Labour MP Jess Phillips 'confronted in street by man asking why he can't make rape jokes about her'

Labour MP Jess Phillips
Victoria Jones/PA
Katy Clifton7 May 2019

Labour MP Jess Phillips claims she was confronted by a man who ran after her in the street asking why people can’t joke about raping her because “I pay your wages”.

Ms Phillips shared the experience with her followers after police launched an investigation into a video of Ukip candidate Carl Benjamin suggesting he might rape her.

Mr Benjamin, who previously came under fire for a social media message in which he said he "wouldn't even rape" the Birmingham Yardley MP, posted a video online suggesting that "with enough pressure I might cave".

As the police investigation continues, Ms Phillips said on Tuesday that she was confronted by a man in Westminster about Mr Benjamin’s comments.

Ukip European Parliament election candidate Carl Benjamin
AFP/Getty Images

She said: “Just leaving Westminster and a man ran down the street alongside me asking about why Carl Benjamin shouldn’t be able to joke about my rape.”

Ms Phillips also claimed that the man was shouting “I pay your wages”.

Hundreds of the Labour MP’s followers rallied behind her after she shared the encounter on Twitter, with one writing: “I pay your wages too and I think you're an inspiration.”

It comes after West Midlands Police said they had received a report of a malicious communication in regards to Mr Benjamin and were investigating whether an offence had been committed.

Ms Phillips said she broke down in tears after being told of Mr Benjamin's comments.

Mr Benjamin released the video on YouTube, where he has a large following under the name Sargon of Akkad.

After announcing a list of spoof Ukip policies, including invading Spain and restoring the British Empire, he said: "There's been an awful lot of talk about whether I would or wouldn't rape Jess Phillips.

"I've been in a lot of trouble for my hardline stance of not even raping her. I suppose with enough pressure I might cave. But let's be honest, nobody's got that much beer."

Ukip European Parliament candidate Carl Benjamin
REUTERS

A West Midlands Police spokesman said: "Police have received a report of malicious communications relating to MP Jess Phillips.

"Officers have spoken to Ms Phillips and the comments are being investigated to establish if an offence has taken place."

Ms Phillips told the BBC's Victoria Derbyshire that she broke down in tears in Birmingham city centre "just because I felt the enormous weight of years and years and years of abuse".

The Labour MP, a frequent target of online trolls, said: "I realised that I did what all women do in these situations - I had been putting a brave face on it and pretending that it was all fine and that I could cope.

"It dawned on me that, for four years essentially, this man had made a career out of harassing me. And I felt harassed.

"I felt 'How can somebody say that they would rape me if forced, and be a legitimate candidate in an election?'"

She said it was "one thing when he was just some idiot off the internet" but now "it's a different thing when he is standing on the same platforms I am standing on, that he will potentially go to a parliament himself as an elected representative".

"I cannot believe our system is so weak at the moment that's allowed to happen."

Ukip leader Gerard Batten said: "Ukip has no knowledge of the police investigation and as such we cannot comment.

"I condemn all jokes about rape - they are not funny and never appropriate and I have told Carl to keep to the serious political issues in this campaign."

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in

MORE ABOUT