Man, 59, arrested after 'death threats' made towards Labour MP Yvette Cooper

Yvette Cooper was threatened over social media in 2016
EPA
Jacob Jarvis5 February 2019
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Police have quizzed a 59-year-old man after death threats were made to Labour MP Yvette Cooper.

Officers held the suspect in Castleford, in Ms Cooper’s constituency, on Friday.

West Yorkshire Police said this was over alleged threats against a serving MP, but would not give further details.

Ms Cooper, chair of the Home Affairs Select Committee, received abuse including death threats aimed at her, her children and her grandchildren during the EU referendum campaign in 2016.

A West Yorkshire Police spokeswoman said: "As a result of information received in relation to alleged threats against a serving MP, officers arrested a 59-year-old Leeds man in Castleford on Friday.

"He has been bailed pending further advice from the Crown Prosecution Service."

No details were given on the details or context of the threat he made.

Ms Cooper, the Normanton, Pontefract, Castleford and Knottingley MP, contacted Twitter and the police following abuse she received in 2016.

A Twitter user accused her of sending pro-EU propaganda emails and said "please stop or I will kill your kids and grandkids".

At the time Ms Cooper wrote: “This has to stop.”

The 2016 threat came around a week after the murder of Batley and Spen MP Jo Cox who was shot and stabbed by right-wing extremist Thomas Mair.

He was jailed for the rest of his life after an Old Bailey trial heard he was obsessed with Nazism and ideas of white supremacy.

The Standard has contacted Ms Cooper’s office for comment.

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