Labour backlash against Chris Williamson arrives at his front door
2 min read
The Labour backlash against Chris Williamson's suggestion that female-only train carriages could reduce the number of sex attacks has arrived at his front door.
Dot Commons has learned that angry colleagues have pinned a message outside his Commons office mocking his controversial idea.
The hastily-prepared piece of A4 says: "Woman? Sexually harrassed at work? How about working on your own floor? Sign up to this and other silly notions by emailing Chris.Williamson.MP@Parliament.uk."
Speaking exclusively to PoliticsHome yesterday, shadow fire minister Mr Williamson said women-only carriages could help to create a "safe space" for female commuters.
Figures uncovered by the BBC last month showed that 1,448 sexual offences on UK trains were reported in 2016-17 – up from 650 in 2012-2013.
Mr Williamson said: "Complemented with having more guards on trains, it would be a way of combating these attacks, which have seen a very worrying increase in the past few years."
But the suggestion - which echoed an identical plan floated by Jeremy Corbyn two years ago - was attacked by Labour MPs Stella Creasy and Jess Philips.
A report in 2014 by Middlesex University for the Department for Transport said bringing women-only carriages would be a "retrograde step" that "could be thought of as insulting, patronising and shaming to both men and women".
