Opposition frontbenchers criticise attack on Iain Duncan Smith
Senior Labour MPs have criticised an attempted physical attack on former Conservative leader and MP Sir Iain Duncan Smith.
The MP for Chingford and Woodford Green said he was walking to a meeting in Manchester yesterday evening when a group of people called him “Tory scum” and attempted to hit him with a traffic cone.
Shadow justice secretary David Lammy, who also represents a fellow North London constituency, said:
Lucy Powell, shadow secretary of state for housing, said:
Come on Manchester we can do better than this. We are the home of debate and democracy. We don’t have to agree with people, but we respect their right to hold different views. Conferences are an important part of democracy and they’re a chance to show Manchester at its best. https://t.co/ONm6OadRly
— Lucy Powell MP (@LucyMPowell) October 4, 2021
Her tweet quoted comments from Brendan Cox, a former adviser to Gordon Brown and the widower of the late Labour MP Jo Cox who was murdered in her Batley and Spen constituency in West Yorkshire in June 2016.
Totally and utterly unacceptable. Attacking elected politicians is attacking democracy itself. And it puts good people off ever standing. https://t.co/fyRqda3lUZ
— Brendan Cox (@MrBrendanCox) October 4, 2021
