Alison Bennett's Monday Mail: Are you ok?

“Are you ok?” are the words that open an article written by my friend Hina Bokhari about Islamophobia and what the last two weeks have been like to be a British Muslim. In the article Hina calls on us all to be allies and to call out Islamophobia and racism in all its forms. Please read the piece, but also please act.

But the question, “Are you ok?,” reflects the feelings of the many people who have written to me about the riots that have occurred across the country over the last two weeks. People are frightened - about the rise of far-right extremism, about their civil liberties and quite simply about whether they and their loved ones will be safe. 

Alastair Campbell talks about how the three ‘P’s: Populism, Polarisation and Post-Truth have changed the political landscape. This summer we have witnessed the effect of those three Ps in action. At a time when we should be grieving the death of three young children, a tragedy has been twisted and warped to feed into people’s worries and breed new insecurities that previously didn’t exist. 

Broken glass can be cleared up the next morning, but creating and strengthening a society based upon tolerance and compassion is a job that can never be considered finished.

Wow! What a lot of applications to work for me. Thank you to everyone who applied. I will be shortlisting the applications this week. 

My parliamentary email address is: alison.bennett.mp@parliament.uk. If you need my help, please get in touch and I will do my best to help, but whilst I am still recruiting, it will take longer than usual to respond.

It’s August and that means that it is time for the Lib Dem Summer Draw. Tickets are just £1, and by taking part not only do you have a chance of winning one of the amazing prizes, but the proceeds will go to support our local campaigns in Mid Sussex. 

Buy your tickets now by visiting the Mid Sussex page.

Best wishes,

Alison
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