Lewes MP Maria Caulfield to stand in election despite abuse

An MP has detailed a catalogue of abuse she deals with each day but has said she will stand again at the general election in December.

Maria Caulfield said she has had her tyres slashed, received pictures of beheaded babies and that someone had tried to run her off the road.

More than 50 MPs have announced they are standing down in December's general election - 18 of them women.

MPs from across all parties have cited abuse as a factor in their decision.

Others who have reported abuse include Heidi Allen from the Lib Dems and Labour's Diane Abbott.

'Threatening and abusive'

Ms Caulfield, Conservative MP for Lewes, said she received abuse on social media every day.

"Most of the time it washes over you, but some of it can be quite threatening, quite abusive," she said.

She said incidents "on her doorstep" were more difficult and included graffiti daubed over her office and damage to CCTV cameras there.

"I've had letters with pictures of beheaded babies saying 'you'll be next'," Ms Caulfield added.

"I've had my tyres slashed twice. My husband had his tyres slashed. We had an incident on the road a few weeks ago when someone tried to run us off the road."

She said it did make her question whether it was worth carrying on but added: "I have decided to stand.

"I have thought about it really hard over the last few days. It was up in the air at some points, because there have been difficult times."