WATCH: John Bercow vows Commons 'will not be cowed' in tribute to MP who faced neo-Nazi murder plot
2 min read
John Bercow has condemned the threat of “poisonous fascistic bile” from the extreme right as he praised an MP who faced a murder plot.
The Speaker hit out at fascists and neo-Nazis after Rosie Cooper thanked colleagues for their support over the last two “difficult” years.
Jack Renshaw, 23, admitted wanting to kill the West Lancashire MP in a politically-motivated attack in 2017 and is due to be sentenced at a later date.
Ms Cooper was applauded across the Commons chamber, telling MPs: “Beyond thanking so many kind people I’d like to make a serious point.
“I was to be murdered to send a message to the state, to send a message to this place.
“Members of this House are regularly abused and attacked. Our freedoms, our way of life, our democracy is under threat and we must do our utmost to defend it.”
Responding, Mr Bercow said the House had “enormous respect and admiration” for the MP.
He added: “She has displayed courage and fortitude of which many people and probably most of us can only dream."
“In the most harrowing of circumstances, faced with an explicit and very real threat to her life from neo-Nazis, she has not wilted for a second.
"She has defended her own rights, she’s defended the rights of her constituents, she’s defended the rights of all her colleagues and she’s defended the rights of Parliament as an institution.
“By this sort of poisonous fascistic bile we will not be cowed, and the sooner the purveyors of hate, of fascism, of Nazism, of a death cult, realise that the better.
“I salute the honourable lady and I know others will do so too.”
Tributes were also paid by Home Secretary Sajid Javid, Leader of the Commons Andrea Leadsom, and Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn.
The threat to Ms Cooper’s life came just a year after Labour MP Jo Cox was murdered by a far-right extremist, and amid a rise in abuse directed towards MPs in recent years.
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