Tory MP James Cleverly has warned that the Labour government are setting a precedent for throwing people in prison if they “don’t like” what they are hearing or reading on social media posts.
He said that Labour need to be “careful” of not overstepping the mark with free speech and the freedom of expression.
Julie Sweeney, 53, was thrown in prison for 15 months who called for Facebook to “be blown up with the adults inside.”
The court was told Sweeney wrote: “It’s absolutely ridiculous. Don’t protect the mosque. Blow the mosque up with the adults in it.”
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The Tory MP told GB News, “Incitement is a serious issue, but this overall trend we are seeing from the Labour government of criminalising voices they don’t like, we have got to be very careful.
“I am deeply uncomfortable with it.”
He strongly urged for the police need to deal with people “completely fairly.”
“I was on the Metropolitan Police authority when I was first elected. I was responsible for kicking corrupt officers out of the Met and sending some to prison”, he told GB News.
“We need to go back to first principles. Police need to stop being scared of being accused of politicising their decisions.
“They need to police completely fairly. Whether you’re black, white, gay, straight or whatever.
“That is a cornerstone of confidence in British policing. They also need to focus on crimes that affect people’s everyday lives.
“When I was Home Secretary, I made it absolutely clear they would pursue all reasonable lines of inquiry.
“They were to crack down on shoplifting. This idea of a £200 limit, get rid of that. If you don’t crack down on small crimes, those criminals get more severe and then you have a problem.”
