A Labour MP has received extra police security after getting death threats in response to comments she made about British Pakistani men in her constituency grooming white girls for sex.

Sarah Champion, MP for Rotherham, wrote a column in the Sun last year saying: “Britain has a problem with British Pakistani men raping and exploiting white girls.”

A local campaign group, Just Yorkshire, produced a report in March this year which claimed that Muslims in Rotherham had been racially abused as a result of Champion’s remarks.

“I have young polite, caring respecting, loving boys who attend local comprehensive School, that week the article was published, and they got called rapists,” one local woman allegedly told the researchers when she filled in their online survey.

Champion received death threats following the publication of the Just Yorkshire report, the Times claimed on Wednesday. Scotland Yard’s counterterrorism unit increased her security risk level and she was advised to accept extra protection, the paper reported.

The Metropolitan police told the Guardian it never commented on individual security matters. Champion said she didn’t want to comment in detail on her case but said: “The real story is that at least nine women MPs have convictions against people planning to murder them (and one succeeded in Jo Cox’s case). Where is the outrage? Think how many have threats, I’m far from unique. Femicide accounts for two murders a week in the UK.”

Last month a 23-year-old man pleaded guilty to buying a machete with the intent to kill Rosie Cooper, MP for West Lancashire. Last year another man was jailed for eight weeks after he called the office of Tory MP Anna Soubry and said she should be “Jo Cox’d”.

Three other men have been jailed for separate death threats made to the Conservative MPs Caroline Ansell, Lucy Allan and the Labour MP Karin Smyth. Earlier this month Islamic State terrorist Naa’imur Zakariyah Rahman was found guilty of plotting to kill the prime minister, Theresa May.

John Nimmo, an internet troll from South Shields, has been jailed twice for sending threatening messages to Labour MPs Stella Creasy and Luciana Berger.



In November 2016 far-right terrorist Thomas Mair was jailed for life for murdering Cox.

Jeremy Corbyn, the Labour leader, accepted Champion’s resignation from the front bench last year following the furore over the Sun article. On Wednesday he described her as “a good friend”.

“I worry about anyone that has to have protection and security because of threats against them. It is utterly appalling and people in public life should be treated with respect,” Corbyn said.

“Obviously there’s room for debate, of course there is, but it must be conducted in a respectful manner and anyone that requires security, I find that very sad because we don’t want to live in that kind of world.”