LORD Walney has spoken out on political violence in the aftermath of the assassination attempt on Donald Trump. 

The former Barrow MP John Woodcock said the UK is 'fortunate' that it does not have the same gun culture as the United States. 

However, he added: "Here in Britain two of our MPs have been murdered within the last ten years and the threat level facing politicians is higher than ever." 

This was in reference to the Labour MP Jo Cox, who was shot and stabbed in West Yorkshire in 2016, and Conservative MP David Amess who was stabbed in Essex in 2021. 

Former US president Mr Trump survived an assassination attempt at a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania on Saturday, July 13. He is the Republican candidate for the upcoming presidential election. 

Mr Woodcock said it is 'really important' that the nation takes 'intimidation' to MPs seriously. 

"It's vitally important that we protect our freedom of expression and our right to protest," Mr Woodcock added. "We are fortunate to live in this country. But too often we confuse the right to expression with a completely unacceptable level of aggression, intimidation and hatred which should have no part in discourse."

He asked if people would justify 'unacceptable behaviour' if it was not directed towards politicians. Mr Woodcock said the police would view the kind of hatred targeted at elected representatives as an offence 'in any other context.' 

Mr Woodcock was asked if his journey that has ended up with him speaking out against political violence as a House of Lords member was inspired by his experience as the Barrow MP. 

He said: "I am thankful for every day that I spent representing the people in Barrow in Furness. By and large I very rarely experienced the kind of aggression that was unfortunately commonplace for many of my colleagues in the House of Commons - I think I was backed by the people that I represented.

"I was also backed by my gender," he added, saying 'many women MPs get this far more than men.' 

"We all deserve to live in a democracy where we can get your view across," he said. 

Mr Woodcock was the MP for Barrow until 2019 when Conservative MP Simon Fell was elected. Labour MP Michelle Scrogham now represents the seat after the recent General Election.