WATCH Chuka Umunna: I fear being murdered on the tube
2 min read
Chuka Umunna has said he will not stand near the edge of platforms on the London Underground as he fears being pushed under a tube by an angry member of the public.
In an interview with BBC Radio 5Live, the high-profile Labour MP said he worries "constantly" about his safety, especially since having a child.
“If anything was to happen to me it has huge repercussions for my family and I constantly think about it,” he said.
“I’m careful. I do not stand near the edge of a tube platform. I get worried sometimes that people are going to push me. That goes through my mind.”
Mr Umunna sensationally pulled out of Labour’s 2015 leadership contest, saying he was uncomfortable with the level of media scrutiny of him and his family.
The Streatham MP also warned that hostility towards politicians would drive ordinary people out of the profession.
“You almost become dehumanised, and then of course it becomes a self-fulfilling prophesy because you’ll just end up with odd people in politics and politicians will be hated even more,” he said.
Spending on measures to keep MPs safe has soared since the murder of Labour’s Jo Cox in June 2016.
According to the latest figures from Parliament’s watchdog, security spending increased from £170,000 in 2015-16 to £2.5m in 2016-17.
The chair of the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority Ruth Evans said last month: “It is important that we take the security of MPs, and that of their families and their staff, very seriously."
Ms Cox was murdered in her Batley and Spen constituency by far-right terrorist Thomas Mair, who was subsequently sentenced to life in prison.
PoliticsHome Newsletters
PoliticsHome provides the most comprehensive coverage of UK politics anywhere on the web, offering high quality original reporting and analysis: Subscribe
