A Labour minister has revealed he has received several death threats this year alone as he called for a less toxic political culture in the wake of Ann Widdecombe’s murder.
Sir Chris Bryant’s intervention came as police insisted there was nothing to suggest at this stage that her death was politically motivated.
But Sir Chris pointed out that two other MPs, Jo Cox and Sir David Amess, have also been murdered in the past decade as he told The Camilla Tominey Show on GB News: “We should be worried about the state of the British political debate.”
He added: “I can’t tell you how many death threats I’ve had over the years, including several this year, including from one guy who’d only just been let out of prison.
“You’re never quite sure how seriously to take them. Sometimes, of course, it’s not just about you; it’s about your constituency office staff who might be in the office much more than you would be, and there’s anxieties for families and so on. But I am really glad that over the last 10 years, Parliament has taken and government has taken this issue much more seriously.”
He also praised the police for the support they offer MPs.
His comments came as Devon and Cornwall Police said they remained “open-minded” about potential motive for Ms Widdecombe’s killing and said it had so far found no evidence to link it to terrorism or politics.
Assistant Chief Constable Matt Longman said that after arresting a 28-year-old white British man in Rotherham ob Saturday detectives were not looking for anyone else in connection with the crime.
“At this point there is still no information to suggest that this is a terrorism related incident,” he said. “Detectives remain open-minded about the potential motive. At this stage, there is nothing to suggest that it was politically motivated.”
Meanwhile, a senior Reform figure has accused the government, the Speaker of the House of Commons and the police of not caring about the security of his party’s MPs.
Zia Yusuf’s comments came after reports Reform UK MPs are being given round the clock security protection paid for by the party following the death of Ms Widdecombe, a former Tory minister who in later years was a Reform politician.
In a statement on X, formerly Twitter, Reform’s home affairs spokesman Mr Yusuf said: “Based on what I have seen in the last 48 hours, none of the government, the Speaker nor the police care at all about the security of Reform MPs.
“Several of our MPs have written to the above in recent months about distressing, escalating security concerns, asking for help. Their correspondence was not even replied to. I will let you draw your own conclusions from this.”
