{"id":16401,"date":"2016-11-11T16:21:40","date_gmt":"2016-11-11T16:21:40","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.jomec.co.uk\/intercardiff\/?p=16401"},"modified":"2016-11-11T16:21:40","modified_gmt":"2016-11-11T16:21:40","slug":"south-wales-ams-confident-of-their-safety-five-months-on-from-jo-cox-murder","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/intercardiff\/politics-social-justice\/south-wales-ams-confident-of-their-safety-five-months-on-from-jo-cox-murder","title":{"rendered":"South Wales AMs Confident of their Safety Five Months on from Jo Cox Murder"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>\u2018I\u2019m more likely to be run down by a car when I\u2019m bicycling to the Senedd than assaulted because of my role. That doesn\u2019t stop me bicycling.\u2019<\/strong><br \/>\nA raft of South Wales AMs have expressed a desire to not let concerns about their safety get in the way of them representing their constituencies.<br \/>\nTheir calls come after the Assembly Government announced a new \u00a3170,000 fund to improve the safety of AMs in response to the murder of MP Jo Cox.<br \/>\nSince Jo Cox&#8217;s brutal murder on June 16<sup>th<\/sup>, the public safety of British politicians, particularly given the current highly charged nature of British politics, has emerged as a major concern.<br \/>\nThis concern over their personal safety has presented a difficult challenge to many British politicians who must balance personal and public concerns for their safety with their desire to not shut themselves off from their constituents.<br \/>\n<figure id=\"attachment_16523\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-16523\" style=\"width: 750px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><a href=\"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/intercardiff\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/12\/2016\/11\/Assembly-4.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"wp-image-16523 size-post-thumbnail-size\" src=\"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/intercardiff\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/12\/2016\/11\/Assembly-4-750x330.jpg\" alt=\"Mohammed Asghar AM\" width=\"750\" height=\"330\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-16523\" class=\"wp-caption-text\"><noscript><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-16523 size-post-thumbnail-size\" src=\"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/intercardiff\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/12\/2016\/11\/Assembly-4-750x330.jpg\" alt=\"Mohammed Asghar AM\" width=\"750\" height=\"330\" \/><\/noscript><\/a> <strong>Mohammed Asghar AM<\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure><br \/>\nSouth Wales\u2019 AMs have not been exempted from concerns over their personal safety. \u2018The tragic killing of Jo Cox MP reminds all public representatives at whatever level of the potential risk involved with standing for office,\u2019 said Conservative AM for South Wales East Mohammed Asghar.<br \/>\nHis concerns were mirrored by Gareth Bennett, UKIP AM for South Wales Central. \u2018Politics is becoming more polarised\u2019.<br \/>\n<figure id=\"attachment_16663\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-16663\" style=\"width: 750px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><a href=\"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/intercardiff\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/12\/2016\/11\/Gareth_Bennett_AM-best.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-post-thumbnail-size wp-image-16663\" src=\"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/intercardiff\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/12\/2016\/11\/Gareth_Bennett_AM-best-750x330.jpg\" alt=\"Gareth Bennett AM\" width=\"750\" height=\"330\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-16663\" class=\"wp-caption-text\"><noscript><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-post-thumbnail-size wp-image-16663\" src=\"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/intercardiff\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/12\/2016\/11\/Gareth_Bennett_AM-best-750x330.jpg\" alt=\"Gareth Bennett AM\" width=\"750\" height=\"330\" \/><\/noscript><\/a> <strong>Gareth Bennett AM<\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure><br \/>\nDespite these concerns however, the AMs I spoke to stressed that they did not want concerns over their safety to get in the way of their duties as AMs.<br \/>\n\u2018I don\u2019t feel particularly at risk as I think I take reasonable precautions. I\u2019m more likely to be run down by a car when I\u2019m bicycling to the Senedd than assaulted because of my role. That doesn\u2019t stop me bicycling.\u2019 Said Jenny Rathbone, Labour AM for Cardiff Central.<br \/>\n\u2018No amount of money could have prevented what happened to Jo unless she had distanced herself so much from her constituents that she would have ceased to be able to represent them properly.\u2019<br \/>\nMr Asghar struck a similarly professional tone. \u2018Although events such as this are, thankfully, very rare I am sure many representatives in their careers have experienced incidents where they felt threatened to some extent. Personally, I do not feel more at risk than I did before this tragic event\u2019.<br \/>\n<figure id=\"attachment_16552\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-16552\" style=\"width: 650px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><a href=\"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/intercardiff\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/12\/2016\/11\/Jenny-Headshot-2016.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"wp-image-16552 size-post-thumbnail-size\" src=\"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/intercardiff\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/12\/2016\/11\/Jenny-Headshot-2016-650x330.jpg\" alt=\"Jenny Rathbone AM\" width=\"650\" height=\"330\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-16552\" class=\"wp-caption-text\"><noscript><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-16552 size-post-thumbnail-size\" src=\"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/intercardiff\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/12\/2016\/11\/Jenny-Headshot-2016-650x330.jpg\" alt=\"Jenny Rathbone AM\" width=\"650\" height=\"330\" \/><\/noscript><\/a> <strong>Jenny Rathbone AM<\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure><br \/>\nOn October 27<sup>th<\/sup>, The Assembly Government addressed concerns over AM\u2019s safety by having its Remuneration Board set aside \u00a3170,000 for \u201cnecessary and reasonable security enhancements\u201d of AM\u2019s offices and homes.<br \/>\nThis figure was arrived upon following a review of AM\u2019s offices by Assembly security officers in the months before October.<br \/>\n&nbsp;<br \/>\nWhen asked about the new fund, Mr Asghar expressed approval of its creation. \u2018I support this fund which is a small amount to pay to protect representatives, staff and families\u2019.<br \/>\nMr Bennett also expressed approval for the fund, stating that \u2018We all need to take sensible precautions\u2019.<br \/>\nMrs Rathbone expressed some reservation about the new fund. \u2018I can\u2019t say whether the ring-fencing of money for improved security is money well spent or not\u2019.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>AMs comment on their personal safety following creation of \u00a3170,000 fund to protect them.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":411,"featured_media":16744,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[],"coauthors":[],"class_list":["post-16401","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-politics-social-justice"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v25.2 - 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