Yvette Cooper's daughter Ellie says Boris Johnson's language 'incites violence'

26 September 2019, 17:41

By Nick Hardinges

@NHardinges

Ellie Cooper, daughter of MP Yvette Cooper, has criticised the 'chilling' language used in the House of Commons by Boris Johnson.

In a series of tweets the MP's daughter has been hailed for her response. She said she was "scared when our house gets fitted with panic buttons" in response to the prime minister's language.

Ellie Cooper took to Twitter to vent her anger and fear at the "chilling scenes" she witnessed in the House of Commons last night, saying she "can't stay quiet anymore".

The young woman said Boris Johnson's language was "beyond words" and "incites violence towards MPs".

In a Twitter thread of more than 600 words, she said: "This of [sic] rising hatred is costing people their lives. 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.'

"I can honestly say my perspective of the world completely changed that day. Before then, my mum’s job was something that kept her working later then [sic] bedtime when I was a kid ... It was never something that could get her killed."

Ellie Cooper repeatedly said she was "scared" when she saw the language used in replies to her mother's tweets in which she gets called a "liar" and a "traitor".

She continued: "I am scared when our house gets fitted with panic buttons, industrial-locking doors and explosive bags to catch the mail.

"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."

The politician's daughter demanded Boris Johnson to "stand up" and "unite" the country by calling for the end of "inflammatory and aggressive language."

"Or you will be responsible for putting other people’s lives at risk," she said.

Yvette Cooper responded to the thread, saying: "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."