Minister backs Shaun Bailey after London Mayoral candidate accused of ‘politicising’ Sarah Everard case

Asked if he regretted the comment, Mr Bailey replied: ‘Absolutely not.’
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A minister stood by Tory Mayoral candidate Shaun Bailey today after he was accused of "politicising" the disappearance of Sarah Everard.

Minister for London Paul Scully was asked about a comment Mr Bailey made on the disappearance of the missing 33-year-old marketing executive.

In a tweet on Wednesday, the mayoral candidate vowed to “deliver for the safety of women and girls” if elected in May, and said “it breaks me to think that my wife and daughter have to live in fear” in the capital.

Labour MP Catherine West called it “cheap, political point scoring” while his Lib Dem rival Luisa Porritt described it as “utterly grotesque”.

The comment left ministers facing awkward questions this morning.

Sky News presenter Jayne Secker asked Mr Scully: “Aside from the fact that he has this slightly Victorian view that women can only really be seen in terms of their relationship to a man, why do you think and when do you think it is suitable to use the disappearance of a woman as political capital?”

The minister said his thoughts and prayers went out to Ms Everard and her family and friends but said the Conservative candidate can "absolutely" still run for office.

He added: “Shaun Bailey has a plan for London in terms of giving the leadership on crime, on housing, on transport and air quality.

"The first thing people want to be is safe in their homes and Shaun has been doing a lot of work around [that].

"But we shouldn't be distracted from the fact that there is a serious crime that's gone on here."

Mr Scully added the Government was "absolutely" doing enough to keep women safe and that it was addressing problems of domestic violence.

Mr Bailey’s Twitter post included a link to a news article about Ms Everard, who went missing a week ago as she walked from a friend’s house in Clapham to her home in Brixton, south London.

Asked on LBC if he regretted the Tweet, Mr Bailey replied: “Absolutely not.”

He said his heart went out to Ms Everard’s family for their “loss” but was called out by host Nick Ferrari who told him: “Mr Bailey we don’t know that it’s a loss…you should know that as someone who wants to be Mayor of London. You are speaking out of turn Mr Bailey.”

Mr Bailey went on: “If someone in your family is missing, it’s a loss. Hopefully you find that person. But if they are missing that’s a loss, let’s be clear.”

He added: “I don’t regret putting out the Tweet. Because I do want to draw attention to the fact that we have had so many murders in London.”

Mr Ferrari added: “You’ve jumped to another assumption that the young woman has been murdered.”

Mr Bailey replied: “I did not say that - you said that.” He added: “She’s missing and it is a loss.”

A serving Metropolitan Police officer is being held in connection with Ms Everard’s disappearance after being arrested on Tuesday. The force confirmed on Wednesday that he had been arrested on suspicion of kidnap and murder.

The force later said that detectives investigating Ms Everard’s disappearance had found “human remains” in an area of woodland in Ashford in Kent.

Mr Bailey’s comments were made after the officer was arrested, but before police confirmed that he was being held on suspicion of murder.

The officer, aged in his 40s, remains in custody.

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