Highland councillors subjected to wave of hate
LEADING councillors have been left fearing for their safety after being subjected to a catalogue of abusive behaviour by irate constituents.
Some politicians have even been targeted in their own homes and the situation has got so bad for some, they have had their contact details removed from Highland Council’s website.
Recent incidents of national politicians and other public figures suffering intimidation have drawn condemnation from all political parties – but a number of local councillors claim they and their families have been subjected to similar behaviour in the Highlands.
The issue hit the headlines when fringe pro-Brexit activists pursued Conservative MP Anna Soubry as she made her way to parliament, shouting insults in her face.
But the behaviour of some in the north has not been much better, according to one councillor who asked not to be named in case it reignites a hate campaign in which her policies and even her appearance were subjected to abuse.
She said the intimidation started during her first election campaign, adding: “I have had a couple of letters to my home saying what was I doing being a local councillor or accusing me of ‘knowing nothing about the local area’ and ‘what do you care?’
“The emails have been slightly more aggressive as has social media, where expletives were used.
“I have had numerous comments about my appearance and looks too and I can assure you they have not been kind. I know these few examples seem trivial, but they have felt
menacing."
Inverness South councillor Carolyn Caddick said that when she was first elected in 2011 it was "normal" to post contact details on the council website and she was "happy to do so" but subsequent events forced her to rethink.
"Personally I have had instances of abusive correspondence arriving at my home, people ringing me on my home phone and then shouting at members of my family when I am not available and even coming to my home and being abusive and threatening to family members when I am away on council business," she said.
"These are not every-day occurrences, but they are disturbing for my family when they occur.
"I am lucky as my children are now more mature and away at college, so if they do take a call from an abusive person, they know how to deal with it without inflaming the situation.
"I also have a very supportive husband who can deal with difficult constituents – it might feel less safe if I lived on my own."
Fellow ward councillor Andrew Jarvie said he tried to adopt a "tough it out" approach to any abuse he has received.
"I think that for a lot of people who come into council the hostility comes as quite a shock because they are trying to represent communities and do their best and they don’t expect this full political experience,” he said.
"But for me, who comes from a more political background, and who wants to take this on further, I was a little more prepared. I fully expected it personally and it happens so often that you don’t care.
"My ‘blocked’ list on Facebook contains about 40 nutters who contact me with these long rants. I actually thought that me being disabled would have bought me leniency at the start, but on the contrary it seems to just energise the left."
Inverness MP Drew Hendry, a former leader of Highland Council, said: "Politicians must be able to carry out their work on behalf of their constituents or the wider public without fear or intimidation.
"While we are all subjected to a degree of abuse, for many of my female colleagues at Westminster sickening, abusive threats are an almost constant in their life. We cannot allow this sort of behaviour to become normalised or to disrupt the processes around our democracy."
