HOW PRO-HUNT BULLIES ARE ABLE TO STALK ME
The Speaker at the House of Commons should appeal against the decision
By Ann Widdecombe
THE Speaker of the House of Commons should appeal against the decision in the High Court that the addresses of MPs should be published and, yes, that will involve spending your money and mine in order to do so but it might actually save us some in the longer term. If that seems odd, read on.
Last week I showed a film to MPs which graphically demonstrated the abuse to which hunt monitors, most
of them gentle mortals past middle age, are routinely subjected.
The film showed assaults, threats, damage to vehicles and a great deal of verbal aggression. The representative from the Countryside Alliance steadfastly refused to condemn such conduct, despite being challenged repeatedly to do so.
A couple of days later one of the monitors sent a copy of the following e-mail about me which had appeared on a pro-hunting website: “I have heard, from a very good source, that she is buying a property in Devon, maybe we could monitor her daily comings and goings. When I have her address I can forward it to anyone interested in welcoming her to her new home.”
If that is not a threat of harassment and stalking then I do not know what is, but I will not be the only MP who faces at best nuisance and at worst danger in this way.
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Some have died as a result of terrorism
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Yet Sir Igor Judge, Lord Justice Latham and Mr Justice Blake believe that we should be legally obliged to help anyone so malevolently inclined by being forced to publish our addresses.
The reality is, of course, that most of us do publish our addresses quite willingly. Both my former London and constituency homes were in Who’s Who and other similar directories but there are times when that may not be so wise and we should have the choice not to be secret but to be private, especially when there are families at those addresses.
MPs have been the subject of terrorist threats, harassment and vandalism and have as much right as anyone else to protect themselves. It is worth remembering that some have died as a result of terrorism, one of them, Ian Gow, on his own front drive in 1990. If they decide that there is good reason not to broadcast their whereabouts outside the Commons then that may be perfectly valid.
As a matter of fact, I rather hope the hunt bullies do find my Devon address, which is occupied not by me but by two beefy, 6ft-plus builders who are staying there while they do the place up, and one of whom is an ex-bouncer. It would be so entertaining to see their faces when they realise that they are not, after all, to have sport trying to frighten a little old lady.
The serious side of this argument is that if an MP is under threat in his own house, the police will feel obliged to offer a degree of protection and that costs money. It might be cheaper to let him keep the address private in the first place.
The language of Heather Brooke, one of the campaigners to obtain this information, is ins-tructive. The public, she declares, are “the masters”. Human beings have employers, Ms Brooke. Dogs have masters. That small slip is wonderfully illustrative of an attitude towards MPs which goes a long way to explain the horrendous decline in the quality of entrants to Parliament in the past 20 or so years. As I have said on this page before, I am glad I am going.
Meanwhile, judges also are paid from the public purse, are pensioned from it and claim expenses from it when their duties take them away from home. They may also be threatened by criminals resenting their decisions. So do Sir Igor, Lord Justice Latham and Mr Justice Blake publish their addresses?
I looked them up in Who’s Who. You bet they don’t.
Video 
PULL THE OTHER ONE!
28.05.08, 7:49am
This address malarkey is just that, a way of avoiding the public finding out not where you live Ann, but who paid for your house in the first place.
You can quibble all you like about the difference between "master" and "employer", but it still is true that MPs these days think they are above the common herd.
You can use weasel-words like "hunt monitor" instead of "hunt-sabotuer" when it suits you too, how very PC. But to try to pretend that these people - whatever you call them - are a bunch of little old ladies is a farce.
• Posted by: IvorMoan • Report Comment
THE WORDS "INTEGRITY" AND "M.P." DO NOT GO TOGETHER
26.05.08, 2:51pm
.....and NEVER WILL.
• Posted by: ReubenMohawali • Report Comment
ANN WIDDECOMBE IS RIGHT
25.05.08, 8:33pm
As always, Ann Widdecombe is right about the addresses - yes, they should be kept confidential. A number of anti-abortion MPs have received threats and unspeakable treatment. But if our MPs had been open with their expenses, then no one would have bothered about their addresses. I do wish that Ann could be persuaded to stay in Parliament and lead the Conservative Party. I disagree with her about hunting, but what integrity she has, how different from most of the rest of the bunch!
• Posted by: voter • Report Comment
HUNT MONITOR?
25.05.08, 12:14pm
Is this the PC name for a hunt sabateur?
• Posted by: cyclops • Report Comment
COME ON ANNE NO ONE SHOULD BE ABOVE THE LAW THAT INCLUDES POLITICIANS
24.05.08, 12:34am
Our lovely Anne...it was probably the speaker of the house of commens that got you all to this position through his sleaze and unregulated usage of tax payers money that has produced the outcome that was long over due!
Not even a politician nor anyone else in this country is above the law.....ohh did i forget to mention that perhaps the fanatical terrorists and criminals seem to be above the law.....mmmmm....perhaps you do have a point!!
Well the way this country seems to be bleeding tax payers money through this unelected Prime Minister and Government wouldn't make much of a difference to the coffers!!
Well i thought that the high court decision was about politicians expenses and not neccessarily home addresses.
Well tell the party to hurry up and get into power so we can be rid of this diabolical situation with the Labour party.
• Posted by: RealIstic08 • Report Comment
ADDRESSES - RED HERRING
21.05.08, 2:11pm
Come on Anne, the subject matter here is purely expenses and the address issue is a pure red herring. I have not spoken with any person on this subject who insists that the MP's address is published. Apart from anything else, the MP's constituency and surgery addresses are easily obtained, unless you want to make them more removed from the public than they already are.
Additionally, are you saying that an MP is only going to be hounded, attacked whilst in London, if so, that's a good reason to consider moving the "House" to Birmingham, Manchester or even Orkney.
• Posted by: Tomas • Report Comment
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