Jess Phillips, the Labour MP for Birmingham Yardley, has compared the hundreds of sex attacks on women in Cologne on New Year’s Eve to the harassment of women every weekend in Birmingham city centre.
As part of a debate on BBC Question Time about how many refugees should be allowed into the country, Phillips said the UK should not “rest on its laurels” when at least two are murdered every week within its borders.
Ms Phillips said the experiences of sexual harassment of up to 800 women in Cologne on New Year’s Eve (allegedly by north African and Arab men) could be likened to the intimidation faced by women and girls in one of Birmingham’s most popular nightspots.
Phillips also said that the treatment of women could differ between cultures and must be challenged.
“Now we have to attack what we perceive as patriarchal culture, coming into any culture that isn’t patriarchal, and making sure we tell people not to be like that,” she said.
Yet she pointed out the need for caution in pointing the finger at one group of people when the issue of abuse against women was widespread across UK society. And she said that Britain should take as many refugees as possible – and accept 3,000 children.
The Birmingham Mail reported that her Question Time comment brought a swift Twitter response from top city centre cop Insp Gareth Morris who stressed the city centre is a “safe, positive and vibrant place”.
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He tweeted: “There is certainly nothing to suggest any crime patterns or trends related to immigration and I would invite anyone to come and enjoy a night out in Birmingham and experience what the city has to offer.”
In his detailed response, Insp Morris addded: “Like any city centre, we, of course, experience issues associated with the night time economy, but my team has worked hard on the policing style in recent years, together with business representatives and other partners, to achieve some great results, the biggest being the reduction in violent crime fulled by alcohol.
“We regularly have help at hand for revellers in the form of high-visibility policing and street triage teams, together with the ambulance service and third sector.”
