Euan McColm: Ann Widdecombe murder revealed both cruel reactions and dangers faced by those in public eye

The murder of former MP Ann Widdecombe is painful to contemplate but it is impossible not to do so. That a 78-year-old woman met her death in what should have been the sanctuary of her home is horrific, the stuff of nightmares.

Did you not hear the news and think of elderly relatives made vulnerable by time or isolation? Perhaps you saw your future self, imagining the loss of power that accompanies age, and realising you wouldn’t stand a chance against an assailant.

Widdecombe was the softest of targets and it breaks the heart to imagine her, powerless, in her final moments.

There was, of course, much casual cruelty in the aftermath of this sickening crime. On social media, some celebrated the passing of a right-wing politician – having served as a Conservative MP until 2010, Widdecombe was latterly immigration and justice spokesperson for Reform UK – whose views they deplored (Following a number of complaints, Police Scotland has arrested an Aberdeen University employee over remarks posted in the aftermath of her death).

Others were able to contain their hatred but often felt compelled to preface any words of shock or condolence by stating, in the strongest terms, their deprecation of the positions Widdecombe held in life. What narcissism it takes to feel free to declare one’s moral superiority over an elderly murder victim.

Widdecombe’s is the third brutal killing of a British politician in little more than a decade.

In June 2016, as the EU referendum campaign heated up, Labour MP Jo Cox was shot and stabbed by a right-wing British nationalist. A little more than five years later, in October 2021, the veteran Conservative MP Sir David Amess was knifed to death in his constituency by an Islamic State sympathiser.

Those murdered politicians were remembered in the House of Commons last week, as Sir Keir Starmer paid tribute to Ann Widdecombe

The departing Prime Minister – who leaves office tomorrow – told MPs it was time to do more to “defend our democracy” and, of course, there was much sorrowful agreement.

The words of Jo Cox – that there is more that unites us than divides us – have been repeated over and over since her murder and they were heard again last week.

There is the risk this expression of solidarity may be mistaken, on umpteenth hearing, for a bromide but it is, I know, something felt deeply by the majority of politicians, especially at a time when one of their own has been attacked.

Even as elected members process the shock of Ann Widdecombe’s murder, a new threat to their safety has emerged.

A militant trans activist group called Bash Back urges “allies” to cause “direct harm”. Last week, just days after Ann Widdecombe was killed in her home, Bash Back provided helpful images of the office of former health secretary, Wes Streeting.

Apologists for Bash Back will tell you that by “direct harm” it means disruption, nothing more but the group’s propaganda is littered with violent imagery of masked, hammer-wielding activists and, also, it is called Bash Back.

Politicians are not only under real threat of physical harm, right now, from extremists on both left and right but by militant trans activists. And the bleakest of ironies is that this dangerous movement has been indulged and legitimised by the politicians, themselves.

One of the most excruciating moments in the history of the Scottish Parliament came on the afternoon of December 22, 2022 when, after MSPs voted to pass the Gender Recognition Reform (Scotland) Bill, those in favour stood, turned towards the public gallery and began applauding.

Sitting there, basking in this adulation, were a number of trans-identifying men, including some whose online footprints reveal unhealthy interests in knives and violence.

When it comes to the threat of violence towards women by trans activists, self-styled “progressive” politicians have colluded in painting targets on others’ backs.

We are asked to believe that senior SNP figures were quite unaware of signs calling for the murder of TERFs (Trans-Exclusionary Radical Feminists) being held by those they marched with in the name of “kindness”.

More egregiously, we are expected to ignore or forget that female politicians who dared to speak up about the threat posed to women’s rights by the demands of trans activists and were threatened and abused for so doing, were cut adrift by party leaders. This moral failure emboldened the men – and, yes, it is almost always men, regardless of how they might identify – who bombard female politicians with death and rape threats for their refusal to bow to their demands.

When the Labour MP Rosie Duffield – who now sits as an independent – was subjected to the most horrific abuse for her defence of women’s sex-based rights, then Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer did nothing.

When the former SNP MP Joanna Cherry was similarly threatened, Nicola Sturgeon – then pushing through reforms to the Gender Recognition Act – ghosted her while continuing to pander to activists. Politicians – female ones, in particular – are wise to feel uneasy right now.

The murder of Ann Widdecombe has sparked memories of Jo Cox and Sir David Amess and reminded us that politicians’ jobs bring a level of personal threat that nobody should be expected to endure.

Last week, a photograph emerged of a high-profile Scottish trans activist posing at home with replica guns. This image was contained in a post aimed at Helen Joyce of the sex-based rights charity, Sex Matters.

The trans-identifying man featured in this disturbing image will already be familiar to many MSPs. He was one of those applauded from the chamber in 2022. He is also the partner of the Aberdeen University employee arrested

Ann Widdecombe was the victim of relentless online abuse and threats until someone decided to take things further.

As politicians come to terms with her murder, some may wish to ask themselves what part they’ve played in making life more dangerous for everyone who stands for election.