Leigh MP says his parents received death threats after Parliament vote

Following a controversial debate in the House of Commons about backing a ceasefire in Gaza, speaker Lindsey Hoyle has come under fire after he opted to change parliamentary rules to let a Labour amendment be debated as well as a government one.

Mr Hoyle, who is a former Labour MP from Chorley, is accused of bowing to pressure from Labour leader Keir Starmer, but said his "wrong decision" was made due to potential threats being made to Labour MPs if they did not debate their position.

After the government withdrew its motion on Gaza, Labour's amendment passed but the debate has continued around threats to MPs who are representing their constituents in Parliament.

On Thursday, February 22, Leigh's Conservative MP James Grundy revealed the shocking information that his family received death threats following an opposition debate in the Commons.

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Mr Grundy said that it is important that MPs follow Parliament rules (Image: UK Parliament)
In Parliament, Mr Grundy said: "We all face difficult votes in this House. I saw the consequences of one of these votes when after an opposition debate some time ago my elderly parents were threatened with being stabbed to death.

"This is the first time that I have revealed this information publicly and I know that colleagues on all sides of the House will have been facing similar threats recently.

"I think when we do vote on difficult matters, we should all do so under the same set of rules, I think that is very important.

"I think that yesterday, certainly many on this side of the House felt that the changing of the order of business meant that while, entirely legitimately Labour MPs were protected from potential threats of violence and murder, people on this side of the House were consequentially more exposed to such threats.

"We cannot continue like this, such breaches of procedure are unacceptable, everyone's right in this House to vote in the way that they wish and their security should be equal across all benches."

Commons leader Penny Mourdant said that MPs families are at times subject to appalling intimidation (Image: UK Parliament)
In response, Conservative Commons Leader Penny Mordaunt said: "I completely agree with what [Mr Grundy] has said.

"With regard to intimidation, it is not just what is directed against us, it is directed against members of our family, perhaps most appallingly honourable members' children as well.

"We will ensure that those individuals face the full force of the Law, but I hope also that those people, while not committing a crime, are encouraging and giving licence to others on social media, they ought to reflect on their behaviour as well."