Justice Minister Mike Freer has told GB News that internet firms must tackle content that incites deadly violence against Members of Parliament.

He was speaking after it emerged that he was stepping down as an MP at the next General Election due to the level of abuse that he has received and an arson attack on his office.

Freer told GB News Political Editor Christopher Hope: “Email and social media (companies) have a lot to answer for, because it can be kind of anonymous, certainly (on) social media. Social media companies do very little to just stop it.

“I was followed around Brent Cross Shopping Centre, literally with a man walking behind me saying, ‘you're useless, you're useless, you're useless’. You're so tempted to turn round and punch him but then I'd be in trouble.

“It's always been kind of more verbal, but the threats to life is what's become more frequent. And in the inbox, someone after the fire (at my office) said, ‘you're clearly the kind of person that deserves to be set alight’. Who sends an email like that?”

He told GB News: “There comes a point when the level of threats becomes beyond the pale. Most MPs have to cope with a level of routine abuse, routine graffiti, that kind of low level stuff. Maybe we shouldn't have to deal with it, but it is kind of bread and butter now the way we handle our jobs as MPs.

“But when you've had two or three serious instances, where your life has been threatened - one was a very narrow miss purely by a fluke, I wasn’t in the office - a man that went on to kill David Amess had come to Finchley, the police said he had come armed with the intention to harm me. Luckily, I wasn't in Finchley that day.

“And then the arson attack was simply the last straw. That was on Christmas Eve.”

He continued: “In public, standing on the pavements where I do advice fayres, where 200 or 300 residents come through the door, I now wear a stab vest. Also, my staff also have them available if they want to wear them.

“Without being dramatic, it’s always at the back of your mind, it’s getting worse. The level of abuse in the inbox is getting worse. The level of threats now on the street are getting worse. So it's always at the back of your mind and given that I've had probably more incidents than most, it's always a worry.”

He added: “But every MP, for women MPs, it getting worse, other colleagues are wearing stab vests as well…

“I think everybody is coping with this abuse. Some are greater than others, but I'm not aware of specifics from colleagues, but it has got to stop. Otherwise, why would you go to do this job?”