A Labour MP has told of how she was inundated with rape and death threats after voicing criticism of misogynistic influencer Andrew Tate.
Alex Davies-Jones, the MP for Pontypridd in Wales, told the House of Commons she endured abuse via email but also directly to her parliamentary office after calling out Tate’s “horrendous abuse and behaviour” online.
Tate, a former kickboxing world champion who is now a self-avowed “success coach”, is presently under arrest in Romania facing allegations of being part of an organised crime group, human trafficking and rape alongside his brother Tristan.
The brothers, who deny the allegations levied against them, are due to appear in court on Wednesday with their lawyers calling for them to be released.
During a parliamentary debate on neighbourhood policing, Ms Davies-Jones, shadow minister for digital, culture, media and sport, spoke out about the threats she had been subjected to.
She thanked “all of the local police in my south Wales area who have been an immense support to me in the recent weeks after I have spoken out about the horrendous abuse and behaviour of Andrew Tate online.
“As a result, my own inbox and my office have been bombarded with death threats, rape threats.”
While the politician noted her own experience with the police had been “brilliant”, she said “sadly this isn’t the case for everyone who experiences the same”.
Tate has been banned from a number of social media platforms for hate speech and voicing misogynistic views. The social media personality, who once appeared briefly on Big Brother, has referred to married women as “property” that their husbands own.
Ms Davies-Jones discussed Tate at prime minister’s questions earlier this month, telling MPs: “Teachers are now having to develop their own resources to re-educate boys who are being brainwashed online by his deeply toxic messaging.”
While the MP hit out at Rishi Sunak for being “too slow to recognise the damage this is causing”.
Ms Davies-Jones said: “What has he done? What is his government doing to tackle this misogyny? This incel culture? And the radicalisation of young men in this country? Will he [Mr Sunak] commit to giving teachers the resources they need to address this problem head-on?”
The Independent previously reported on research by the Centre for Countering Digital Hate (CCDH) which unearthed 47 videos of Tate pushing what it describes as “extreme misogyny”.
