Online abuse of councillors will only weaken our democracy - YEP letters

Your campaign to call out social media abuse is both timely and welcome. It is the very essence of what a free press and media should be about.

I know many of my colleagues, particularly female friends, have been subjected to crass personal abuse and even I, as a long standing male councillor, have had my fair share come my way.

I am philosophical about this. If you never do anything or say nothing, abuse will not necessarily be known to you. But if you are an active and responsive politician and want to make a positive difference to people’s lives, you will inevitably come across real negativity from some - often the same - quarters.

Tom Riordan spoke wisely when he differentiated between legitimate criticism and personal abuse; the two are very different. The former is part and parcel of what both individuals and organisations in public life should expect.

So, for example, some of my constituents are very frustrated when they have been on the council housing waiting list for far too long and their lives are miserable because nothing seems to be happening. Or their bins have been missed time and again. Or a planning decision has gone against them.

These are all proper concerns and I can assure you that I will always take up such issues with vigour and persistence.

But, and this is the crux, there are nowhere near enough council houses, bin lorries break down and the planning rules favour development and not communities.

So expressing frustration and impatience is ok, having a go at the administrative systems or organisational weaknesses is healthy, and sometimes those in charge are wrong to defend poor service, instead of apologising for it.

But to go off on one and personally damage people by being excessively derogative is not ok.

Tom is also right to highlight the pervasive impact continuous mistreatment can have on individuals, most of whom are doing their best.

I have known colleagues to hold back and not contribute to an issue publicly because they were not willing to subject themselves once again to a level of vitriol, which is unfair and beyond what is acceptable.

That weakens our democracy and will put good people off from serving in public life.