Raab Slams Hate Speech Against Members Of Parliament After Lawmaker Stabbed To Death

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 18th October, 2021) UK Deputy Prime Minister Dominic Raab said on Monday that the amount of online hate speech against members of parliament is getting "out of control," calling for an end to the vilification of legislators.

Last Friday, Conservative lawmaker David Amess was stabbed to death during a meeting with his constituents in Leigh-on-Sea, Essex. The police have arrested a 25-year-old suspect with British citizenship and are treating the attack as terrorism.

"The elephant in the room of all this is the amount of online hate that we all get is out of control," Raab told Sky news.

He then noted that Home Secretary Priti Patel is considering amending the law on a right to anonymity on social media, which is aimed at stopping the abuse members of parliament face online.

"I'm a free speech man, I want to defend that to my dying days but, at the same time, I think the amount of abuse, the vilification directed at MPs, particularly female MPs, has got to stop," Raab said.

In 2016, another high-profile attack on a UK legislator prompted a debate on the need to reconsider the safety of members of parliament. Thomas Mair shot and stabbed member of parliament Jo Cox ahead of the Brexit referendum, considering her "stay" stance to be treacherous.