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Investigators are now probing whether left-wing terror played a role in former U.K. MP's murder You can save this article by registering for free here. Or sign-in if you have an account.Ann Widdecombe speaks at Reform UK South West Conference on November 09, 2024. Photo by: Finnbarr Webster/Getty News Images.Ann Widdecombe, a 78-year-old former Tory who crossed over to Reform before retiring, was found dead in her Dartmoor, U.K., home by police last week, about 24 hours after she stopped responding to text messages from a Channel 5 producer and failed to appear on the show remotely.Enjoy the latest local, national and international news.Exclusive articles by Conrad Black, Barbara Kay and others. 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Plus, special edition NP Platformed and First Reading newsletters and virtual events.Unlimited online access to National Post.National Post ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition to view on any device, share and comment on.Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword.Support local journalism.Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience.Access articles from across Canada with one account.Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments.Enjoy additional articles per month.Get email updates from your favourite authors.Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience.Access articles from across Canada with one accountShare your thoughts and join the conversation in the commentsEnjoy additional articles per monthGet email updates from your favourite authorsSign In or Create an AccountorBefore the messages between Widdecombe and the producer stopped, she had been in good spirits, chatting and joking.Then, there was silence. The producer’s messages were left unread. His calls unanswered. He called her agent.The National Post newsletter that doesn’t hold back, giving readers the unvarnished truth on media, politics and culture.By signing up, you consent to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc.A welcome email is on its way. If you don't see it, please check your junk folder.The next issue of Right? will soon be in your inbox.We encountered an issue signing you up. Please try againPolice discovered Widdecombe’s body the following day at her retirement home, which she loving referred to as “Widdecombe’s Rest.”Police have described Widdecombe’s murder as a “targeted attack.” As of Monday, the investigation was taken over by counter-terrorism police, who are considering whether the 28-year-old British national who’s in custody may have been motivated by “left-wing, anarchist and single-issue terrorism,” which appears to be common enough of a threat that U.K. police have an acronym for it, LASIT.Widdecombe was a well-known Catholic social conservative who advocated for persecuted Christians globally — so much so that she received a papal damehood from Pope Benedict XVI in 2013.In 2011, shortly after her retirement from the British House of Commons, she gave a speech in which she claimed that, when it comes to government, “You stand a better chance of earnest representation if you are a hedgehog than if you are a persecuted Christian.”In a 2019 speech for the Oxford Union Society, Widdecombe argued against deplatforming and censorship. In it, she explained why free speech was important to her, as someone who grew up in the wake of the Second World War and lived through the Cold War.And now she’s been murdered.In a press conference, Reform U.K. spokesperson Zia Yusuf said, “I cannot tell you why Ann was killed. That is for the police and the courts. What I can tell you is that counter-terrorism police are investigating her murder as a suspected act of terrorism.”Yusuf then told those present that he could also tell them about “the climate in which she was killed,” which he described as “a relentless narrative from politicians and the media that Reform U.K. is a threat — a threat to be urgently stopped.” Yusuf claimed that this narrative is “so relentless, it constitutes incitement.”He further alleged that the party is being targeted “because we say things that are unfashionable among many in Westminster, but are popular in the country at large.”Yusuf said it was difficult to share the type of comments that had been said about Widdecombe, who he referred to as a “treasure,” but that it was important because “we cannot ever allow this to happen again.”He quoted Deputy Prime Minister David Lammy, who had described Widdecombe as a “poisonous bigot” who wants to “drag us back to the 19th century” and “throw minorities out in the cold on the way.”Yusuf stressed that Lammy had “boldly declared” that: “We must stand up to them before it’s too late.”Yusuf also pointed a finger at the former health secretary Wes Streeting, who said: “If only science had a cure for Ann Widdecombe.”He then noted that a woman on Twitter had said: “Ann Widdecombe better go this week. She is a little fascist beast.” Shockingly, he pointed out that this was written by Jess Phillips, former parliamentary under-secretary of state for safeguarding and violence against women and girls.He further quoted Liberal Democrats Leader Ed Davey as saying, “The greatest threat to the Britain we love doesn’t come from Tehran or Moscow. It comes from within. I’m talking about Nigel Farage and Reform.”Yusuf ended by saying, “Is it any wonder, with such rhetoric relentlessly levelled at Reform, that some may be moved to try to eliminate that supposed threat through lethal violence?”One has to wonder whether such statements encouraged Heather Herbert, a 50-year-old transgender employee at the University of Aberdeen in Scotland, who was recently arrested and charged with allegedly posting on social media that Widdecombe’s death was “good news,” and that she hoped it was an “extremely painful death.”This sort of zealous dehumanization takes place elsewhere in the western world, as well, including in Canada.On Wednesday, protesters surrounded Nova Scotia Premier Tim Houston’s car and smashed his windshield. And on Thursday, at a pancake breakfast in Edmonton, a woman yelled at Alberta Premier Danielle Smith, “You’re a f—ing fascist.… You sold us out to corporations,” and had to be ushered away.And being on the left doesn’t necessarily protect you from the left, either. A video circulating on social media shows Alberta NDP Leader Naheed Nenshi being accosted at a public event for having taken a picture with Israeli Ambassador Iddo Moed at the Calgary Stampede. Nenshi eventually caved and released a statement apologizing for the “harm” the photographed caused.This was the worst possible response. No politician should shrink and apologize to zealous leftists like this. The message it sends is that they were right and their methods are correct. Instead, a strong message needs to be sent: you don’t have the right to try to intimidate those you disagree with, through words or by force.National PostThis column was originally published in Right? A National Post Newsletter. Sign up now. 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