Conservative MP Mike Freer has announced he will not run again in the next elections. Freer said he had received threats from the group Muslims Against Crusades.
His decision comes against a backdrop of a sharp increase in anti-Semitic acts in the U.K. The renunciation raises fears of a decline in democratic freedom in the country. The Conservative MP is elected from the constituency of Finchley and Golders Green, in north London, where there is a large Jewish community. The 63-year-old former banker is a fervent supporter of Israel.