U.K. treating conservative politician’s murder as terrorism

United Kingdom authorities reported Monday that the murder of Parliament member Ann Widdecombe will be investigated by counterterrorism officials. The Devon and Cornwall Police in southern England handed over leadership of the case to a counterterrorism unit after new evidence surfaced. First responders found the 78-year-old Widdecombe dead on Thursday. On Friday, police at first said that Widdecombe’s death would not be investigated as an act of terrorism.

Authorities are now investigating leads to establish a motive for the murder, according to Head of National Counter Terrorism Policing Laurence Taylor. He urged anyone with information about the crime or the suspect to come forward.

Widdecombe was outspoken on social issues for decades, for instance, criticizing the U.K.’s liberal sex education policies in 1999. More recently, she spoke out against assisted suicide.

What caused her death? Emergency responders found the Conservative Party member of parliament dead at her home in rural Devon with serious injuries, according to the Monday release. Officials have not released her formal cause of death. Officials initially arrested a 28-year-old British man as a suspect in the murder on Saturday. The man in custody has since been rearrested on suspicion of committing, preparing, or instigating acts of terrorism, the statement added.

Widdecombe’s death shocked the public and triggered an outpouring of condolences from both sides of English politics. Conservative Party Leader Kemi Badenoch, who leads the official opposition to Parliament’s ruling Labour Party, described Widdecombe as a formidable politician who fought hard for her beliefs. She was never afraid to speak her mind, and her politics were firmly rooted in her faith and values, Badenoch wrote on Friday.

Member of Parliament and Restore Britain leader Rupert Lowe called for politicians who received credible death threats to receive state-funded security. Parliament’s response to death threats has been unacceptably relaxed, and many people in the country want politicians dead, he wrote.