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Death threats against pro-EU British MPs ‘becoming routine’

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LONDON As a crucial Brexit battle came to a head in the British Parliament on Wednesday (British time), MPs are weighing not just their own views but also their personal safety amid increasingly toxic public debate.

Pro-European Union lawmakers challenging the government's Brexit strategy have received repeated death threats.

One member of Prime Minister Theresa May's Conservative Party is under such threat that the person had to be accompanied by six armed undercover police officers at a public engagement, said colleague Anna Soubry.

A leader of the pro-EU Conservative faction, Ms Soubry has faced numerous death threats and on Monday had to call in the police to investigate a new one.

She said the intimidation strengthened her resolve to vote against the government on Wednesday, when MPs vote on plans in the EU (Withdrawal) Bill to give Parliament a greater say in the final Brexit deal.

"Death threats becoming routine & making many of us more resolute #StandingFirm #MeaningfulVote," Ms Soubry tweeted on the eve of the vote.

Last week, she revealed she knew of at least one MP who declined to vote "because of threats to personal safety". Three people have been convicted over the abuse against Ms Soubry, one of whom was jailed for eight weeks.

All three referenced Mrs Jo Cox, an opposition Labour MP who was shot dead by a neo-Nazi sympathiser days before the June 2016 referendum on Britain's EU membership.

One of them, a 72-year-old retired engineer, admitted sending racist and threatening e-mails to a total of six MPs, which included accusations of "treachery" over Brexit.

Online abuse is a fact of life for MPs. Labour MP Jess Phillips recently reported that she received 600 rape threats in one night. Real-life threats are also common. Last week, a neo-Nazi, 23, admitted in court to planning to assassinate Labour MP Rosie Cooper. - AFP

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