Theresa May condemns abuse of MPs after Tories face death threats
2 min read
Theresa May has urged voters to stop launching abusive attacks on MPs after a string of Conservatives said they had faced death threats.
The Prime Minister said there was “no place in our politics” for intimidation. She was backed up by her Cabinet colleague Boris Johnson.
Rebel Tories faced abuse after they helped defeat the Government on an EU Withdrawal Bill amendment to secure a ‘meaningful vote’ on the final Brexit deal.
Former minister Anna Soubry said she received messages saying she should be “hung in public,” while colleagues Dominic Grieve, Sarah Wollaston and Ken Clarke all said they had faced death threats.
Mrs May took to twitter last night to argue MPs must be treated with “tolerance, decency and respect”.
Meanwhile, Foreign Secretary and chief Brexit campaigner Mr Johnson said it was “absolutely obscene” that his colleagues in the Commons had faced calls to be deselected.
Tory MP and anti-EU campaigner Nadine Dorries said her 11 colleagues who rebelled "should be deselected and never allowed to stand as a Tory MP, ever again".
But Mr Johnson told the Sunday Times: “These are honourable people. They are voting with their conscience.”
Elsewhere, the Mail on Sunday reports that supporters of Jeremy Corbyn targeted the pregnant wife of a Tory MP online after he hurled a jibe at the Labour leader in the Commons.
PoliticsHome Newsletters
PoliticsHome provides the most comprehensive coverage of UK politics anywhere on the web, offering high quality original reporting and analysis: Subscribe