Keep It Civil”: Invitation to Candidates to Sign Up to Civility Pledge
The Jo Cox Foundation is calling upon candidates in the forthcoming local elections to sign up to its Civility Pledge, seeking to end the abuse and intimidation of those who put themselves forward for public office.
The call has been echoed by Cllr Sue Woodward, who is seeking a return to Lichfield District Council on 4th May. She is asking candidates across Lichfield District to sign too. The link is –
https://www.jocoxfoundation.org/civility_pledge
She said:
“Personal abuse should not be tolerated and I hope candidates, of all political parties and none, agree. Low level abuse can lead to horrific consequences as we saw with the murders of Jo Cox and David Amess. Our candidates in this district can show their commitment to ending abuse by taking a stand and signing up to this pledge.”
She has already received positive responses from fellow candidates and hopes to see far more signing up in the weeks ahead.”
She added:
“I’m no shrinking violet where robust debate is concerned about but personal abuse via social media can be really pernicious and it’s women in politics who experience this most. It puts many people off standing for election, which undermines our democracy.
Having experienced this myself, I want to make a stand and hope fellow candidates will join me.”
