MPs abused and harassed online after Jo Cox murder

Jo Cox was murdered on June 16 outside a constituency surgery at a library in Birstall, West Yorkshire
Jo Cox was murdered on June 16 outside a constituency surgery at a library in Birstall, West Yorkshire
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A dedicated police squad investigating crimes against MPs examined more than 50 complaints in the six months after the killing of Jo Cox, it has emerged.

Hate messages, harassment and four cases of criminal damage were reported to the team by MPs between August and February. There were 33 reports of malicious communications, which includes abusive messages on Twitter, and 13 reports of theft.

The figures were obtained under the Freedom of Information Act by the Press Association. MPs claim that they face unacceptable levels of abuse online.

MPs’ security has been upgraded following the murder of Ms Cox by neo-Nazi Thomas Mair on June 16; by the end of last year nearly £640,000 was spent.

The Labour MP Rachael Maskell was sent threats by