( MENAFN - IANS) London, May 19 (IANS/DPA) UK politics is in a worse situation than it was in 2016 when Jo Cox was murdered, the late MP's sister has warned. Labour MP Kim Leadbeater, who represents her sister's former seat in Parliament, said threats to politicians' safety and the strain on their mental health meant the UK's democracy was in a "dangerous" place. In a further sign of the strain being felt in Westminster, Tory MP Elliot Colburn said MPs across the House had attempted to take their own lives.
The MPs were speaking to the BBC Radio 4's show Broken Politicians, Broken Politics. Cox was murdered in 2016 by a right-wing extremist in her Yorkshire constituency during the European Union referendum campaign. Leadbeater, who represents the same Batley and Spen seat, told the BBC programme: "I think politics was in a pretty bad place at that time.
There was a lot of division. There was a lot of anger." "Sadly, I would say, if anything, it's worse.
" She added: "Elected officials not feeling they can always speak freely, not feeling they can always say what they really think." "And potentially, worst case scenario, not necessarily voting in the way that they think they should vote because they know the impact it's going to have on their safety, but also on their mental health and well-being. "And that is a really dangerous place to be.
That is not good for democracy." Earlier this year, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak warned the UK could be descending into "mob rule" amid fear.