CORBYN’S TROLLS TO TORY MP: HOPE YOUR BABY DIES

Hard-Left hate mob’s vile abuse of MP’s pregnant wife... after he dared to heckle Labour leader

JEREMY CORBYN was last night accused of ‘ inciting’ vicious Labour trolls who targeted the heavily pregnant wife of a Tory MP.

The woman was subjected to vile online abuse by a Left-wing hate mob after her husband clashed with the Labour leader in the Commons. One fanatic told her, ‘hope your baby dies’ while the MP received death threats that are now being investigated by police.

One of the politician’s thousands of abusers on Twitter and Facebook threatened to ‘spear’

him while he was out jogging and film the attack. Another vowed to ‘put your head on a spike’.

The Left-wing hate mob also told his wife: ‘Your husband is a c***.’

The attacks on the MP’s wife, who is in her mid-40s and due to give birth for the first time in the New Year, reduced her to floods of tears.

Meanwhile, the MP questioned the conduct of Mr Corbyn, 68, after their Commons encounter. The Labour leader demanded the Tory be ‘called out’ for heckling him over his age, with Mr Corbyn jabbing his finger in anger as he did so.

Corbyn’s attack was seized on by Labour MPs who attacked the Tory on Twitter and provided his Twitter handle, setting off the social media tsunami.

The Mail on Sunday has, in agreement with the MP, chosen not to name him or his wife to protect mother and child from further abuse. Theresa May last night called for a halt to social media abuse and other t hreatening behaviour in politics, by all sides. Speaking in response to the ‘hope your baby dies’ attack, and menacing posts against Conservative Brexit rebels, she told The Mail on Sunday: ‘Threats of violence and intimidation are unacceptable and have no place in our politics. Everybody should be treated with tolerance, decency and respect.’

The online abuse was sparked after the MP made a jibe at Mr Corbyn in the Commons chamber after the Labour leader attacked the Government’s treatment of the elderly. The Tory MP shouted: ‘That’s you!’ A furious Mr Corbyn claimed the MP should be ‘called out’ for his ‘uncaring’ attitude.

Mr Corbyn pointed at the MP during the exchange, which was broadcast live on television, and fellow Labour MPs joined in, shouting at the Tory heckler. One Labour MP shouted: ‘Ageist!’

However, the Conservative MP was not referred to by name by Mr Corbyn, was not rebuked by the Speaker, and his identity remained a mystery until Labour MPs named him on Twitter shortly afterwards.

That was the spark for a torrent of abuse from thousands of Left-wing activists. At first, the threats were targeted solely at the MP. Then his wife came under attack on her open Facebook page after the trolls discovered references to her by the MP.

Deeply distressed, she made her Facebook page private, but continued to receive abusive messages. One abuser spotted the MP’s social media posts announcing his and his wife’s joy at learning they are expecting their first child, then told him on Facebook: ‘Hope your baby dies.’

The politician told The Mail on Sunday: ‘All I did was to make a harmless joke. It was clearly aimed at Mr Corbyn, not elderly people in need.’

And the MP turned the tables on Mr Corbyn, saying that he should be ‘called out’ for the ‘disgusting’ abuse of his wife.

‘Labour, in effect, incited this. I am not saying that was the intention but if Mr Corbyn hadn’t said I should be “called out” and Labour MPs hadn’t blown a bit of routine parliamentary banter out of all proportion, it wouldn’t have happened.’

He blamed Momentum, the Leftwing pressure group, for escalating the abuse. He said: ‘The Momentum hate mob saw it as a green light. Mr Corbyn must stop pretending he has no responsibility for this menace.

‘It has been deeply upsetting and disturbing. My wife’s pregnancy came as a wonderful surprise: we’re both in our 40s and it is our first child. But it makes it all the more sensitive, because we are desperately hoping that everything goes well and it was already an emotional time for her.

‘When the death threats and the message about “hope your baby dies” came up, she spent the weekend in floods of tears. The post had a ‘#JC4PM’ [Jeremy Corbyn for Prime Minister] hashtag on it. Her and the baby’s health is all that matters. It is beyond belief that Mr Corbyn’s supporters could act in such a sick manner. Nearly all the messages had pro-Corbyn markers on them or the Labour red rose emblem.

‘What is so chilling is that this evil is co-ordinated. They found out my wife is pregnant from a recent Facebook post I did praising our local hospital when we went for a scan.

‘They tracked down where I go jogging, and found my wife’s Facebook page then posted abusive messages on it. When she closed it, they sent her offensive messages.’

The MP, known for promoting women in politics and campaigning against drug abuse, said that within three days of being targeted by Labour MPs over his brief Commons spat with Mr Corbyn he had received thousands of abusive messages, mainly on Twitter.

They included ten violent threats, of which three were death threats. Police are investigating five of the mes-

PM’s response to MoS story Threats of violence and intimidation are unacceptable and have no place in our politics. Everybody should be treated with tolerance, decency and respect.’ THERESA MAY

sages. One troll discussed how they would lie in wait when he went jogging in order to ‘spear’ him and ‘record it on an iPhone’. Another called him a ‘paedophile’.

Many of the messages came from the Labour strongholds Liverpool and Manchester.

The couple’s horrific ordeal was revealed days after the official ethics watchdog said party leaders must do more to stop such abuse by groups such as Momentum.

The Committee On Standards in Public Life said that 68 per cent of Tory candidates were victims of social media abuse in the June Election, including threats of violence, sexual assault and damage to property, compared to 36 per cent of Labour candidates .

Last night, a spokesman for Mr Corbyn said: ‘Jeremy has always condemned abuse and personal attacks, whether online, in the Commons chamber or in the media.’

MOST people are fed up to the back teeth with the never-ending wrangle over Brexit. All t hey want is for a competent Government to get on with it and deliver a great deal for everyone in the UK. Last week, I was one of 11 Conservative MPs who put my country’s interests first and voted for an amendment to the EU Withdrawal Bill now going through Parliament.

Its aim? To give Parliament a greater say on the final outcome of Theresa May’s negotiations with Brussels. The amendment was approved by four votes and Mrs May’s Government suffered its first Commons defeat.

It has to be said that none of the 11 Conservatives who voted for it took any pleasure in that defeat. But it prompted sinister threats of ‘ deselection’ from some fellow Tory MPs.

In truth, it was hard to take them seriously–not least because many of the threats were from Eurosceptic MPs who have been serial offenders in voting against their own party on three- line whips in EU debates over many years.

And, needless to say, there was abuse – and threats – to MPs like me in emails and on social media. Even blameless officers of my own Conservative Association were caught up in the deplorable backlash.

A long-serving female officer of Broxtowe Conservatives has had deeply unpleasant calls from people demanding I was removed as MP after last week’s vote.

Overwhelmingly, these bullies aren’t even members of the Conservative Party, let alone Broxtowe Conservatives. Most are woefully ill-informed and probably have little or no idea what I actually voted for, which was to give Parliament a meaningful vote as we leave the EU.

As it happens, it was already Conservative party policy. All I did was to vote to put it in to law. Not exactly revolutionary stuff or traitorous behaviour.

In fact, you might say it was entirely consistent with the Brexit mantra of ‘taking back control’ of our destiny and restoring sovereignty to our national Parliament.

The idea put about by some of my colleagues that the Government’s defeat takes Jeremy Corbyn nearer to the door of No 10 is so silly as to be laughable.

But why let the facts get in the way of a hate-filled tirade against a so-called ‘mutineering Remoaner MP’ like me and her blameless elderly association officers?

I fear for what is happening to our country.

The EU Referendum clearly divided us and little has been done by those that lead us to bring us back together.

However, the near hysteria whipped up by some hardline Brexiteers is not just scary.

It marks a shift in British politics that is deeply concerning.

Few Conservatives MPs have taken any pleasure from the witch-hunt against moderate Labour MPs by the hard-Left Momentum group.

Decent hard-working Labour MPs have been targeted by Corbyn fanatics in an attempt to purge the party of anyone who doesn’t support their narrow, divisive ideology.

Conservative MPs have observed the cries of ‘deselect’ from Momentum members at Labour MPs and councillors who don’t think ‘JC’ is Labour’s Militant messiah, but we consoled ourselves with the knowledge that such a well-organised and poisonous sect is not working to take over our own party.

BUT events following Wednesday’ s vote now lead me to conclude we were wrong. We do have our very own ‘ Blue Momentum’ – and we have to stop it now.

A tightly knit and co-ordinated group of Conservatives, including some MPs, are working with non-party members to get their hard version of Brexit at any cost. They are using the very same pernicious tactics as Corbyn’s Momentum.

Not convinced? Sounds farfetched? Well, here’s the proof.

Within hours of Wednesday’s vote, a Conservative MP called for those of us who had voted for Parliament to take back control of Brexit, to be deselected as MPs and never be allowed to stand as Conser- vatives again. The self-same demand was repeated by Tory and non- Tory Leave cheerl eaders. Then t he abusive emails, social media postings and phone calls started.

Incendiary words used to describe us were repeated in the threats we received. Some observed that ‘traitors’ are usually dealt with by being shot.

The hatred is as blatant as it is offensive – as are the calls for us to be removed as Conservative parliamentary candidates.

The intent is crystal clear – to shut us up and force us to do their bidding.

I freely admit I was a bit shaken by the response. But now, the only stirring in me is a stiffening of my resolve. I accept we’re leaving the EU but I’m determined we are not going to get some mad and economically dangerous hard Brexit.

Just as I was prepared to work with sensible Labour MPs last week on defending parliamentary sovereignty, I will work with Brexit advocates in my party to build a consensus and get a great deal for Britain. In that spirit, I intend to back a new amendment to the EU Withdrawal Bill this week that tempers the Government’s rash proposal to tie our negotiating hands by setting a precise date for Brexit, right down to the hour and minute. I am confident it will be approved.

As it is the season of goodwill, I am ready to forgive those Conservative colleagues who have stoked up this bitterness if they will call off the dogs and realise that calling for any MP who does not agree with them on Brexit to be sacked is dangerous and counter-productive.

THE division that has blighted our country since the referendum campaign in June 2016 must now end. As our Prime Minister, Theresa May has the means to achieve that. She must embrace former Remainers and unite her Cabinet.

That requires colleagues to abandon their ideology and for everyone to put our country’s interests first and foremost.

I wholeheartedly welcome Theresa May’s call for a halt to social media abuse and intimidation. We must see off this ‘Blue Momentum’.

Restoring the Conservative Party as a broad church that embraces the sensible centre ground of British politics would go a long way to restoring civilised politics in Britain and ending the Brexit schism.

They must abandon ideology – and put our country first