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New Leicester MP skips House of Commons over ‘potential death threats’

Posted on by Vaseline
New Leicester MP skips House of Commons over ‘potential death threats’

Image caption, Shockat Adam thanked the police for their help

  • Author, Samantha Noble & PA Media
  • Role, BBC News, East Midlands

A new independent MP who claimed “this is for Gaza” during his winning speech missed an aid funding announcement in parliament because of “a possible death threat”.

Shockat Adam, MP for Leicester South, said in a post on X, formerly Twitter, that he welcomed the government’s decision to resume funding to the UN agency for Palestinian refugees.

Mr Adam said he could not attend the announcement “because I was dealing with a possible death threat”.

Aggressive behavior

He wrote: “I am pleased that the government has finally restored funding to the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA), after the Conservatives abruptly withdrew it and deprived Palestinians of life-saving aid.”

He continued: “Unfortunately, I was unable to be in the room today as I was dealing with a possible death threat.

“I would like to thank Leicestershire and Cambridgeshire Police for their professional, prompt and courteous assistance in dealing with this incident.

“Aggressive behavior towards me and my family has become quite normal, but I can assure my constituents that this will not deter me from my duties.”

Leicestershire Police were contacted for comment. Cambridgeshire Police were unavailable.

Image source, Getty Images

Image caption, British funding for UNRWA was cut amid allegations that aid workers were involved in the October 7 Hamas attack

Mr Adam won Leicester South by less than 1,000 votes, beating Labour’s Jonathan Ashworth, the former Shadow Secretary of State for Work and Pensions.

Mr Ashworth has held the seat since 2011 and has been defending a majority of 22,675 seats since 2019.

The State Department cut funding to UNRWA in January amid allegations that the organization’s staff were involved in the October 7 Hamas attack on Israel.

Mr Lammy told the House of Commons the government was confident UNRWA was meeting neutrality standards and was strengthening its procedures, including screening, following an independent review.

Restoring UNRWA’s funding was among the demands over Gaza outlined by Adam and four other independent MPs, including former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn, in a letter to the Foreign Secretary on Monday.

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