I fear another Jo Cox attack
MP’s alarm after office is fired at
A TORY MP says he fears a Jo Cox- style attack after someone fired at his constituency office window while a staff member worked inside.
David Morris said a high-powered air rifle may have been used in the shooting on Monday.
Officers have launched an investigation into the incident, which comes two months after the building was graffitied with the message ‘Tory Scum’.
On that occasion the protest was over the party’s controversial decision to stop providing free school meals during holidays. Mr Morris said his female staff member was left ‘absolutely petrified and frightened’.
Although she was sitting typing just a few feet away in the office in Lancaster, she escaped being covered in glass because the pellet made only a small hole.
The double glazed window was 0.75inches (19mm) thick. The specific motive of the attack is unclear, and no arrests had been reported by last night.
Mr Morris, who has represented Morecambe and Lunesdale since 2010, said: ‘I am not frightened but I am very worried for my staff. I fear another attack similar to the murder of [Labour MP] Jo Cox. It’s one step away.’ Mrs Cox was shot and stabbed to death in June 2016 by neo-Nazi Thomas Mair in Birstall, West Yorkshire. Mr Morris added: ‘My member of staff could have been seriously injured or worse.
‘She described a sound like an explosion. She was absolutely petrified and frightened out of her wits.’
Officers carried out a search but were unable to find any pellets. Lancashire Police said they did not believe the attack was targeted because there were ‘other incidents of criminal damage in the area’.