Sarah Wollaston: ‘My Anti-Stalking Law Must Not Be Delayed By Brexit’

Newly Independent (formerly Conservative) MP Sarah Wollaston talks about stalking, second referendum and... riding her tandem

Sarah Wollaston

by As told to Anna Silverman |
Updated on

It’s not every day you get the chance to see your bill go through Parliament and have it become an Act, but my Stalking Protection Bill was passed in March. Annoyingly, we’re still waiting for it to come into force; we’ve been told it will by the end of the year but that’s frustrating, as so many people’s lives are really affected by stalking.

I appreciate it takes time, as a huge amount of training is needed in the Criminal Justice System when you bring in a new order, but I’m really worried it could be delayed by Brexit; if civil servants are diverted to no-deal planning and important things like protecting victims get left by the wayside.

At the moment, if you’re a victim of stalking, the onus is on you to take action, whereas when Stalking Protection Orders are brought in through my bill, it’ll be the police who can apply for them. Also, the balance of evidence required will be that of a civil case, not a criminal case. If the perpetrator breaches the order, that will be a criminal offence though, with serious penalties. The cool thing is it’ll be easier for a victim to get one and more severe for anyone who breaches one. Even if they’re stalking online or from abroad, they could still go to prison for it.

As a doctor and chair of the Health and Social Care Committee, I’m speaking out about the impact a hard Brexit will have on our health system: from science and research, through to the safety of medicines and getting products on to the pharmacy shelves. And, if we crash out at the end of October, that’s just as the NHS goes into its busiest period. In flu season, you need a more rapid turnover of medicine. It’s also about the workforce; nearly one in 10 doctors are from the EU. Even your ability to travel abroad and have free health care will be disrupted. It’s my job to say loud and clear: Brexit is bad for our health.

I think we’ll have a general election soon, because if just two more MPs resign the whip, the Government won’t have a majority. So, my other line of campaigning has been to say ‘how can we get a Remain alliance together in case that happens?’ This would mean those who are for Remain coming together to be able to prepare for the possibility of a general election. Personally, I think it’s best to have a second referendum because people want to express views on other things in a general election. Whatever happens, we’re in for a bumpy ride.

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CREDIT: Twitter Danielle Rowley

Danielle Rowley, 28, Midlothian Scottish Labour MP

Speaking about her groundbreaking announcement, Danielle perfectly highlighted just how ridiculous it is that it's even a taboo to mention your period. She said on Twitter:'A lot of unexpected coverage of me talking about my period - which is great, but also highlights the need to talk about periods more openly.A woman mentioning her period shouldn't be such huge news - let's use this opportunity and work together to get to a place where it's not!'

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Jess Phillips, 36, Birmingham Yardley Labour MP

Jess brought social media trolls to account when she called for those who post abusive messages online to lose their anonymity. The MP told parliament that she once received 600 rape threats in one night and is threatened with violence and aggression every single day online. The online community is so hostile towards women that Amnesty International have led a campaign calling for Twitter to take greater responsibility for preventing online abuse. Jess told the House of Commons that people should have to disclose their real identity to social media platforms, with hope that it would not only deter people from abusing women online but also enable us to hold them to account.

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Heidi Allen, 43, South Cambridgeshire Conservative MP

Heidi, alongside Jess Phillips, shared an emotional account of her own abortion with parliament earlier this month. In an attempt to reform Northern Ireland's abortion laws, she told the Cambridge independent that she felt she needed to share her story:'I had intended to say it because I had a feeling nobody else would.'I thought it probably needed saying.'I suppose it is very easy to make issues like that just about procedure and legislation and words and policy but, actually, it is about people's lives.'Jess Phillips too opened up about her own abortion, also sharing harrowing stories from women in Northern Ireland who had terminated pregnancies.

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Stella Creasy, 41, Walthamstow Labour MP

The original lead of cross-party calls for Northern Ireland's abortion laws to be brought in line with the rest of the UK's, Stella received tons of hate mail over her campaign to protect women's right to choose. It was in her call for debate over abortion that Heidi Allen and Jess Philips were able to talk about their own terminations.

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Penny Mourdant, 45, Portsmouth North Conservative MP

The Minister for Women and Equalities, Penny Mourdant launched the National Action Plan on Women, Peace and Securitywhich calls for more women to be at the centre of the DFID's peace, security and humanitarian programmes. As secretary of state for international development, she has attempted to reform the aid sector by creating an independent safeguarding unit that prevents exploitation. This comes in the wake of a series of sex scandals against leading charities earlier this year.

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Wera Hobhouse, 58, Bath Liberal Democrat MP

Wera Hobhouse brought Gina Martin's upskirting campaign to parliament as a private members bill set to outlaw the vile crime. While the bill was subsequently blocked by two male MPs, a third reading of the bill is set to continue on the 6th of July with Gina stating 'the Government Bill will become law as it'll get through the later stages more quickly and won't be objected to.'

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Maria Miller, 54, Basingstoke Conservative MP

It was off the back of the upskirting bill that Maria Miller and Jess Phillips have met with Wera Hobhouse in an attempt to include a revenge porn amendment. It would ensure there was a blanket ban on voyeuristic images regardless of the intention in taking it, as the MPs feared people would attempt to bend the wording of the upskirting law to avoid conviction by arguing they took the image with no intention of causing distress. They also wanted to introduce an amendment that would ban false pornographic images, in which faces are photoshopped onto explicit images. However, they were told it was impossible to introduce further amendments. This comes after Love Island stars Zara McDermott and Laura Anderson became victims of revenge porn this week.

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Mhairi Black, Paisley and Renfrewshire South SNP MP

As part of the discussion about classing misogyny as a hate crime, Mhairi Black spoke out about the misogynistic and homophobic abuse she receives online every day. She also asked parliament to reflect on their own environment, stating, 'Only a few weeks ago I was physically pressed up against a Member (of Parliament) in the voting lobby who is accused of sexual misconduct because there's so little room.'Acknowledging she has the 'same right and influence as any other elected man', she spoke up for the female staff who aren't in her position.

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Melanie Onn, 39, Great Grimsby Labour MP

Leading the charge to make misogyny a hate crime, Melanie highlighted the 'link between low-level harassment of women and more serious sexual assaults' that was found by Westminster's all-party group on domestic violence. In her constituency, the rate of domestic violence is particularly high. As a result, she has called for a law change to have misogynistic acts such as wolf-whistling, leering and sexual comments in public to be made a criminal offence.

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Monica Lennon, 37, Central Scotland Scottish Labour MSP

Monica introduced a Member's Bill into Scottish parliament that would see the creation of free universal access to sanitary products. Proposing also that schools, colleges and universities provide free sanitary products in their toilets, she led the campaign that stands to end period poverty in Scotland.

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