Labour MP says she takes anxiety medication over 'level of threat' against her
Labour MP Jess Phillips has told how she takes anxiety medication because of concerns over the "level of threat" against her.
The Shadow Minister for Domestic Violence and Safeguarding also detailed the the toll of the 2017 Westminster terrorist attack and the murder of two MPs.
They included the Tory MP Sir David Amess in 2021 and her friend and Labour MP Jo Cox, who was killed in June 2016 by a far-right terrorist.
"These are incidences of extreme trauma and you are just expected to deal with it as part of your job"," the Labour frontbencher Ms Phillips said.
Appearing on Tony Robinson’s Cunningham podcast, the senior Labour MP said: “I'm medicated for anxiety because of the level of threat that is against me.
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"And I'd say that's probably a standard procedure these days in the House of Commons. I'm not saying they're pumping it into the water or anything, although maybe they should.
"That's a good idea. But yeah, it's hard to deal with when you're at a low ebb with other things in your life, it can really attack you.”
Labour MP Jess Phillips stands next to Jo Cox plaque in the House of Commons (PA)Asked whether it was a difficult decision to go to the doctors and ask for help, she replied: "Yeah. Although the doctor, to be fair, when you've lived through like, you know, two of your colleagues being murdered, a terrorist incident in your place of work where you're wrestled to the floor, the idea that you're not going to get PTSD from that, those sorts of occurrences."
Ms Phillips said she "entered into a state of denial" after her friend and Labour MP Ms Cox was murdered in a street in her constituency of Batley and Spen in 2016.
She said: "Actually, I just couldn't believe it when it happened."
The Labour MP also recalled her favourite memory of the late Ms Cox, saying that she would "steamroll into things often with not much thought".
On one occasion, Ms Phillips said, several messages were left on her answer machine over an incident where a woman had been sent home from work for refusing to wear high heels.
"Jo was incensed and she left all these messages like 'on Monday, I’m arranging for everyone to come in. We're going to wear the biggest heels like we're going to be like, you know, like drag queen size heels. Like, I'm going to arrange it... And I've organised it with this. And I've spoken to Laura Kuenssberg and I've done this and I've done that.'"
"And then the first message I actually heard because it was the latest one was her going, 'Oh, it turns out parliaments actually shut on Monday'".
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