A former MP has described the number of death threats that he received as “absurd”.
The news emerged as tributes were paid in the House of Commons today (Monday 20 June) to the murdered Labour MP Jo Cox.
Mike Weatherley, who served as the Conservative MP for Hove from 2010 to 2015, raised the issue with the Home Secretary Theresa May while he was still in Parliament.
He stood down at the general election last year mainly to reduce the “stresses and strains” in his life after recovering from oesophageal cancer.
But he said that persistent death threats figured among the stresses and strains during his time as a Member of Parliament.
Mr Weatherley said: “When I was becoming an MP, quite a few of my friends were saying why do you want to do it?
“Just because you’ve got the letters MP after your name, people say things to you that they would never say to anyone else.
“The Home Secretary and the police need to take a tougher line but it’s difficult for the police because the bar is set so high.
“Until something really bad happens they often can’t do anything.
“The number of death threats I was getting was absurd and it isn’t just me. It’s every MP.”
At one point the number reached 30 to 40 deaths threats a day. As a result, Mr Weatherley said, efforts were made to assess those that could be ignored and those that ought to be taken seriously.
“We tracked down one of my death threats to a 24-year-old postgraduate student,” he said.
“When we asked her why, she said she thought it would be a laugh.”
The Politics Home website quoted a source close to the Home Secretary as saying: “She recalls speaking to Mr Weatherley and listening to his concerns.
“She thought it properly a matter for the House authorities and the police and recalls asking for a report on the steps the police were taking.”
