Speaking in the House of Commons, Rosie Cooper accused the broadcaster of using her as a “marketing tool” on The Walk-In, starring Stephen Graham. The drama centers on whistleblower Robbie Mullen, his handler in the anti-fascist campaign Hope not hat (Hnh), and how the organization infiltrated the banned far-right terrorist group National Action (NA) and foiled the planned attack on Mrs Cooper in 2017. Image: Rosie Cooper was the target of a far-right assassination plot in 2017. Photo: Twitter Ms Cooper, currently MP for West Lancashire – although she is soon to stand down to take up a role in the NHS – told the Commons she was “appalled by ITV’s recent treatment of threats to MPs”. He said all money raised from the TV series, which began on October 3, should be given to the Jo Cox Foundation, which was set up after Labor MP Jo Cox was murdered in 2016. “I have been used as a marketing tool by both Hope not hat and ITV,” Ms Cooper said. “What justification is there for a press release that says, ‘Who is Rosie Cooper and who wanted to kill her?’ “There is no defense in this. So let’s try the public defence, the public interest defence, for their despicable behavior and I call on Hope not hat and ITV to donate all the money and profits from this TV series, both here and abroad., every penny should go to the Jo Cox Foundation. “We should not tolerate this kind of behavior.” Ms Cooper’s comments came after Alicia Cairns, the Conservative chair of the foreign affairs committee, raised a point of order about ensuring that “threats to the lives of our colleagues are not treated as entertainment”. Jack Renshaw, now 27, from Skelmersdale, Lancashire, is serving a life sentence for planning terrorist acts after he admitted planning to kill Mrs Cooper with a sword-like Gladius knife on the first day of a trial in 2018. An ITV spokesman said the broadcaster was “very sympathetic to the horrific ordeal” Ms Cooper went through, but pointed out that “that was never the emphasis of our press and marketing” around The Walk-In. Image: Andrew Ellis and Dean-Charles Chapman also star in The Walk-In. Photo: ITV “The series has never been described in this way in any ITV press release,” the spokesman said. “From Hillsborough, Bloody Sunday, Appropriate Adult, Little Boy Blue, A Confession to The Lost Honor Of Christopher Jeffries, ITV has a long record of broadcasting real-life dramas based on or depicting real events. “Like these, The Walk-In is an important story that we believe is overwhelmingly in the public interest to air. We always do the creation of these series carefully and responsibly.” Mr Mullen, a former NA member, went undercover for a long time as a mole for Hnh and passed information to the police. He is played by This Is England star Andrew Ellis in the series, while his handler Matthew Collins is played by Graham. In response to Ms Cooper’s comments, a spokesman for Hope not hat said The Walk-In highlighted “the very real danger of far-right extremism – especially for those in public life”. In a statement, the spokesman said. “We sympathize with Rosie Cooper for all she has been through over the last few years. No one should have to endure death threats just for doing their job. “Obviously, we are disappointed to hear Rosie’s words in the room today. In 2017, many members of our organization worked tirelessly and with great sacrifice to prevent the assassination plot against Rosie Cooper.” The spokesman added: “We can’t change what happened to Rosie Cooper, but we can continue to work to tackle far-right extremism.”
