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'Worse than Brexit': MPs report rise in online harassment over immigration
The Guardian
|August 25, 2025
feeling the impact of a recent rise in tensions over issues including grooming gangs, small boats and asylum seeker hotels.
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feeling the impact of a recent rise in tensions over issues including grooming gangs, small boats and asylum seeker hotels. "It's horrendous," said one MP elected last year. "I'm having to deal with daily lies about asylum seeker hotels and HMOs, which are entirely fabricated and are leading to huge anger and fear."
Another female MP said: "I have received death threats in the last six months. The misogyny and the hate hasn't really stopped since I was elected [last year], so it always feels like it has been pretty intense and is constant."
Many of the MPs who voiced concerns asked to remain anonymous, fearing they would attract further abuse if they spoke publicly.
A speaker's conference on the security of MPs found only just over half (52%) of those who responded to a survey felt safe in their role. The biggest concern reported by MPs was online abuse, followed by being recognised and abused in public.
"I've fought four general elections and feel things sunk to an all-time low so far - in this last 2024 one," another Labour MP, Rupa Huq, said.
This story is from the August 25, 2025 edition of The Guardian.
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