Manchester Police has faced backlash after two officiers visited a grandmother for criticising Labour politicians on Facebook.
Police reportedly told the 54-year-old she had committed no crime, yet Mrs Jones said she was so intimidated by the visit that she is too terrified to post on social media again.
54-year-old Helen Jones had posted that Labour councillor David Sedgwick should resign from his Heatons North seat after offensive comments were shared in a WhatsApp group about a pensioner.
An elderly constuent had sent Sedgwick a letter of complaint about bin collections, and Andrew Gwynne, the MP for Gorton and Denton, then said he hoped the pensioner would die before the next election in a WhatsApp group.
Former Tory Cabinet minister Jacob Rees-Mogg told the MailOnline: “It is extraordinary that the police even for a moment thought that expressing mild criticisms of an elected politician of the governing party could constitute harassment.
“It is not just that this is a poor use of resources but it has sinister undertones. Opinion is legal and confidence in the police is damaged by this type of interference in free speech.”
Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp said: “This is a total waste of Police time. People’s free speech is being infringed. So-called Non Crime Hate Incidents are not working.
“The police should only investigate actual crime, or where there is a real and imminent risk of it. The police must get back to their actual job.”
Mrs Jones had posted comments in a closed Facebook group called 4Heatons Hub, and another publicly available page called Reddish Matters.
In one post on 4Heatons Hub, she said: “Let’s hope he does the decent thing and resigns. I somehow think his ego won’t allow it.”
In another, alongside WhatsApp screenshots, Mrs Jones said: “Not looking good for Cllr Sedgwick!!!” to which somebody replied: “Cllr Sedgwick, will you be resigning?”
A detective sergeant and another officer called on Mrs Jones’ house in Stockport while she was out looking after her grandson at about 1:30pm last Tuesday.
She then received a phone call from an officer at about 2:15pm, who informed her police had received a complaint about her social media posts.
Mrs Jones said she asked the officer if she had commited a crime, to which he responded no, and that the force was simply passing on advice.