MP feared for her children during months of harassment

An MP has told how she suffered months of harassment by a man with a history of targeting women in the public eye.

At one point Lisa Cameron's tormentor turned up at her office with a megaphone to make unfounded claims.

The SNP politician told BBC Scotland's The Nine the ordeal left her in fear for the safety of her family.

She worries that would-be politicians will turn their backs on public life unless action is taken over increasingly "normalised" abuse.

Dr Cameron, the MP for East Kilbride, Strathaven and Lesmahagow, said she was harassed by an individual with a history of targeting female politicians.

The contact began with emails and sometimes abusive telephone calls, escalating over a period of months, to direct contact at her constituency office.

"He brought a loudspeaker, creating a commotion, shouting about child sexual abuse and parliament, institutionalised abuse and that I was an institutionalised child sex abuser," she said.

"I was in the surgery at the time, I was helping an elderly lady who was disabled and she was really upset by everything happening outside the window where we were sitting ... we felt trapped in the office."

Police intervened and the MP was later escorted from the building unharmed - but she says the months of abuse also had a psychological toll.

The murder of Labour MP Jo Cox shone a spotlight on the hatred often directed at politicians

After becoming an MP in 2015, Lisa Cameron said she was "disconcerted" by the lack of security for MPs - in some ways less rigorous than measures she had known while working for the NHS.

A year later Labour MP Jo Cox was murdered in her West Yorkshire constituency, focusing attention on the dangers to those in public life.

One of Lisa Cameron's biggest worries was that the harassment she experienced would have an impact on her family.

"I've chosen this life but my children haven't," she explained.

"My fear was that this would escalate to a person coming to my home and targeting my family as well as myself.

"At the office there's some level of security and protection - but at home you feel like you're most vulnerable and when you have young children as I do that's something that's constantly on your mind as a woman in politics today."

Improved security

She believes the current speaker of the House of Commons, Sir Lindsay Hoyle, has done much to improve security - personal panic buttons, CCTV in offices and a review into what can be done to make politicians safer at home.

But she says there is a wider problem in society - women are often attacked over the way they look or dress - and it's being made worse by social media.

"Perhaps for those who wish to instil fear or become aggressive, social media encourages that," she said.

"There doesn't seem to be a consequence of being abusive online - and I do think that's normalising, that you can be abusive to people without consequence and it's almost like changing the culture in a negative way.

"It escalates from people feeling there's no consequence to their actions and therefore almost politicians are fair game.

"They also potentially feel that women are more vulnerable - so rather than go and challenge a man who's working in his office as an MP, they'll come and challenge a female."

Dr Cameron would like to see social media companies doing more to challenge the "normality of abuse" - as well as better regulation of these platforms.

Without action, she believes a new generation of talented politicians could be lost as they decide the drawbacks of public life are too great.

"It's going to put young women off coming into politics - people with the skills who would be great at the job," she said.