Extract from short debate in the House of Commons on General
Election Campaign: Abuse and Intimidation:
(Mid Derbyshire) (Con):
It is a very difficult situation. The Facebook page received many
hits, because many people were searching for . Many people could have
been influenced by this vile abuse on social media.
The final straw was when the current Member of Parliament asked
people who had been affected by the bankruptcy to join him at a
meeting to discuss how he would return their money. He said he
would pay their expenses to attend the meeting, and the money was
raised from donations through a YouCaring compassionate
crowdfunding page. All this was done on the page by video. The
new Member for Derby North asked for donations, so that he could
meet at a venue in Derby those who had lost money—most of them
were not from Derby—and presumably promise that he, and he alone,
would stand up for them, and probably ask them to help his
campaign. In fact, at the first business questions following the
election, he tried to trick the Leader of the House into
condemning Amanda and her husband’s company. He knows the ropes,
because of course he had been an MP before won in 2015—something he
has never come to terms with.
Amanda faced other problems. She was campaigning outside a very
large mosque in Derby on a Friday following prayers; in the area,
leaflets with the title “Operation Muslim Vote” had been
delivered by the Muslim Public Affairs Committee UK. Amanda’s
photo was on the leaflet. Next to a headline saying, “Their
voting record” it stated:
“Voted against ending rough sleeping and causes of rising
homelessness. Voted against accepting 3,000 unaccompanied refugee
children. Visited Israel with Conservative Friends
of Israel as a Tory candidate”.
Finally, in large capitals, it read:
“Voted for UK to support Saudis’ bombing of Yemen. Do you want
this Tory MP to represent you…? You decide on June 8th”.
