The daughter of Labour MP Yvette Cooper has described her fears for her mother after “chilling scenes in parliament” as she accused Boris Johnson of “using language that helps incite violence” towards politicians.
In a thread on Twitter. Ellie Cooper, daughter of Cooper and former shadow chancellor Ed Balls, said she was “scared every single day” that her mother could be attacked in the wake of the murder of MP Jo Cox.
On Wednesday, Johnson repeatedly described the Benn Act — which seeks to force him to delay Brexit beyond October 31 if no deal is found — as the “surrender act”.
The prime minister rejected calls to temper his language and said the best way to honour Cox – an ardent Remainer – was to “get Brexit done”.
Cooper said their house was fitted with panic buttons, industrial locks and explosive bags to catch the post after the murder of the Labour MP in her Batley and Spen constituency, which is close to her mother’s own seat.
She said the moment she called her mother on the day Cox was murdered “my perspective of the world completely changed”.
Cox was shot and and stabbed by neo-Nazi killer Thomas Mair in June 2016.
Cooper said: “I was 17 when Jo Cox was murdered. I just rang my mum, who is Yvette Cooper, on my way home from school to complain about the usual things and I distinctly remember her interrupting me to say ‘An MP’s been shot’.”
She said scrolling through Twitter and seeing her mother called a liar and traitor left he scared the same thing could happen again and she called on people to change how they act towards MPs.
She wrote: “I am scared because on the 16th of June 2016, two children said goodbye to their mother before she left for her constituency to sit in surgeries and help people all day, and never saw her again. I am scared every single day that the same will happen to mine.”
Referring to the “chilling scenes” during Wednesday evening’s exchanges in the Commons, she criticised the Prime Minister for using language that “helps incite violence towards MPs”.
Cooper said: “I rarely actually tweet, especially about politics – am more of the silent retweeter – but after the chilling scenes in Parliament last night I just don’t think I can stay quiet anymore. There’s a group of young people and children that need to be spoken for.
“The language used by our Prime Minister — not a far-right populist or provocative journalist, but our Prime Minister — is just beyond words. The fact that the head of our government is actually using language that helps incite violence toward MPs is so beyond dangerous I can’t even comprehend it in a modern society.”
Yvette Cooper wrote on Twitter: “We get used to handling all the things that get thrown at us, but it’s harder to see it through your children’s eyes. I am very proud of my brave daughter.”