BRITAIN

The Committee on Standards in Public Life has been asked by the Prime Minister to review the law following the abuse and threats Members of Parliament have been subject to. Lord Bew will head the review.

The law could be changed to stop the diatribe and abuse of MPs, the new head of the public standards watchdog has said.

Lord Bew warned politics was at a “tipping point” after an increase in vociferous personal attacks and threats against candidates during this year’s election campaign. Some had swastikas carved on their posters.

Theresa May said she was “shocked” and has asked the Committee on Standards in Public Life to review the issue.

Lord Bew warned: “We are in a bad moment and we have to respond to it. We cannot afford to lose people of quality in our political life, and we may be approaching a tipping point.”

Speaking earlier in the week in an interview with BBC Radio 4’s Westminster Hour, he did not rule out the possibility that the Committee would recommend new laws to protect candidates, saying: “Everything has to be considered.”

Asked about claims by Conservative MPs that they had been abused by Left-wing activists, and that Labour had not done enough to condemn this, Lord Bew said: “It’s absolutely clear the Labour leadership holds the view that politics should be conducted in the normal way without threat or fear.”

His aim, he told the programme, was to ensure public debate remained “vigorous” but steered clear of “nastiness and hatred”.

But he called on all party leaders to speak “with some sharpness” against abuse.