Kim Leadbeater is an MP whose sister, Jo Cox, was murdered in 2016. This week, on the tenth anniversary of that killing, Leadbeater said something striking: political division in Britain is now worse than it was before the Brexit referendum, and the abuse that politicians face has gotten more serious.

Jo Cox was shot and stabbed by a man named Thomas Mair on 16 June 2016, according to the BBC. This happened just one week before the Brexit vote — the referendum that asked whether Britain should leave the European Union. That vote split the country almost in half (52% to 48%) and led to years of bitter disagreement in Parliament.

When Leadbeater says things are worse now than they were then, she is speaking from a position few people occupy. She has directly experienced what happens when politics turns toxic. She also now does the job her sister did — representing the same constituency, Batley and Spen. Her claim that the situation has worsened, not improved, carries weight because she has seen both periods.

There is real evidence of increasing threats. Police and Parliament have tracked rising attacks on MPs over the past decade — harassment online, physical intimidation, and two murders. Sir David Amess, another MP, was killed in 2021. If that is the scale of the problem, then Leadbeater's statement suggests that the protections put in place after her sister's death — better security, online reporting systems, changes to how MPs hold public meetings — have not solved the underlying problem.

Britain's political landscape is fractured in multiple ways right now. A Labour government is managing major new laws. Beyond that, the country remains divided over immigration, cost of living, how the constitution should work, and the aftermath of the pandemic. These divisions show up in where people live, what news they read, and how Parliament behaves.

What Leadbeater is highlighting is a gap. We have identified a serious problem: politicians are under threat. We have tried some solutions. But have those solutions worked? The honest answer appears to be no. That is the question now sitting in front of Parliament and the public.