Hate is taking hold, Labour must act to protect democracy

LIKE everyone, I was gripped by coverage of the attempted assassination of Donald Trump.

- Stephen Pollard

Underlying some of the analysis, however, was an undercurrent of superiority that is difficult to avoid from some British correspondents as if we somehow look down at the US with its easy access to guns and the way extremists are emboldened.

If only we had anything to be proud of in that latter respect.

Two MPs, Jo Cox and Sir David Amess, were murdered in 2016 and 2021 respectively.

And there have been a series of attacks on others - from last year's firebombing of Mike Freer's office and the attempted murder of Sir Stephen Timms in 2010 back to the murder in 2000 of Andy Pennington, an aide to Nigel Jones (who also suffered terrible injuries in the frenzied attack).

Now there are concerns emerging from the recent election. On Saturday, just hours before the attempt on Donald Trump's life, the Speaker, Sir Lindsay Hoyle, told the BBC he had "never seen anything as bad" as the current levels of intimidation of MPs.

He said: "I've got to be honest, the amount of intimidation and threats and the way it's carried out, is much greater than anybody can imagine... That is a constant worry. If there's something that keeps me awake at night, it is the safety of MPs."