Edwin Poots: I fear ‘things could turn ugly’ in Great Britain

The speaker of the Northern Ireland Assembly has said he is worried that the current political climate in Great Britain could turn ugly and lead to someone getting hurt.

“I think we are in quite a rebellious society in this moment in time and we are in quite a divided society,” Edwin Poots said.

“We can see that there is change culturally out there.”

The DUP assembly member was speaking after chairing a meeting between elected representatives, the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI), and the electoral authorities aimed at addressing abuse directed towards politicians.

“I have expressed a fear for Great Britain that it could be coming to a point of civil unrest. I observe what’s going on there, having come through The Troubles myself, having watched how things got inflamed in Northern Ireland,” Poots told BBC News NI.

“I could see where street protests could turn into street violence and where that can become sectarianised.”

Poots said there are “really big issues” in Great Britain, which have brought him concern.

“I fear that things could turn ugly in Great Britain and I think the government needs to be really aware of that,” he said.

“There are real big problems out there where people are deeply fired up about things.

“The consequence is some people may take action that could lead to someone else being hurt. That’s the real problem with all of this.”

Poots said the blame lies with those who set out to abuse people.

“Human beings are to blame. Guns don’t shoot people, people pull the trigger. Knives don’t stab people. It is the intent of the people who go on to social media,” he said.

Social media “is an amazing invention” but it is being used “for the purposes of abuse”, he added.

“I think social media companies need to look at how they can mitigate that and ensure that we don’t lead to a situation where whilst not their intent, people end up murdered or badly injured.”

New PSNI figures, shared with BBC’s The View show that one in four MLAs have been the victim of some form of abuse since the last assembly election

However, police “strongly suspect” that figure “is only the tip of the iceberg”.

In March, Stormont politicians told BBC News NI about the death and rape threats that had been issued against them and their children.

The PSNI currently has three ongoing investigations where MLAs are the victims.

Ch Supt Stephen Murray has encouraged politicians to report suspicious incidents or concerns to the police: “It is a worrying reality that MLAs and their staff are routinely the subject of unacceptable abuse, threats and other criminality.”

“MLAs have been harassed or had their offices damaged but the majority of offences reported to us – 77% – are related to communications.

“These are threatening and abusive emails, social media messages, phone calls and letters. There is a significant ‘cyber-enabled’ element to much of this criminality,” he added

“When an MLA is the victim of a crime this is treated with the utmost seriousness and we will robustly investigate any offences reported to us.”

There’s more on this story on BBC The View on Thursday at 22:40 BST on BBC One Northern Ireland and iPlayer.