Police ‘open minded’ about motive for Ann Widdecombe murder after suspect, 28, arrested
Police investigating the murder of veteran politician Ann Widdecombe say they are keeping an “open mind” about a possible motive after arresting a 28-year-old suspect in Rotherham.
Deputy Chief Constable Matt Longman of Devon and Cornwall Police said there was still no evidence of a political or terrorist motivation behind the murder of the former Tory minister at his Dartmoor home this week.
Officers arrested a white British man about 250 miles away in South Yorkshire on Saturday evening and said they were not looking for anyone else at this stage.
Police believe Ms Widdecome, 78, was attacked at around 12.30am on Wednesday, around 24 hours before police found her dead in her home after suffering “serious injuries”.
Newly released messages between Ms Widdecome and a Channel 5 producer show she was responding to messages until 12.19pm when she suddenly went silent and missed a remote interview.
Mr Longman urged caution in speculating about what might have happened or the reasons behind the attack.
“We are aware of online and public speculation, particularly regarding motive,” he said, adding: “I urge people not to share or engage in this speculation. It is unhelpful.”
“It does not assist our investigation and is particularly distressing for Ms Widdecombe’s family and friends,” he said.
Reform England leader Nigel Farage has previously said he is afraid of “everyone in public life” and added: “We don’t know what the political motivations are, whether they exist.”
It was reported that senior Reform politicians were provided with 24-hour security protection following the death of Ms Widdecombe, who has served as the party’s Immigration and Justice spokesperson since 2023.
mail on sunday He claimed that this included the party’s eight MPs and home affairs spokesperson Zia Yusuf.
The paper also reported that Scotland Yard was believed to be making its own assessment of the protection required for Reform politicians.
However, Mr Yusuf declared on social media that the state “provided no protection”. He went further, accusing the government, Commons Speaker Lindsay Hoyle and the police of having “no concern for the safety of Reform MPs”.
“In the past months, many of our MPs wrote to the articles above and asked for help regarding the annoying and increasing security concerns. Their correspondence was not even answered,” he said.
Sir Chris Bryant, Labor Business Secretary and Labor MP for Rhondda and Ogmore, said: The Camilla Tominey Show He also told GB News that he had received numerous death threats in recent years.
Sir Chris noted that two other MPs, Jo Cox and Sir David Amess, had been killed in the last decade and said: “We should be worried about the state of political debate in the UK.”
“I can’t tell you how many death threats I’ve received over the years, including several this year, including a guy who just got out of prison,” he said. “You can never be quite sure how seriously to take them.”
He added that in his view, parliament and the government have taken the issue much more seriously in the last 10 years. He also praised the police for their support to MPs.
Mr Farage told reporters on Saturday that Reform’s security teams were scouring emails looking for patterns of abuse against Ms Widdecombe. “So far they haven’t found anything,” he said.
“We all receive harassing emails in public life. I would say we can’t discern a particular pattern.”
An unnamed “very senior” source said: mail on sunday He said Ms Widdecombe’s family “did not want her death to be hijacked for political purposes” and were “very uneasy” about Mr Farage being at the scene on Saturday.
Police gave a brief update on Sunday, saying it was important they “maintain the integrity” of the investigation.
Mr Longman said there was “still a way to go in this situation” and that further information disclosure would be decided on an “operational basis”.
He announced the arrest of a white British man in Rotherham on Saturday evening. It comes after police released a 26-year-old man they had previously arrested on suspicion of murder in Newton Abbot.
He also said the public had already shared more than 120 pieces of information to assist the investigation and urged anyone who believed they could help to do the same. online via a dedicated police portal.
“I would like to thank everyone who has taken the time to contribute this information and I would ask anyone who has not yet submitted any information they have to do so as a priority,” he said.
