Tory minister quits amid fears for his life after string of assaults and threats

A Tory minister has introduced he’s quitting Parliament amid severe fears for his security.

Mike Freer, whose constituency workplace was set alight on Christmas Eve, mentioned a sequence of threats and assaults had positioned “intolerable stress” on him and his husband Angelo. He believes his assist for Israel led to him being focused.

He mentioned he now finds himself questioning if he’ll survive the day. Mr Freer has spoken prior to now about having to put on a stab vest whereas out in public, describing the specter of assault as “par for the course”. He was one of many MPs believed to have been thought-about a goal by Tory MP Sir David Amess’s assassin Ali Harbi Ali. Ali visited Mr Freer’s Finchley and Golders Green workplace aspiring to kill him, it emerged throughout his trial.

In a letter to constituents the justice minister, 63, wrote: “Since my election as an MP in 2010 I have sadly had several serious threats to my personal safety. The attacks by Muslims Against Crusades, Ali Harbi Ali and the recent arson attack (where the motives remain unclear) have weighed heavily on me and my husband, Angelo. These serious incidents are alongside the many ‘low level’ incidents.”

He additionally revealed a current electronic mail saying he was the “kind of person who deserved to be set alight”. Mr Freer advised the Daily Mail: “You shouldn’t really have to think, am I going to survive the day?”

He described the suspected arson assault on his workplace because the “final straw”, and introduced he is not going to stand on the subsequent basic election. Mr Freer mentioned he believes that if Ali had discovered him in 2021, shortly earlier than he murdered Sir David, he would have been killed.

Mr Freer, who was not in his workplace when the terrorist was seen outdoors, mentioned: “Given what he did to David I think it’s unlikely he wouldn’t have attacked me and I think it’s unlikely that I would have survived that kind of frenzied attack.”

Last month he mentioned a number of MPs put on stab proof vests due to the day-to-day threats they face. He advised Sky News: “Without being blase sadly it’s become part of the job and it shouldn’t be. Too many MPs have had to cope with physical threats and sadly we’ve seen several of my colleagues losing their lives. It’s difficult to take it in your stride but it is a fundamental part of our democracy that members of Parliament are accessible to our constituents and I wouldn’t want that to change.

“Unfortunately, that goes with dangers as of late. I personally like a few of my different colleagues put on stab vests to do public occasions and sadly that’s par for the course as of late and should not be.”