British MP reveals he’s gotten anti-Semitic death threats

A Jewish member of the British Parliament revealed Wednesday that he has received several death threats over the last year due to his religion.

Lee Scott, a Conservative Party member representing the Ilford North constituency in the House of Commons, told BBC London that the threats began during the last elections, when two men threatened his life and called him a “dirty pig.”

The British MP said he initially responded to the abuse with humor, asking the men whether he should put them down as possible voters. Quickly realizing he chose the wrong tactic, he “ran as fast as my little legs could carry me,” also adding that he broke down in tears once he reached home.

It was not clear when or where the verbal attack took place.

Scott is a member of the Conservative Friends of Israel British parliamentary group.

The threats Scott received have led him and his wife to regularly inspect their cars, he said. He also said he no longer receives constituents who have not scheduled appointments in advance.

“Being Jewish is my religion, that’s the end of it. I was born a Jew, and that’s what I’ve chosen to practice,” he said. “I would never enforce my religious beliefs on anyone, so why should I have that for just my religion?”

The British MP also revealed during an anti-Semitism debate in Parliament on Tuesday that he had received a threatening phone call during which he was told that he “should be stoned to death.”

The United Kingdom has seen a significant rise in anti-Semitic incidents over the past year, including anti-Semitic tweets aimed at Labour Party lawmakers Louise Ellman and Luciana Berger.

Scott said he urged constituents who came to him with concerns over the rise in incidents, to report any anti-Semitism they encounter, so that it shows up in the statistics.

According to the Community Security Trust, a Jewish security organization, over 304 anti-Semitic incidents were recorded across the country between January and June of 2014, marking a 36 percent increase over the same period in 2013.

Following Israel’s summer conflict in Gaza, anti-Semitic sentiment in the UK rose even higher. The CST’s hotline received 240 calls in July alone, the highest volume of calls it received since Israel’s campaign in Gaza in 2009.

In November, British Labour Party leader Ed Miliband spoke out against the rise of anti-Semitism in Britain, calling for a “zero-tolerance approach.”

“Some have told me how, for the first time in their lifetime, they are scared for their children’s future in our country. Others have expressed a general unease that this rise in anti-Semitism could signal that something has changed – or is changing – in Britain,” Miliband wrote in a Facebook post.