MP Virginia Crosbie wears stab vest to meet constituents

A Welsh Conservative MP has said she wears a stab-proof jacket when meeting constituents.

Virginia Crosbie, who represents Ynys Mon, said she started wearing the protective garment after the murder of her colleague Sir David Amess in 2021.

Sir David was stabbed multiple times at a surgery in his Southend West constituency in Essex.

Ms Crosbie, who was first elected in December 2019, has spoken before about the threats and abuse she has received.

She said she also uses security protection.

“Unfortunately, this is one of the things I have to do to ensure that I can actually do the job that I was elected to do.”

“I think it’s important I have direct contact with my constituents,” she told GB News.

The MP previously told BBC Wales she had received a death threat to her constituency office in Holyhead last year.

She said things have not improved.

“If anything, it’s even worse. And it’s not just myself – it’s a lot of others, particularly female, MPs.

“Even before we’ve had breakfast many of us have received one or two threats.”

Ali Harbi Ali was convicted last April of the murder of Sir David.

The IS fanatic had decided to attack Sir David after a search on Twitter showed he was due to hold a constituency surgery.

The attack came five years after the murder of Labour MP Jo Cox.

Conservative MP James Sunderland told the Times that it was a question of “when, not if” an attack on an MP happens again.

Mr Sunderland, who said he was the last MP to see Sir David, said: “What we have to do is do everything in our power to prepare us for those situations.”