The leader of the House of Commons has criticized Lancashire police for disclosing private information about Nicola Bulley, a woman who has gone missing.
Penny Mordaunt described the force’s disclosure of Bulley’s alcoholism and peri-menopause symptoms as “startling.” She added that “serious questions” must be addressed as to why they made this decision.
Bulley vanished on January 27 after leaving off her children at St. Michael’s on Wyre. The Lancashire police continue to believe that she fell into the river as the most probable scenario.
Mordaunt stated, “It’s quite startling. And I believe both the prime minister and the home secretary are correct to express disquiet over this matter.
“My initial concern was for her family. It’s terrible enough that a loved one has gone missing. But the additional drama that has accompanied this very traumatic case is horrifying.
“I believe it irritates a great number of women, and we are forced to tolerate all manner of sexist behavior in a variety of contexts. And I believe this type of environment is the reason why people are so angry.”
When asked whether police exhibited sexism in their handling of the case, Mordaunt responded. “I believe they were motivated to explain why this case is so complicated. However, I believe there are serious questions to be addressed as to why they chose to reveal specific information.”
Yvette Cooper, the shadow home secretary, stated on the same program that there was a problem with how the police handled misogyny.
When asked about the Bulley case, the Labour front-runner responded that she had received “additional information” from Lancashire police after raising concerns about the degree of information released by the force regarding the missing woman.
Cooper didn’t expand and said the information commissioner’s investigation and review should be the priority.
“I am extremely concerned about the nature of the social media conjecture and frenzy surrounding this case… “My concern is that we concentrate on this [the information from Lancashire police] to the detriment of the search for Nicola, which must be our top priority,” she said.
Cooper responded, in response to a question about whether there was a larger problem with how police viewed women and whether women could trust forces with “deeply personal” information, “I believe we should almost put this case aside… How the police have dealt with violence against women and girls, as well as standards regarding misogyny and approaches to violence and abuse within police forces themselves, is a larger problem.
The heinous cases of Wayne Couzens and David Carrick, neither of whom should have been police officers, demonstrate that standards have not been sufficiently high.
Last week, Bulley’s family stated that they were aware of Lancashire police’s plans to disclose information regarding her health.
People are speculating and threatening to sell stories about Nikki. Even though we know she would not have wished for this. “This is abhorrent and must cease,” they said. “The public’s focus must be on locating her, not on speculating about her private life.”
