Labour MP Dawn Butler closes constituency office due to race-related death threats
Written by Konrad Ostrowski
A Labour MP has closed her constituency office after the number of racially charged death threats she and her staff receive “drastically escalated”.
Dawn Butler, MP for Brent Central, was the first black woman to speak at the dispatch box in the House of Commons and has been receiving death threats and other racial abuse for years.
In a letter to constituents, she wrote: “I continue to receive on an almost daily basis threats of violence and death threats.
“My staff have been attacked in the office, verbally assaulted coming and going from work, bricks have been thrown through the windows and the frontage has been smashed.”
The police are investigating these incidents and, according to Butler, arrested a suspect last month.
Labour leader Keir Starmer has offered Butler the full support and solidarity of the party, describing the abuse as “appalling”.
Butler, who served under Jeremy Corbyn as shadow equalities minister, has said she will continue to hold surgeries in public buildings within her constituency.
She added: “I will never be threatened into silence and will continue to speak out and speak up for all of my constituents in Brent Central.”
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