A NEWLY elected MP has spoken of "extremely upsetting" online abuse a month into the job as concerns grow over the scale of the attacks targeted at politicians.
As calls for action over abuse including rape and death threats are amplified Lib Dem Christine Jardine said all political parties should take responsibility for trolling elements claiming some form of association with their party.
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The Edinburgh West MP said in one incident she was wrongly accused by an activist of breaking the suspension of election campaigning in the aftermath of the Manchester bombing, on the day when she had been attending her husband's funeral.
Ms Jardine criticised the abuse of Labour MP Diane Abbott, pictured below, who revealed in Westminster she had received rape and death threats.
Ms Jardine said: "One of the worst periods in Scottish politics was during the independence referendum when some of the abuse and intimidation that people were getting then was as bad as anything we’ve seen.
“I’ve had abuse, you get nasty things said about you, you get falsehoods put up about you, but I haven’t had to suffer anything like that abuse that Diane Abbott has had.
“It could have an effect on your confidence."
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She said: "I’ve been lucky in that after a particular incident where it was extremely upsetting I got support from members of all political parties.
"I like to think it started from a misunderstanding during the suspension of campaigning after the Manchester bombing and an activist said on Twitter that I had been out campaigning, when in fact I had been at my husband’s funeral.
"On Twitter, the point Diane was making, is people just go online and think it is easy, and I think they get pulled in, thinking they are anonymous, nobody’s going to see it and they don’t think about the impact it has on the person’s confidence, on their family, it is very upsetting for their family and I think all political parties have got to take responsibility for it.
"It’s not just one party that is responsible."
Police have responded to numerous complaints related to threats and abuse since the murder of Jo Cox in June last year.
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In March police installed alarms and panic buttons at the home of SNP East Kilbride MP Dr Lisa Cameron after she and her family were allegedly sent death threats.
Ms Jardine told the BBC's Victoria Derbyshire programme: "In many ways it just makes you more determined, it makes you angry that people do that, it makes you more determined to not let them win, but I do worry that it will put good people of getting involved in politics."
Prime Minister Theresa May has charged Paul Bew, Committee on Standards in Public Life chair with looking into abuse and intimidation of candidates at the election, and he has said he may recommend new laws to combat the issue.
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