MPs advised to travel in groups to avoid abuse over Brexit

A deputy speaker of the House of Commons has advised MPs they should take a black cab or travel home together to avoid the risk of intimidation or abuse, as public tensions rise over the Brexit process.

Lindsay Hoyle, a long-serving Labour MP, emailed all colleagues on Wednesday afternoon to say the Metropolitan police had been “left in no doubt” it had to ensure that “members of parliament can vote in parliament without fear”.

“Personally, I have never felt this level of tension during my time in the house and I am aware that other colleagues feel the same,” Hoyle wrote. “Many colleagues have already been subject to widely publicised abuse and intimidation.”

Related: MPs raise safety fears with police after Anna Soubry subjected to 'Nazi’ chants

He advised MPs to take “simple steps” such as travelling home by taxi or with colleagues, and he said most had already taken security measures at home such as installing panic buttons.

On Thursday parliament’s human rights committee published a letter from Max Hill, the director of public prosecutions, listing a string of prosecutions against people who had abused or threatened an MP.

The most senior prosecutor in England and Wales said that while freedom of speech was important, he took threats against MPs “very seriously indeed”. He added: “Criminal offences committed against MPs imperil both the democratic process and public service.”

Hill listed 16 convictions since June 2016 – the month of the EU referendum – and a further seven cases pending involving proven or alleged harassment, intimidation or abuse of MPs. All the cases he listed were anonymised.

His list omitted some of the most serious cases, most notably the murder of the Labour MP Jo Cox in 2016, for which the killer was jailed for life, and a far-right plot to kill another Labour MP, Rosie Cooper.

This week there were chaotic scenes at Westminster magistrates court at a preliminary hearing in the trial of James Goddard, a “yellow vest” protester accused of harassing the Independent Group MP Anna Soubry.

Goddard is accused of harassing Soubry by following her, filming her and calling her a “Nazi” and “traitor” outside the Houses of Parliament on two occasions in December and January, the court heard. He denies the charges and a trial is due in July.

The hearing on Monday was briefly adjourned after supporters of Goddard in the public gallery chanted, shouted about Brexit and made their own derogatory comments about Soubry, who defected from the Conservatives in February.

Hoyle’s email was sent a few hours before Theresa May criticised parliament in a televised evening address, saying the country was weary of infighting, procedural rows and “tired of MPs talking about nothing else but Brexit”.

That prompted some MPs to accuse the prime minister of reckless behaviour at a time when many MPs have reported rising concern about the level of death threats and other forms of abuse since the Brexit vote.

Wes Streeting, a Labour MP, said late on Wednesday that May’s speech was “incendiary and irresponsible. If any harm comes to any of us, she will have to accept her share of responsibility.”

Downing Street denied that accusation. May’s deputy official spokesperson said on Thursday morning that she “would flatly reject” the idea that the speech had put MPs at risk from an angry public. Streeting said he stood by what he had said.