Tory MP called police for 'security' as pensioner volunteers delivered petition to office

 
Sir Richard Ottaway and the group of pensioners
Sian Boyle23 January 2014

A group of pensioner charity volunteers may not appear to pose much of a threat. But when a London MP heard they were visting him at his constituency office to deliver a petition, he was so alarmed he called the police.

Sir Richard Ottaway, Conservative MP for Croydon South, said he rang officers “out of concern” about security when the dozen campaigners arrived. The volunteers, 10 of whom are retirement age, went to his constituency office in Purley to hand him a petition against the Government’s Lobbying Bill.

Liz Marsden, 39, is a Friends of the Earth volunteer who had arranged an appointment with Sir Richard to present the petition and bring along other campaigners.

She said: “Sir Richard thought it was an open invitation to anyone in the country to come to his office, but I tried to tell him it wasn’t.

“When we arrived the police cars were on the drive and the police came out and spoke to us, but they could see we were a bunch of pensioners and generally nice, responsible people.

“Sir Richard met us on the way to his car but he was a bit brusque. The 81-year-old lady in our group thought he was a bit intimidating, more intimidating than we were to him.”

The charity workers oppose the Transparency of Lobbying, Non-Party Campaigning and Trade Union Administration Bill, set up to legislate campaign spending, but which critics say would “gag” charities in their campaigns.

Sir Richard said Mrs Marsden had booked an appointment at his surgery to present their petition but found out a larger party would be attending. He added: “We got in touch to ask for assurances about security issues and she failed to give those assurances.

“Out of concern for my two staff and the five or so other constituents who had appointments with me, I called the local police team to notify them of a protest. If you have an unknown number of people descending on your office you have to take precautions. I would do the same again.”

A Met spokesman said: “Officers spoke to all parties. No offences were identified and the officers left.”

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