Police probe left-wing motive in Widdecombe killing

Counter-terrorism police are investigating whether left-wing, anarchist and single-issue terrorism (LASIT) was behind the killing of former Conservative minister and Reform UK spokesperson Ann Widdecombe. Detectives are examining whether hostility towards Widdecombe’s outspoken views or a general opposition to Reform may have motivated the attack. The ​inquiry is also looking into the​ suspect’s mental health history.

Assistant Commissioner Laurence Taylor, the head of counter-terrorism policing, said investigators were seeking to understand “the planning and preparation, and the motivation that sits behind the attack”. He added: “I don’t want to rule out anything,” when asked whether Reform had been targeted. Taylor confirmed that police had been granted an extra seven days in which to question the suspect.

This is a “complex investigation” with “multiple lines of inquiry”, said Rozina Sabur and Martin Evans in The Telegraph. Specialist counter-terrorism teams are reportedly working through leads “at pace”.

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Yesterday John Woodcock, a former government adviser on political violence, echoed Nigel Farage’s call for greater protection for politicians, urging Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood to establish security buffers around MPs’ constituency offices and surgeries.

He has a point, said The Times’s editorial board. “In this increasingly perilous time, criteria for granting protection to politicians, inside and outside parliament, must be more flexible. More bodyguards, more cameras: these cost money. But if that is the price of democracy, then so be it.”