A Labour MP has spoken out on a string of threats and attacks launched towards him by pro-Palestine activists in his home town.
Aggressive protesters in York have tried to block Luke Charters from accessing his own constituency office, and launched a physical assault on him during the city's Pride parade.
The York Outer MP said that masked protesters wielding megaphones and posters tried to prevent entry to his office over the weekend, frightening away constituents seeking his help.
And during the parade earlier this month, Charters said demonstrators chanting "Labour, Labour, genocide" hurled a can of baked beans at him as they accused him of "complicity" in the Israel's war on Hamas.
Aggressive protesters in York have tried to block Luke Charters from accessing his own constituency office
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Charters was first elected to Parliament last year.
In March, he discovered scratches on his vehicle after being targeted by activists following a local Labour conference.
Police have investigated all three incidents, though two cases were dropped over "evidential difficulties".
The weekend office blockade saw protesters using what Charters described as "increasingly intimidating methods" to pressure him over the Gaza war.
He said the activists' tactics had shown a "growing intensity" which had "crossed a line" from peaceful protest.
The MP revealed he has been forced to discuss these "serious and unsettling" events with his pregnant wife, who is due to give birth next week.
MORE PRO-PALESTINE ZEALOTRY:
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- Police drop 'ludicrous' inquiry into 'Hamas are terrorists' protester - despite threatening to 'kill you, Arab b*****d'
- Pro-Palestine vandals launch overnight spree of attacks across Britain and Europe in latest graffiti rampage
- Pro-Palestine zealots caught training activists to 'disrupt, damage or destroy' targets across Britain in 'extremist' anti-Israel plot
Charters said he was pressured by 'aggressive' pro-Palestine activists
PA
"I'm trying to support Beth as much as I can, but instead I'm forced to explain what are really serious and unsettling incidents that lead to emergency responses to protect my safety," Charters told The Times.
"I'm a father first and an MP second… no father should have to go through that."
He added: "If these people think this is going to deter me, they're wrong. I've got an even stronger resolve to work harder for my constituents."
Charters has backed the Government's line on the conflict, supporting last month's decision to suspend trade deal talks with Israel.
At the time, he said it was "clear" that the situation in Gaza "must not continue for a moment longer", describing the level of suffering as "utterly intolerable".
Charters has backed the Government's line on the conflict, supporting last month's decision to suspend trade deal talks with Israel
PAThe MP is now calling for legal changes to ban protests at MPs' surgeries.
He argued that activists were attempting to "disrupt what is quite a fundamental part of an MP's job - to meet their constituents and try to listen and stand up for them".
Extremism tsar Lord Walney drew attention to alarming links between Islamists and the far-left in a report released last May, which he labelled an "unholy alliance".
In a sprawling 292-page review, authorities were urged to clamp down on extreme protest groups and outlaw disruptive protests almost entirely.
The public were warned of the threat of the "extreme left", which Lord Walney said "systematically seek to undermine faith in our parliamentary democracy and the rule of law".
His "independent adviser on political violence" role was later scrapped by Labour - but the Home Office said his work would "continue to inform our approach".
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