Sir David Amess: Death threat to Rhondda MP Chris Bryant after kindness plea

A Welsh Labour MP said he has been subjected to "another death threat".

After the killing of Conservative MP Sir David Amess, Chris Bryant told BBC Wales he did not know of any MP who had not received at least one death threat.

The Rhondda Labour MP said the latest threat came after he tweeted that people should be kinder to those they do not agree with.

Welsh Secretary Simon Hart said he had also spoken with other MPs this weekend who had faced "alarming incidents".

Speaking on the BBC Politics Wales programme, Mr Hart, the Conservative MP for Carmarthen West and South Pembrokeshire, said that MPs "pride themselves on the fact that they are open and are available", so any response to Sir David's killing does not "compromise those basic ambitions that we all have".

Mr Bryant wrote in an article in The Guardian that it was time to "get serious about MPs' security away from the parliamentary estate".

"That starts with the police. My local police have always been great in dealing with threats of violence to me. But I know from colleagues that this is patchy," he said in the article.

He said: "I've been an MP for 20 years, I'm painfully aware that there can't be many workplaces in the land where you've had to face two colleagues being murdered in five years and of course Stephen Timms stabbed before that," he said.

Mr Timms, Labour MP for East Ham, was stabbed at a constituency surgery in east London in 2010. A woman was later jailed for life for attempted murder.

Mr Bryant said: "If we're to be able to do our job properly, which in Britain relies on being… very much in our local communities, we've got to keep hold of that but that does need a little bit of support to make sure that we are secure and safe."

He called for greater respect between politicians on all different sides, adding that social media had also contributed to the problem.

"I think we just spit too much venom in each other's face and all that poison has just built up over the last few years. Social media don't help."

Lindsay Hoyle, the Speaker of the House of Commons, has said he is working "at pace" with police and the home secretary to find ways to improve safety for MPs.

Liz Saville Roberts, Plaid Cymru MP for the rural seat of Dwyfor Meirionnydd, told Politics Wales the size of her constituency meant it was "a real challenge in practical terms to have the police present with us".

The Senedd Commission has called a meeting to allow Members of the Senedd to discuss security concerns at the Welsh Parliament.

Welsh Economy Minister Vaughan Gething said: "I certainly have thought more about what I do when I'm going about my business not just as an elected representative... but also just in my normal life as well.

"I didn't have to think about that when I was first elected but I do need to think about it now," said the Labour Member of the Senedd for Cardiff South and Penarth.

"There's been a harder edge to some of the language that's used, both online but also with the recent demonstration outside the Senedd."

Protesters gathered outside the Senedd's buildings following a knife-edge vote on Covid passes, chanting "shame on you" following the result.

And in July there was cross-party condemnation after anti-lockdown protestors gathered outside the home of First Minister Mark Drakeford.