In response to another question from the Labour MP Anna McMorrin about the abuse politicians were receiving on social media, Johnson warned that it would not stop until Brexit was delivered. If McMorrin thought “that storm on Twitter is going to abate, she’s got another thing coming”, the PM said.



Johnson was also criticised by Conservative MP Jeremy Lefroy, who said: “With freedom of speech comes responsibility, and sometimes that responsibility means not saying what one might like to say — words like surrender, betrayal, treason”.

Liberal Democrat leader Jo Swinson said: “The prime minister tonight proved he is totally unfit for office. To suggest the best way to honour Jo Cox, an MP who was murdered for what she believed in, was to pass his Brexit deal was sickening.”

As the debate raged in the Commons, BuzzFeed News spoke to several MPs who expressed their horror at the prime minister’s language.



Sherriff revealed the level of abuse she and other colleagues have received in recent months: “I’ve had swastikas left outside my office. And I know now as a result of that, I might not be able to go home this weekend, stay in my own house. We’ve had MPs have to move addresses, stay in hotels, there’s a lot that goes on that we don’t necessarily talk about.”

Alison McGovern, a close friend of Cox, said: “It is devastating that our prime minister cannot realise the consequences of his words. They have real life effect. This isn't a game, and he should listen when people express grief and distress at what he says.”

Earlier this year, BuzzFeed News revealed the specialist police unit set up to investigate crimes against MPs has received 558 complaints since its inception and has seen a huge increase in reports in the last 12 months.



Scottish National Party MP Alison Thewliss called for Johnson to resign, saying his behaviour was: "Absolutely despicable. And what makes it worse is it's deliberate. He's doing this deliberately to wind people up, to get people out on the streets. It's irresponsible and it's dangerous, and it's got to stop. He's got to go."

Labour’s Rosie Duffield said: “He is inciting violence, implying to [women] MPs repeatedly that if we vote his way, we will all be safe. His answer to Anna McMorrin sounded like an outright threat. I had written a question about Kent but when he upset so many of my colleagues, I felt compelled to call him out. This is what real privilege looks like.”

Redcar MP Anna Turley told BuzzFeed News the PM was using “the language of fascism”.

“You could see, even after he was asked to moderate his language, even after he was told how it was making everybody feel, he kept using it. He was being deliberately provocative, he was deliberately, he knew exactly what he was doing, he was goading us with it, and that’s what’s absolutely unforgivable.

“This is the language of fascism. That sounds over the top but it’s true, it’s the language of othering, it’s the language of turning people against people, it’s divisive and it’s toxic and he knows that,” she said.