A defiant general election candidate has vowed to carry on despite receiving a death threat and having a tyre on his car slashed.
Joe Miller, the Conservative candidate for Brighton Kemptown, said: “I will not be intimidated off the streets of the area in which I grew up.”
The death threat said: “I’m going to get a blade and run it from the top of your spine right to your bumhole, watch your insides fall out. Kill em all.”
It also said: “Skin your mum.”
It was scrawled over a leaflet delivered in the Moulsecoomb and Bevendean area by Councillor Miller, who represents Rottingdean Coastal ward on Brighton and Hove City Council.
It contained other obscenities and the matter was reported to Sussex Police who said: “On Monday (11 November) we were informed that a leaflet containing written threats and abuse had been received at the office in Peacehaven, East Sussex, of the Conservative candidate in the Brighton Kemptown general election campaign.
“The leaflet is being examined and an investigation is under way.”
Councillor Miller, 25, said: “This death threat towards myself and my family is very threatening and frightening. My family, friends, volunteers, colleagues and I are now concerned for our own safety.
“This has no place in our United Kingdom. Of course people can disagree with others. That is the wonderful thing about living in the best democracy in the world.
“But to go to these lengths in my view is entirely unnecessary and intolerant. This is neither kind or gentle.
“This is in addition to a pattern of other intimidating behaviour. A young volunteer had a Conservative branded carrier bag of envelopes snatched out of his hands and thrown in a bin (which we subsequently found), my car tyre being slashed, the lock to our office being forced, myself being signed up to four opposition parties, the threat of a Staffy dog being set on another volunteer and a leaflet being thrown back at another volunteer after a resident drove at them to do so (rather than recycle it).
“I will not be intimidated off the streets of the area in which I grew up in and love. I will continue to try my best to speak to as many neighbours in Brighton Kemptown and Peacehaven that I can between now and Thursday 12 December so we can get our country on the road to a brighter future that is so desperately needed.
“I will not be distracted from our positive and optimistic campaign.
“The police are advising me accordingly and are taking this matter seriously to find the perpetrators of these cowardly acts in response to our survey where we were only asking to hear residents’ views in Brighton Kemptown and Peacehaven so if elected to Westminster I can be the strong voice they truly deserve.
“I would like to thank Sussex Police and their officers for their work, advice and assistance in this matter, and across Brighton Kemptown and Peacehaven daily.”
This is terrible stuff.
I am heartened to see that Joe is not daunted. He and I might not agree on everything (but he was great on Hove Library at PandR, that 2016 afternoon!), and I feel that, as was Graham Cox, he is somebody who weighs up the evidence, as befits a lawyer-to-be.
I should say that those who issue such threats are stoners unable to lift themselves from the sofa. Joe should keep at it, alongside Alex and Lloyd. My experience is that people welcome a knock on the door even if they hold a contrary view.
My most startling doorstep was a Hove basement in 2011 Local Election, when in that split-second, around 7.30 one a bright evening, a naked women leapt behind a frosted-glass door with the exclamation, “Oh! I was expecting somebody else!”
Elections turn life into an Alan Bennett scene.
No candidate – no person – should be subject to this political hate. All strength to Joe Miller.
What a sad, obviously uneducated creature.. I wonder if he/she would be able to have a Normal conversation and explain why he/she is so angry. It’s extremely childish to just write all the swear/crude words that he/she can think of. I wonder if you actually work for a living and contribute to society, or as I suspect, do you live off the state and play games all day.. Open your eyes and your mind and do something useful with your life.
Bet the police don’t find him (or her) though
I do hope this pathetic behaviour doesn’t deter Joe Miller or any other candidate from putting themselves up for election. We need the various ideas and different voices and choices to be offered to us as voters if our democracy is to have any chance of functioning as it should.