Mike Freer, MP, standing down because of death threats

Curtaintwitcher

We cannot allow this to continue. I'm pleased that Starmer did not cave in to the recent threat by certain councillors who demanded he change his stance on Israel.

The situation in the middle east has opened up the divisions in society. A pity those in power didn't take more notice of those who warned about the consequences of mass immigration from different cultures.

Totally agree.

curtaintwitcher I feel this has more to do with the speed and hype of social media than any immigration events.

We cannot allow this to continue. I'm pleased that Starmer did not cave in to the recent threat by certain councillors who demanded he change his stance on Israel.

The situation in the middle east has opened up the divisions in society. A pity those in power didn't take more notice of those who warned about the consequences of mass immigration from different cultures.

I would add Airey Neeve's name to the sad roll call. He was assassinated in 1979 by the Irish National Liberation Army by a car bomb at the House of Commons.

As AGAA4 says, it's just appalling.
The MP's choose a public life where their opinions are publicly aired. Their safety is of concern to all of us.
I wish I had an answer/magic wand.

Freer is a member of Conservative Friends of Israel (CFI). Although he is not Jewish, The Jewish Chronicle in 2008 ranked him 99th in its list of 100 most powerful influences on the Jewish community.[18] In 2014, Freer resigned as parliamentary private secretary to Nick Boles in order to vote against a backbench motion recognising Palestine as a state alongside Israel, arguing "the two-state solution we all want to see should be the end not the start of the process".[19]

Anniel, are you sure about those constituency changes.

from the boundary commission for england,
Our final recommendations in this sub-region are therefore for constituencies of: Chipping Barnet; Edmonton and Winchmore Hill; Enfield North; Finchley and Golders Green; Hackney North and Stoke Newington; Hackney South and Shoreditch; Hampstead and Highgate; Hendon; Holborn and St Pancras; Hornsey and Friern Barnet; Islington North; Islington South and Finsbury; Southgate and Wood Green; and Tottenham.
boundarycommissionforengland.independent.gov.uk/2023-review/2023-review-volume-one-report/the-2023-review-of-parliamentary-constituency-boundaries-in-england-volume-one-report-london/page/4/

Maddyone he sat at the table with Chakrabarti as she announced her findings , Marc Wandsworth verbally attacked
Ruth Smeeth who ran from the conference, Corbyn hugging
Wandsworth was shown on uTube . 2016,

Chakrabarti was elevated to the Lords, she had been a member of the Labour Party for a few months

Annie where was Corbyn’s support for Ruth Smee I wonder. Did he hug her? Probably not.

I’ve just done a quick online search and very easily found that a man named Nicholas Nelson was found guilty of sending offensive messages (I’d call them them antisemitic) to Margaret Hodge and several other Jewish MPs in September 2020. The messages were vile, calling for example Margaret Hodge an apartheid supporting scumbag bitch and he called her office and said f… off you Zionist f…… racist c… I hope you die you Tory scum. These are clearly not threats but how unpleasant! And how frightening nonetheless. He couldn’t even get the political party correct! Margaret Hodge is Labour! He had already been sentenced to 20 weeks in prison suspended and sentenced to community service and a short period in a rehab centre and a fine in 2018 for sending similar offensive messages to two other Jewish MPs. His barrister put forward as his defence that he was suffering from mental health problems. Of course he was! What other defence was there?
And all this after a quick online search and it all happened before the events of 7/10. What hope is there now for Jewish MPs?
Frankly I think the sentence was derisory.

Ruth Smee needed police escort to attend a Labour Party conference, all very nasty, a chap from Momentum , Corbyn was filmed greeting the man with a hug,it was during the
Chakrabarti report on antisemitism in the Labour Party ,Ruth
left the conference room in tears

Yes Casdon, Margaret Hodge has been a victim of threats for years. She’s Jewish I believe, but how can that be considered a reason? I think another Jewish MP resigned because of antisemitic bullying. I can’t remember her name, but she was a young woman, on the Labour benches.
Apparently Mike Freer gave up doing Twitter/X several years ago because of online bullying and threats, but he has continued to be threatened, and especially since the 7/10 attacks. He is gay and his partner was so worried about him that he insisted on picking him up from the station every night so he wouldn’t have to walk home alone. He has probably been targeted because he is gay too but that isn’t why he is not standing again, it’s because of the threats which have escalated so dramatically since the attacks in Israel, and because of the fire bombing of his constituency office at a time he would normally have been in it, except on that particular day he wasn’t.

It’s very widespread according to Dame Margaret Hodge, it’s not surprising that MPs quit in the circumstances they can face.
news.sky.com/story/politics-latest-rishi-sunak-general-election-keir-starmer-12593360
The only way to reduce it is to introduce harsh punishments and make examples of people, online trolls in particular are a real scourge now.

It’s about time something was done about this threatening behaviour. The way people personalise things in the house is disgusting, everyone is entitled to a difference of opinion, that’s what democracy is, now though they bring personality into it. Standards really can’t sink a lot lower.

It's just appalling. It doesn't matter how much you disagree with someone's politics there is no excuse for threatening, aggressive behaviour.

Welbeck, I was surprised by your comment. My home is about 5 mins bus ride from Golders Green and I frequently went there. It has a great number of charity shops ehich I loved to visit and a nice atmosphere on the streets. There are now quite a few Polish businesses too. The majority of the population has been strongly Jewish and it is a very interesting suburb not far from Hampstead and is predominantly middle class. I am appalled that Mike Freer has chosen to cstsnd down. I think Welbeck is mistaken in her view that the Tories will lose the seat at the next general election. My parliamentary seat was changed years ago. It is called Hampstead and Kilburn but the boundaries have changed and we are going to be Hampstead and Golders Green which will favour the Conservatives. Our current MP is Tulip Siddiq and she is a. Labour MP who is a very good MP who I know because she was my neighbour in our block of flats. She has moved to Kilburn which is considered Labour. MW London has a lot of Jewish residents and as we know Finchley,, Margaret Thstchers old seat is generally Conservative. So Welbeck we shall see what happens in the election. I admit that people have had too many years of Conservative government and if, as we all vote that I wish Sir Keir all the best. I am not bitter like msny left leaning people are. In a democracy they get their term of government.. “Wait and see” as Mr Asquith said.

MayBee70

Anna Soubry said when travelling by train she always stood at the back of the platform because she’d had so many threats. And Jess Phillips has had to safeguard her house.

This.
This is the problem.
My goodness, what’s wrong with people?

welbeck
He is MP for Golders Green and represents large numbers of Jewish people, although he is not Jewish. For this reason he was expected to win because he has been giving a lot of support to his constituents at this difficult time for them. He is not re standing because he has received many death threats and his constituency office was attacked by arson and completely burnt out. He is one of the MPs who was expected to win despite the situation being pretty dire for the Conservatives. Anyway, this isn’t about party politics, I started the thread because I’m truly shocked about what is happening to our MPs and our democracy. Two MPs murdered recently is two too many, and I abhor the frequent death threats I believe Dianne Abbott received. I didn’t like her, but that’s beside the point. NO MP should receive death threats ever!

Agree Gilly, my daughter has been threatened in her work as a doctor (not death threats though) and I’ve just seen an online report that a teacher has been stabbed in the back by some of his pupils, outside his school. Thankfully it’s not life threatening as he ran into a nearby pharmacy where they gave first aid and rang for an ambulance which arrived quickly.

Anna Soubry said when travelling by train she always stood at the back of the platform because she’d had so many threats. And Jess Phillips has had to safeguard her house.

he is not expected to win next time, so like several of his colleagues, it was not unexpected that he would not stand.
local people will be sceptical that the decision had not already been made before recent events, re the middle east.

Gosh what is this country coming to! I wonder how many of these idiots have been brought to justice. It does seem that getting death or rape threats aren’t uncommon. When I worked for a local authority the ladies in the housing department frequently got threatened with both of those. My daughter too (work related). Sad times.