No10: Death threats to pro-Israel MP are attack on democracy

Amid Labour sneers over senior Tory forced to resign in fear...

A CAMP AIGN of threats and intimidation that forced a minister out of politics is ‘an attack on democracy’, Downing Street said last night.

Justice minister Mike Freer had told the Daily Mail that he will step down at the election because a series of death threats against him has taken too great a toll on his family.

The 63-year-old has suffered more than a decade of intimidation over his pro -Israel views and said he felt ‘lucky to be alive’ after narrowly avoiding a confrontation with terrorist killer Ali Harbi Ali, who murdered fellow Tory MP Sir David Amess in 2021.

Mr Freer was previously threat - ened by a group called Muslims Against Crusades, and said an arson attack on his Finchley and Golders Green constituency office in December was ‘the final straw’.

His resignation triggered a wave of support from across the politi - cal world, along with fresh calls for a clampdown on political violence and intimidation.

Lord Walney, who is Rishi Sunak’s adviser on political violence, said the threats and attacks endured by Mr Freer ‘should shake our political system and make us all reassess how we protect those who represent us, and the liberal democracy they uphold’.

He said Britain was facing a

‘ ratchet of abuse’ which was creating a ‘genuine climate of fear for people who want to put themselves forward to serve’.

Lord Walney warned that, with the murders of Sir David – and Labour MP Jo Cox in 2016 – as well as the thwarting of attacks against other MPs, the UK was

by arson attack and who now wears stab vest tells Mail...

currently ‘in a situation where the assassination of an elected public figure is one of the most likely threats facing the country’.

‘That is abhorrent in any country, but particularly one which prides itself on its liberal democracy,’ he added.

Downing Street also condemned the ‘vitriolic hatred’ that Mr Freer was subjected to and said Mr Sunak was ‘extremely saddened’ to lose him.

Meanwhile, the Prime Minister’s official spokesman said: ‘ No elected representative deserves to be abused or intimidated and the attacks and abuse that Mike Freer references are clearly deeply dis - tressing. They’re not just an attack on him but an attack on British democracy.’

Senior figures on both sides of the political divide also condemned the treatment Mr Freer has suffered.

Commons leader P enny Mor - daunt said it was ‘an absolute tragedy that people who come here in good faith to represent their con - stituencies and do a job they love doing are hounded out of office or have to leave office because of the wellbeing of their family’. S he warned that social media was helping to fuel the ‘ demonisation’ of MPs, giving people ‘permission to do serious physical harm’.

Former home secretary Suella Braverman described Mr Freer as a ‘first- class politician and public servant,’ adding: ‘That he has been hounded out of office by Islamists is a serious indictment of where we are as a society .’

Shadow Commons leader Lucy Powell described the hounding of Mr Freer as ‘unacceptable’, adding: ‘We must do more to protect our freedoms and democracy, and we stand together.’

But a Labour London Assembly member was condemned after she appeared to celebrate Mr Freer’s departure. Anne Clarke posted a copy of Mr Freer’s resignation statement alongside the message: ‘Just need Theresa (Villiers) for the hat-trick of Barnet Tory MPs.’

Conservative MP Neil O’Brien called on Labour leader Sir K eir

Starmer to sack her . ‘When a nice guy is driven out of politics by death threats from extremists the right response is not to gloat,’ he said.

Ms Clarke later apologised, claiming that she had not read Mr Freer’s statement, which detailed a litany of serious threats he has faced, before circulating it on social media. She said she had apologised privately to Mr Freer for the ‘insensitive post’.

Disgraced former Labour minis - ter Denis MacShane also struck a sour note. Mr MacShane, who was jailed in 2013 for expenses fraud, claimed Mr Freer was quitting because he was on course to lose his seat, despite recent polls suggesting the opposite.

Commons Speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle said the Commons authorities ‘never stop looking ahead to see what else we can do to protect MPs’ and insisted P arliament would ‘never give in to terrorism ’ or threats. In an interview with Sky News, he also urged MPs to ‘turn down the heat’ in Parliament itself and set a better example.

Mr Freer told the Mail how his husband Angelo had become ‘incredibly jittery’ since it emerged that Ali had visited his Finchley and Golders Green constituency office with the intention of killing him. On police advice, Mr Freer has had to wear a stab vest when attending scheduled public events in his constituency.

I’ve been driven out of politics by death threats – for supporting Israel

‘Hounded out of office by Islamists’

THE disheartening news that Tory MP Mike Freer is quitting Parliament following a decade of intimidation, death threats and an arson attack triggered the inevitable soul-searching in Westminster.

The Commons Speaker called for a ‘nicer politics’. The Prime Minister said the campaign against his colleague was an ‘attack on democracy’. MPs expressed concern that civilised debate was being drowned out by the shrill voices of hatred.

Something must be done, they all agreed. But will it? The fact is, this problem will not be solved until the country confronts, rather than indulges, the Islamist threat.

Mr Freer has been hounded by Muslim fanatics and was targeted by the extremist who murdered MP Sir David Amess.

Since 2017, Britain has suffered at least six Islamist atrocities. Two secular London schools have recently suffered masked protests and been threatened with bombing by Muslim hardliners.

A Batley teacher remains in hiding after showing a cartoon of the prophet Muhammad in a lesson. An autistic child was forced to go to a mosque to atone for accidentally scuffing the Koran. The list goes on.

These are the actions of a violent minority of religious extremists who loathe Britain’s liberal values and tolerance – and want to topple them. How has it come to this?

Our politicians and institutions are too often cowed by political correctness to act against minorities who flout our laws and cultural norms. Multiculturalism has seen too many Muslim families insulated from wider British society, their communities becoming Petri dishes for extremism.

Meanwhile, since the October 7 attacks on Israel, the police have failed to clamp down on anti-Semitic thuggery, which has encouraged Islamists to flex their muscles.

It doesn’t help, either, that the BBC turns a blind eye to swathes of anti-Semitism.

Of course, the overwhelming majority of Muslims in the UK contribute to and enrich our society. And no-one can deny there are extremists among other ethnic, political and religious groups. The far-Right – who murdered Labour MP Jo Cox – are an ongoing headache for the police.

But there is a growing problem with the creed of Islamism. To combat it, our leaders must unapologetically promote a sense of Britishness – shared values and a shared understanding of acceptable behaviour.

And it must challenge the pernicious ideology at every opportunity – not be frozen in fear of being called racist.