Suspect arrested for threatening pro-Israel Tory MP Mike Freer
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A 46-year-old man has been arrested after a Tory minister received a threatening phone call on the day he announced he was standing down over the abuse he had received.
Mike Freer announced he was stepping back from front-line politics last week over death threats and intimidation because of his pro-Israel views.
On Tuesday, the Metropolitan Police said they received a report from Mr Freer’s office on Feb 1 that he had received “an abusive and threatening phone call” the previous day.
James Phillips, 46, has been charged with malicious communications, the Met said. He was arrested on Tuesday and taken to a north London police station for questioning.
Mr Freer, MP for Finchley and Golders Green, previously revealed he was “lucky to be alive” after narrowly escaping a meeting in 2021 with Ali Harbi Ali, who later murdered MP Sir David Amess.
In an interview with the Daily Mail, the 63-year-old said he had been subject to a decade of intimidation, culminating in a suspected arson attack on his constituency office in December.
The alleged malicious phone call was made the same day he announced he would stand down as an MP at the next general election.
Mr Freer said: “I’m grateful that the police acted swiftly to the latest threat.
“It’s just another example of what is becoming, sadly, the norm for many MPs and their staff.”
Scotland Yard said the latest arrest was not believed to be linked to the arson attack, which the force said was not a hate crime.
A separate investigation into the arson attack at the MP’s office in Finchley, north London, on Christmas Eve is ongoing, with a man and a woman charged with arson with intent to endanger life.
Det Supt Will Lexton-Jones, from the local policing team in north-west London, said: “It is vitally important for elected officials and their staff they can be confident in their safety and security, and we are committed to ensuring this.
“Today’s arrest sends a clear message we will not tolerate threats or aggression of any kind towards elected officials. We will deal quickly and robustly with such offences.
“We are in regular contact with MPs and other elected officials and fully recognise the growing concerns they are telling us about their safety, and as you would expect, we have kept Mr Freer MP updated throughout this investigation, including today’s arrest.”
Mr Freer previously revealed he and his staff now wear stab vests when attending scheduled public events in his constituency after they learned that Ali had watched his Finchley office before going on to knife Sir David to death during a constituency surgery in 2021.
The MP said he had previously received threats from the group Muslims Against Crusades “about coming to stab me”. In a separate incident he found “mock Molotov cocktails on the office steps”.
Mr Freer, who has pro-Israel views and represents a heavily Jewish constituency, said anti-Semitism could not be “divorced” from the intimidation.
