Anger among constituents as Bassetlaw MP Brendan Clarke–Smith allegedly blocks some from his social media

Bassetlaw MP Brendan Clarke-Smith has come under criticism from his constituents as five people have recently reported that they have been blocked from his social media for ‘questioning’ or ‘challenging’ his policies.

David Brown, a 53-year-old company director, found himself no longer able to comment after ‘pointing out inconsistencies’ and ‘questioning’ posts on Mr Clarke-Smith’s Facebook page.

Mr Brown, from Retford, then began sharing Mr Clarke-Smith’s posts on a public Facebook group called New Retford Information Page so that he could share his views.

This then led him to being completely blocked from Mr Clarke-Smith’s social media and unable to view any of his posts or comments.

Mr Brown said: “I understand that should people actually be properly abusive or threatening then blocking them is absolutely an acceptable course of action.

“MP’s get enough abuse as it is - we wouldn’t tolerate it in person and there is no reason to tolerate it online.

“I do believe, however, that for the vast majority of people Brendan has blocked, if not all of them, this is not the case; he certainly hasn’t had any abuse from me.

“The issue I have with him blocking myself and others from commenting or even seeing what he says is that this is not how democracy is meant to work.

“Democracy is based on the exchange of ideas and discussion of those ideas to achieve a consensus - that’s how we move forward.

“If you isolate yourself from other ideas you end up in an echo chamber where the only opinions you hear are the ones you already agree with, and the only people you share yours with are the ones that already agree with you.”

A group called ‘Blocked by Brendan’ has been running since last year with more than 80 members saying they have been muted or blocked from his social media and MP page.

A Retford resident who is a member of the group, said: “Mr Clarke-Smith is a public servant, he was elected by us, and he's supposed to serve all his constituents, even if they aren't thinking the same thing.

“My politics don't come into it, but as a person, and lots of other people locally in Bassetlaw, we’re angry because he's obviously gagging the people who don't agree with him.

“If he writes on local town Facebook groups, people aren't being allowed to see what's going on, therefore, they can't comment and counteract things that have been said.

“It feels like he’s discriminating against his constituents.”

Residents in nearby Mansfield and Ashfield have complained that their Conservative MPs Lee Anderson and Ben Bradley have deployed similar tactics.

When asked for comment, Mr Clarke-Smith said: “People are usually blocked if they are abusive, spammers, or bully others.

“I’ve had people apologise for their behaviour and be reinstated, but for others who have been blocked for their behaviour it’s tough luck I’m afraid; I have a zero tolerance approach to it.

“My page isn’t a platform for them to spout their party political nonsense - they can use their own platform for that.

"If they genuinely need assistance on an issue they can contact my office as usual.

“There are plenty of people on my social media who quite forcefully disagree with me, but manage to do so in moderation and in a respectful manner.”

Message from editor, Sam Jackson: The Worksop Guardian is full of local news, features and sport plus great columnists, puzzles pages and much more. Save up to 20% off the cover price of the Worksop Guardian by taking out a print subscription by clicking here or calling 0330 123 5950 (Mon-Fri 9am-5.30pm)