This article is more than 1 year old

This article is more than 1 year old

Police are investigating comments by a Ukip candidate in the European elections speculating about whether he would rape the MP Jess Phillips amid growing concern over threats to politicians.

Carl Benjamin, Ukip’s candidate for South West England, sent a tweet to the MP for Birmingham Yardley in 2016 saying “I wouldn’t even rape you.” He added to the comments in a recent video saying: “With enough pressure, I might cave.”

West Midlands police confirmed officers were examining whether an offence had been committed. It comes as fears grow that toxic rows over Brexit in the run-up to European parliamentary elections later this month will further coarsen public debate.

Cressida Dick, the Metropolitan police commissioner, will be questioned about the safety of MPs when she appears before parliament’s human rights committee on Wednesday.

Benjamin, who is known online as Sargon of Akkad, uploaded a clip to YouTube last month where he added to his original comments.

He said: “There’s been an awful lot of talk about whether I would or wouldn’t rape Jess Phillips. I suppose with enough pressure I might cave, but let’s be honest nobody’s got that much beer.”

After news of police interest in Benjamin’s comments emerged, Phillips said she was verbally challenged about it by a member of the public as she left parliament.

“Just leaving Westminster and and man ran down the street alongside me asking me about why Carl Benjamin shouldn’t be able to joke about my rape. Shouting: ‘I pay your wages,’” the MP tweeted.

Phillips earlier told the BBC’s Victoria Derbyshire that she recently broke down in tears in Birmingham city centre “just because I felt the enormous weight of years and years and years of abuse”.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Carl Benjamin at the launch of Ukip’s European election campaign in London in April. Photograph: Isabel Infantes/AFP/Getty Images

The Labour MP, a frequent target of online trolls, said: “I realised that I did what all women do in these situations – I had been putting a brave face on it and pretending that it was all fine.

“It dawned on me that, for four years essentially, this man had made a career out of harassing me. And I felt harassed. I felt ‘How can somebody say that they would rape me if forced, and be a legitimate candidate in an election?’”

She said: “[It is] one thing when he was just some idiot off the internet but it’s a different thing when he is standing on the same platforms I am standing on, that he will potentially go to a parliament himself as an elected representative.”

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West Midlands police confirmed that a complaint of “malicious communications” had been received. “Officers have spoken to Ms Phillips and the comments are being investigated to establish if an offence has taken place,” a spokesperson said.

The Ukip leader, Gerard Batten, appeared alongside Benjamin at the launch of the party’s European election campaign last month and defended the comments as a form of “satire”.

Play Video 0:56 Jess Phillips: 'For four years this man had made a career out of harassing me' – video

Asked to respond on Tuesday, Batten said Benjamin would remain as a Ukip candidate despite an outcry over his comments.

“I condemn all jokes about rape - they are not funny and never appropriate and I have told Carl to keep to the serious political issues in this campaign,” he said.

Dozens of MPs have warned that the Brexit crisis has led to a point where they regularly receive death and rape threats via social media. The Conservative chair of the Treasury select committee, Nicky Morgan, has blamed the language of some Conservative Brexiters for helping to inspire threats against MPs.

Security for MPs was stepped up after the murder of the Labour backbencher Jo Cox in the run-up to the 2016 EU referendum.

Benjamin refused to apologise at a news conference in London last month for his initial post, accusing media outlets of “smearing” him. He said his words should be treated in the same way that other satirists have raised taboo subjects.

“I think we should treat women the same as men. That means if a woman is being a giant bitch and laughing at male suicide, I’m going to be a giant dick back to her,” he said.

Phillips was inundated with messages of support from the public and fellow politicians after speaking out about Benjamin’s comments.

Former Labour colleague Luciana Berger offered “solidarity” and Change UK MP Anna Soubry tweeted: “Proud to standby you Jess and send you love and support.”

The government officially accepted on Tuesday that it could not get its Brexit deal through parliament in time to avoid European elections on 23 May. Theresa May’s effective deputy David Lidington confirmed that elections to the European parliament would go ahead.