Asked by Sky News presenter Nick Quraishi how unsettling the suspected arson attack was, Mr Freer said: “Sadly it’s becoming part of the job, and it shouldn’t be.
“Too many MPs have had to cope with physical threats and sadly we’ve seen several of my colleagues lose their lives.”
Mr Freer said he has had regular safety scares since becoming an MP, including the man who assassinated Sir David Amess – Ali Harbi Ali – turning up at his office before the murder in 2021.
“It is difficult to take it in your stride, but it is a fundamental part of our democracy that MPs are accessible to our constituents and I wouldn’t want that to change,” Mr Freer continued.
“Unfortunately, that goes with risks these days. I personally, like some of my other colleagues, wear stab vests if I do public events and sadly that is par for the course these days.
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“And it shouldn’t be, but the accessibility of MPs is a fundamental part of our British democratic traditions.”
Mr Freer, whose Finchley and Golders Green constituency has a high Jewish population, said the exact motive of the fire is not yet known but that it could be linked to the conflict in the Middle East.
“I’m hoping it is just someone with a grudge or someone with nothing better to do than cause a fire,” he said.
“Sadly, I’ve had too many instances in the past where I’ve been attacked because of my views on the Middle East, but also many of my constituents have had similar incidents.
“It’s not an unknown incident in Golders Green. When something flares in the Middle East, the level of attacks in my local area do go up.
“We’ll have to let the police do their jobs and find out what the exact motives were.”
Mr Freer says the ground floor and first floor of his office have suffered “significant damage”, including lost windows, smoke, water and fire damage. Most of the office is completely unusable, he added.
“They shouldn’t have to fear coming to work that they’re going to get attacked just because they work for an MP.”
He added that the suspected arson will be a concern for any staff who work for an MP across the country.
Mr Freer told Sky News the office is equipped with “significant security” including panic buttons and stab vests and that staff do background checks to ensure any members of the public who request a meeting are constituents.
“We’ve taken all reasonable steps to ensure we’re safe and secure, while remaining accessible,” he added.
The conviction of Tornado Cash developer Alexey Pertsev reinforces a very broad interpretation of criminal liability, which has major repercussions for blockchain.
The defence secretary has said he is “angry inside” over the infected blood scandal ahead of a long-waited report into the decades-long injustice.
Grant Shapps told Sky News he agreed it had been one of the most “shameful failures” of government and said he was dismayed by the “lack of anybody taking responsibility”.
The findings of a public inquiry into the scandal, chaired by Sir Brian Langstaff, are due to be published on Monday.
From 1970 to the 1990s, tens of thousands of people were infected with contaminated blood through blood products or blood transfusions given via the NHS. People were infected with hepatitis or HIV – in some cases with both.
Mr Shapps told Sunday Morning with Trevor Phillips that the scandal was a “massive injustice which needs to be put right” and said the government would act on the report.
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Thousands of people died after being given infected blood
He said that while he was yet to see the report, he hoped it would finally allow families’ pain and loss to be acknowledged and for the government to properly respond.
Mr Shapps said he had spoken to relatives of several victims, including a couple who had lost their son, and said their stories made feel him “angry inside”.
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He added: “It just made me angry to know they had lost their son without anyone ever taking responsibility, so I think this is why this report tomorrow is very important.”
Successive governments have been blamed for failing to take responsibility and the current government has been accused of trying to delay compensation to victims after an inquiry was first set up by Theresa May in 2017.
It is estimated that the compensation bill could now exceed £10m.
The defence secretary admitted the process of delivering payouts to victims had gone on for “so long”.
He added: “This is a massive injustice which needs to be put right.
“And I know the government said we will. The report tomorrow, I think, will be the day for that family and others and I know the government will want to respond quickly.”
Asked whether Prime Minister Rishi Sunak would apologise to the victims, Mr Shapps said: “I don’t want to mislead because I don’t have special insight into that.”
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