A LABOUR MP who resigned in order to support the SNP's Gaza ceasefire motion says she has reported Islamophobic hatred to the police in the wake of the vote.
Naz Shah, who served as a shadow Home Office minister, said she was concerned for MPs across the political spectrum facing abuse over the situation in Palestine.
More than 10,000 Palestinians have been killed since Israel launched a war in Hamas after its deadly October 7 assault on Israel, which saw 1200 people killed and hundreds taken hostage.
The SNP's bid for MPs to back a ceasefire in the region failed in the Commons this week. However 56 Labour MPs defied a three-line whip not to back it, with 10 shadow ministers and parliamentary aides among them. The frontbenchers quit or were sacked as a result.
The Bradford West MP said Labour’s own amendment on the Gaza conflict tabled on Wednesday “didn’t go far enough” and that she felt compelled to vote for a ceasefire after seeing “horror after horror” unfold in the Middle East.
Shah spoke about abuse she has received since the vote, as well as an incident at fellow Labour MP Jo Stevens's Cardiff office. Stevens had abstained on the vote.
Stevens’s office in Cardiff was sprayed with red paint and posters were put up accusing her of having “blood on her hands”.
A police spokeswoman said: “South Wales Police is investigating criminal damage to a property on Albany Road.
“A number of items have been seized for examination and enquiries are on-going.”
“I unequivocally support the right to protest. But this goes way beyond that," the Cardiff Central MP said in response.
“This is criminal damage. It is intimidation and incitement.
“This is a workplace and my staff team and I, as well as my constituents who come to my office every day for help, should be able to do so without fear and in safety.”
Meanwhile, Shah told Times Radio that the vandalism to her colleague Stevens’s office was “appalling”.
“Clearly I’m concerned about all the people getting this vile abuse,” she said.
“I’m concerned for my staff. I’m concerned for every MP … right now who is getting the emails, the telephone messages, the abuse on telephone messages.
“All the people who are having to stay indoors because there are threats flying around and police are having to drive around their homes.
“It is worrying, it is frightening. And it is not a nice place for any MP, anybody who is on the receiving end of the abuse.”
