MPs reveal the scale of online abuse they receive 

Members of Parliament from across Leicestershire have revealed tales of death threats, racism and misogynistic abuse online, after a new study uncovered the extent of social media abuse MPs face. More than 3,000 offensive tweets are sent to UK MPs on a daily basis, researchers found.

Data analysts and journalists from the BBC, ITV, Reach and other organisations gathered and analysed three million tweets directed at MPs over the course of six weeks between March and April this year, and found one in every 20 tweets was ‘toxic’. They also learned that female MPs were marginally more likely to receive abuse than their male counterparts.

It was further found that less well-known backbench MPs were more abused online than better-known politicians. In response to the findings, some local MPs have shared with LeicestershireLive their own experiences of dealing with online trolls.

Liz Kendall, Labour MP for Leicester West, said she believed people should be free to speak without being subjected to vile abuse that “people would never say to your face in public”.

She said: “Our democracy matters. People should be free to say what they believe and what they think, and not have to put up with being attacked. Things were particularly bad when I ran for Labour leader in 2015, and during the Brexit referendum. I was sent lots of mocked-up images, aggressive and extremely sexualised tweets of abuse. It’s disgusting.”

Claudia Webbe, Leicester East’s independent MP, said she was targeted by some form of online abuse every day. Most MPs did not want to share examples of the abuse to which they had been subjected. However, Ms Webbe allowed LeicestershireLive access to some of the hateful messages she had received on Twitter.

She said: “As an MP, I receive horrific, violent, misogynistic and racist online abuse, on a daily and hourly basis.”

One message read: “It’s time to start the deportation process. Let’s kick it off by booting Claudia Webbe into Africa or some such s** hole. Then the Pakistanis can get themselves packed up and shipped back off to their home land. Time to get rid of the s**.” Another included a call to “behead Claudia first”.

In other comments, Ms Webbe was called “an evil witch”, “vile” and a “nasty piece of work”. One Twitter user labelled her as “racist” after a tweet claimed the MP “blocks white people” on the platform.

Dr Luke Evans, Conservative member for Bosworth, said some online abuse had developed into real-life incidents. He said: “Every post of mine, be it on TikTok or Twitter, gets some level of abuse. Most of it is sticks and stones stuff that I’m happy to live with as a public figure, but there have been incidents where it’s developed from being based behind a screen into something more serious – and in the real world – which has led to police involvement.

“The threats I’ve received have ranged from posting faeces through the letterbox of my constituency office and graffitiing my house, to targets against my family and I. I am very keen to see the Government bring back the Online Safety Bill, which will help hold platforms to account for posts that are in direct contravention of their own terms of service. I think it’s an important step towards making these sites a more enjoyable place for all users.”

Claudia Webbe MP is the member of Parliament for Leicester East. You can follow her at www.facebook.com/claudiaforLE and twitter.com/ClaudiaWebbe