Israel-Gaza tensions are increasing MP safety fears, Labour insider says

Public tensions over the Israel-Gaza conflict has left MPs unable to leave their homes alone for fear of being attacked, i has been told.

Tensions within the UK over the war in the Middle East have increased security fears among parliamentarians in recent months, with Tory MP Tobias Ellwood the latest to be targeted by pro-Palestine protesters outside his house.

Mr Ellwood, MP for Bournemouth East, spoke of the “sheer intimidation” he faced when activists campaigned outside his home claiming he was “complicit in genocide”.

Similar protests outside the homes of Labour MPs, including shadow Justice Secretary Shabana Mahmood and shadow minister Rushanara Ali, followed a Commons vote on holding a ceasefire in the Commons last year which saw ten Labour frontbenchers resign in order to vote for it in defiance of the Labour leadership’s decision to abstain.

The SNP has indicated it will hold a similar vote when Parliament returns next week, in which the party will call for an “immediate ceasefire” in Gaza.

While the vote is unlikely to prove as divisive this time around, the move has been privately condemned by some MPs, who believe it is deliberately fuelling tensions on an already sensitive issue.

One Labour source told i that due to the growing anger over the conflict “some MPs are unable to leave their homes on their own” because of concerns over their safety.

“People feel really unsafe. It’s as if people have forgotten that two MPs were killed very recently,” the insider said.

There are now increasing concerns that the issue could come to dominate the general election in certain parts of the country.

“It depends when the general election is held, but for some people it could be one of the main issues they are standing on. Hopefully it will have calmed down by October or November,” the source said.

Last month, Tory minister Mike Freer announced he was standing down as an MP following a series of death threats and an arson attack on his constituency office as a result of his pro-Israel views.

Mr Freer has been forced to wear a stab vest on his public outings due to concerns he could be targeted.

Another Conservative MP Jonathan Gullis on Wednesday urged the police to arrest people who protest outside MPs’ homes, describing it as “harrassment”.

“Anyone in my community can challenge me,” he told GB News. “But if you dare come near my house, believe me if the police aren’t going to take action, I’ll take action into my own hands.

“I’m not having my three-year-old daughter, my two-year-old son and my fiancée put in danger because a bunch of thugs want to turn up outside my house and intimidate.”

Mr Gullis added that he has been forced to fit bulletproof cling film and panic buttons to his home due to security fears. “I shouldn’t have to live like that,” he said.

The SNP has been approached for comment.