relation to Brexit, where a white Briton chased me into one of our areas and stood there shaking with anger, with his hands deep in his pockets,” he said.
“And at that moment I was honestly afraid that he had a knife and I didn’t know what he was going to do… But that was a moment where the man was so angry and had gone to so much trouble to find me.
“Luckily someone I knew came and sat in a car and said hello, so I got in and left.”
Baker said he does not feel threatened by Steve Bray, a pro-Remain activist who is outside parliament.
Baker said PoliticsHome because of the activist he put a 360 degree camera on his backpack. But Baker said he’s confident that Bray — after filming him and asking a “few dumb questions” — will break down and eventually leave him alone.
The minister has also called on people to be more careful about the type of language they use towards parliamentarians on the street.
“I mean, society is a pressure cooker and we are the safety valve. That’s something a very wise police commissioner said to me a long time ago and it has always helped me get through this pressure. I have extremely thick skin now,” he said.
“On the one hand, as an MP, I don’t think anything has changed in hundreds of years. We are the safety valve on the pressure cooker of society.”
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