A pro-Israel MP has said he is stepping down at the next general election after his constituency office was the target of an arson attack.
Conservative justice minister Mike Freer's office was attacked in December amid rising tensions following Hamas’s assault on Israel and the country's military retaliation in Gaza.
Mr Freer revealed Ali Harbi Ali, who killed MP David Amess, also stalked his constituency office. Mr Freer said the attacks “weighed heavily” on him.
Mr Freer, who has pro-Israel views and represents a heavily Jewish constituency, said “I don't think we can divorce” anti-Semitism from intimidation.
Asked whether he thought his support of Israel was related to the threats received, he said he “cannot draw any other conclusion”.
“Before Ali Harbi Ali, the David Amess murderer, I had a couple of run-ins with Muslims Against Crusades and … they made it very clear it was my views that were a factor,” he told Radio 4's Today programme on Thursday.
“We don’t exactly know why I was picked but clearly my views on Israel and the Middle East are very similar to David Amess’s and the level of abuse I get standing up for my constituents on anti-Semitism and on Israel has to be a factor.”
On Wednesday, Mr Freer announced that he would not fight the next election, telling the Daily Mail: "There comes a point when the threats to your personal safety become too much."
Mr Freer is a member of Conservative Friends of Israel and resigned in 2014 as a minister to vote against a motion in Parliament recognising the state of Palestine.
He announced his intention to step down in a letter to his constituency party chairman and in an interview in the Daily Mail.
He said he had avoided being killed by Ali “by the skin of my teeth” in 2021 when he was called to Westminster by Boris Johnson, the UK prime minister at the time, after being promoted in a cabinet reshuffle.
Mr Freer and his staff decided to wear stab vests at public events in his constituency after learning Ali had watched his Finchley office before going on to stab the Southend West MP Mr Amess to death during a constituency surgery in 2021.
“I was very lucky that actually on the day I was due to be in Finchley, I happened to change my plans and came into Whitehall," Mr Freer said. “Otherwise, who knows whether I would have been attacked or survived an attack? [Ali] said he came to Finchley to attack me.”
The incident was “the final straw”, leading to “tense” conversations with family members, which led to his decision to resign, the Daily Mail reported.
“There comes a point when the threats to your personal safety become too much,” the minister told the newspaper.
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s spokesperson, Max Blain, said the abuse and threats aimed at Mr Freer were "an attack on British democracy.”
Mr Blain said the Prime Minister was "saddened" by Mr Freer's decision to step down.
"No elected representative deserves to be abused or intimidated and the attacks and abuse that Mike Freer references are clearly deeply distressing. They're not just an attack on him but an attack on British democracy", Mr Blain said.
He has been subjected to other threats over the years, including by Muslims Against Crusades, who told him to “let Stephen Timms be a warning to you” after the Labour MP was stabbed by an Al Qaeda sympathiser in 2010. He survived.
He said he had also received threats from the group “about coming to stab me” and found “mock Molotov cocktails on the office steps”.
Mr Freer said MPs tend to try to “make light” of threats but it remained at the back of his mind that he could have been killed.
The MP for London's Finchley and Golders Green seat since 2010, Mr Freer said it was time to “say enough” because he could no longer put his family through anxiety for his safety.
In a letter to his local Conservative association, Mr Freer wrote it “will be an enormous wrench to step down”.
He won his seat by about 6,600 votes at the last general election in 2019, seeing off a Liberal Democrat challenger.
Mr Freer joins a series of MPs who have announced their intention not to contest the next election, which is expected later this year.
The Speaker of the House of Commons has called for MPs to “turn down the heat” following Mr Freer’s announcement.
Sir Lindsay Hoyle told Sky News that he wanted to see “a nicer politics” rather than the “election frenzy” that he currently saw in the Commons.
Karen Pollock, chief executive of the Holocaust Educational Trust, said she was sorry to hear of his plans to resign. “A champion for our community. This should not be the consequences of public service,” she wrote on X.
Chris Bryant, Labour MP for Rhondda, said “no elected official should have to put up with death threats and arson attacks”.
“That’s an attack on democracy itself. I wish him well. We should all think about how poisoned the well of politics is today. And resolve to change it,” he wrote on X.
Sarah Sackman, Labour candidate in Finchley and Golders Green, said she was shocked by the news. “We should have been able to face each other in the polls based on our ideas and merits," she added.
“Instead, politics is now so often skewed by violent language, hate and the dangers of social media.”
Tory former minister Conor Burns said on X that it was a “totally understandable decision".
"The drip-drip of hate (not exclusively from people on the other side) and remorseless cynicism will drive more people out of politics," he said.
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Ultra processed foods
- Carbonated drinks, sweet or savoury packaged snacks, confectionery, mass-produced packaged breads and buns
- margarines and spreads; cookies, biscuits, pastries, cakes, and cake mixes, breakfast cereals, cereal and energy bars;
- energy drinks, milk drinks, fruit yoghurts and fruit drinks, cocoa drinks, meat and chicken extracts and instant sauces
- infant formulas and follow-on milks, health and slimming products such as powdered or fortified meal and dish substitutes,
- many ready-to-heat products including pre-prepared pies and pasta and pizza dishes, poultry and fish nuggets and sticks, sausages, burgers, hot dogs, and other reconstituted meat products, powdered and packaged instant soups, noodles and desserts.
The specs
Engine: 2.0-litre four-cylinder turbo
Power: 178hp at 5,500rpm
Torque: 280Nm at 1,350-4,200rpm
Transmission: seven-speed dual-clutch auto
Price: from Dh209,000
On sale: now
Why are asylum seekers being housed in hotels?
The number of asylum applications in the UK has reached a new record high, driven by those illegally entering the country in small boats crossing the English Channel.
A total of 111,084 people applied for asylum in the UK in the year to June 2025, the highest number for any 12-month period since current records began in 2001.
Asylum seekers and their families can be housed in temporary accommodation while their claim is assessed.
The Home Office provides the accommodation, meaning asylum seekers cannot choose where they live.
When there is not enough housing, the Home Office can move people to hotels or large sites like former military bases.
KILLING OF QASSEM SULEIMANI
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Kumulus Water
Started: 2021
Founders: Iheb Triki and Mohamed Ali Abid
Based: Tunisia
Sector: Water technology
Number of staff: 22
Investment raised: $4 million
Read more from Aya Iskandarani
The National in Davos
We are bringing you the inside story from the World Economic Forum's Annual Meeting in Davos, a gathering of hundreds of world leaders, top executives and billionaires.
Red flags
- Promises of high, fixed or 'guaranteed' returns.
- Unregulated structured products or complex investments often used to bypass traditional safeguards.
- Lack of clear information, vague language, no access to audited financials.
- Overseas companies targeting investors in other jurisdictions - this can make legal recovery difficult.
- Hard-selling tactics - creating urgency, offering 'exclusive' deals.
Courtesy: Carol Glynn, founder of Conscious Finance Coaching
COMPANY%20PROFILE
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Various Artists
Habibi Funk: An Eclectic Selection Of Music From The Arab World (Habibi Funk)
Dubai World Cup factbox
Most wins by a trainer: Godolphin’s Saeed bin Suroor(9)
Most wins by a jockey: Jerry Bailey(4)
Most wins by an owner: Godolphin(9)
Most wins by a horse: Godolphin’s Thunder Snow(2)
At a glance
Global events: Much of the UK’s economic woes were blamed on “increased global uncertainty”, which can be interpreted as the economic impact of the Ukraine war and the uncertainty over Donald Trump’s tariffs.
Growth forecasts: Cut for 2025 from 2 per cent to 1 per cent. The OBR watchdog also estimated inflation will average 3.2 per cent this year
Welfare: Universal credit health element cut by 50 per cent and frozen for new claimants, building on cuts to the disability and incapacity bill set out earlier this month
Spending cuts: Overall day-to day-spending across government cut by £6.1bn in 2029-30
Tax evasion: Steps to crack down on tax evasion to raise “£6.5bn per year” for the public purse
Defence: New high-tech weaponry, upgrading HM Naval Base in Portsmouth
Housing: Housebuilding to reach its highest in 40 years, with planning reforms helping generate an extra £3.4bn for public finances
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About Karol Nawrocki
• Supports military aid for Ukraine, unlike other eurosceptic leaders, but he will oppose its membership in western alliances.
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• Cultivates tough-guy image, posting videos of himself at shooting ranges and in boxing rings.
• Met Donald Trump at the White House and received his backing.
INFO
Everton 0
Arsenal 0
Man of the Match: Djibril Sidibe (Everton)
Learn more about Qasr Al Hosn
In 2013, The National's History Project went beyond the walls to see what life was like living in Abu Dhabi's fabled fort:
HWJN
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How the bonus system works
The two riders are among several riders in the UAE to receive the top payment of £10,000 under the Thank You Fund of £16 million (Dh80m), which was announced in conjunction with Deliveroo's £8 billion (Dh40bn) stock market listing earlier this year.
The £10,000 (Dh50,000) payment is made to those riders who have completed the highest number of orders in each market.
There are also riders who will receive payments of £1,000 (Dh5,000) and £500 (Dh2,500).
All riders who have worked with Deliveroo for at least one year and completed 2,000 orders will receive £200 (Dh1,000), the company said when it announced the scheme.
The specs
Engine: 2.0-litre 4-cyl turbo
Power: 247hp at 6,500rpm
Torque: 370Nm from 1,500-3,500rpm
Transmission: 10-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 7.8L/100km
Price: from Dh94,900
On sale: now
THE SPECS
Engine: 1.5-litre turbocharged four-cylinder
Transmission: Constant Variable (CVT)
Power: 141bhp
Torque: 250Nm
Price: Dh64,500
On sale: Now
New UK refugee system
- A new “core protection” for refugees moving from permanent to a more basic, temporary protection
- Shortened leave to remain - refugees will receive 30 months instead of five years
- A longer path to settlement with no indefinite settled status until a refugee has spent 20 years in Britain
- To encourage refugees to integrate the government will encourage them to out of the core protection route wherever possible.
- Under core protection there will be no automatic right to family reunion
- Refugees will have a reduced right to public funds
The specs: 2019 Mercedes-Benz GLE
Price, base / as tested Dh274,000 (estimate)
Engine 3.0-litre inline six-cylinder
Gearbox Nine-speed automatic
Power 245hp @ 4,200rpm
Torque 500Nm @ 1,600rpm
Fuel economy, combined 6.4L / 100km
Dubai Rugby Sevens
November 30-December 2, at The Sevens, Dubai
Gulf Under 19
Pool A – Abu Dhabi Harlequins, Jumeirah College Tigers, Dubai English Speaking School 1, Gems World Academy
Pool B – British School Al Khubairat, Bahrain Colts, Jumeirah College Lions, Dubai English Speaking School 2
Pool C - Dubai College A, Dubai Sharks, Jumeirah English Speaking School, Al Yasmina
Pool D – Dubai Exiles, Dubai Hurricanes, Al Ain Amblers, Deira International School
