An apology to Philip Davies MP

In November, during the debate on the Bill to outlaw revenge evictions (where a landlord evicts you if you complain about poor housing conditions), we tweeted a commentary of the debate.

Emotions were running hot. We were frustrated that even though all three major parties at the time said the supported the measure, none of them had whipped their MPs to attend on a Friday, and it didn’t look like there would be enough MPs in the Commons to pass the measure.

Only two MPs spoke against the outlawing of revenge evictions; Christopher Chope and Philip Davies.

I’m sorry to say that at one point we used a word to describe Mr Davies that was both intemperate and, frankly, unprofessional.

While we absolutely opposed Mr Davies’ position on renter rights, there is never an excuse for a campaigning organisation like ours to make personal remarks of this kind about an opponent.

We have since formalised this in a policy in our office so that this doesn’t recur again. We want to treat with respect everyone we engage with. We’re telling you this now because we want you to hold us to account if we slip up again; but also because Mr Davies deserves a public apology for our behaviour on that occasion.

Alex Hilton
Director, Generation Rent