A man has been arrested for making death threats against an MP who was on the same trip to Qatar as Sir David Amess to meet Afghan refugees.
Labour MP Chris Bryant said he got off the flight from Qatar last Wednesday and he had a “pretty clear” death threat in his email inbox.
The Rhondda MP notified the police and a man was arrested over the weekend.
He told Sky News the arrest “stemmed directly from what’s going on in Southend”, where Conservative MP Sir David was stabbed to death on Friday while holding a routine constituency meeting.
Mr Bryant had been with Sir David, who he called “a very lovely” man”, in Qatar to find out about the situation with Afghan refugees who were evacuated to Doha.
Some politics has turned “very very sour” recently and he has had many death threats in his 20 years as an MP, Mr Bryant added.
“Every time we spit venom in each other’s face, whether it’s in an interview or on social media, we contribute to that and make it worse,” he told Sky News’ Kay Burley.
“I do sometimes worry about the kind of nation that we’ve become, we’ve had more murders in this country than the whole of the rest of Europe.”
When asked if he meant senior politicians hurling abuse at each other, such as Labour’s Angela Rayner calling Tories “scum”, Mr Bryant said that is exactly what he means.
He said earlier this year his constituency office was targeted by “an angry crowd of anti-vaxxers” and last year it was graffitied with “traitor and scum”.
Mr Bryant said it was a “brilliant thing” that MPs in the UK are so accessible to their constituents but sometimes “when the milk has gone sour it’s difficult to rescue”.
The MP, who is gay, said it is primarily women, black and minority ethnic and gay MPs who “get the brunt” of the abuse but MPs of every background have similar stories of the abuse they and their families have had.
He said he has never understood why people wanted to attack Conservative MP Jacob Rees-Mogg and his children at his home.
South Wales Police told Sky News officers were called at about 4.30pm on 16 October following reports of malicious communications being sent to a 59-year-old man from Porth.
They said a 76-year-old man from Pontycymer, Bridgend, has been arrested on suspicion of malicious communications.
A 25-year-old man, who Sky News understands is Ali Harbi Ali, has been arrested on murder and terrorism charges over the death of Sir David.
A spokesman at the Somali Embassy in China has also confirmed the terror suspect is the nephew of Somalia’s ambassador to China, Awale Kullane.
MPs will today say prayers for Sir David before a minute’s silence is held and tributes to him are paid in the House of Commons.
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