'We're living in intense volatile times ...and it's not good'

After being punched to the ground in a brutal attack, a veteran MP warns:

- Jonathan Walker

A VETERAN MP has told how he was knocked unconscious in a vicious, unprovoked attack in the street amid growing concern over violence against politicians.

Barry Sheerman attended A&E with blood streaming from his nose after being punched in the face as he waited for a taxi late last year.

Police interviewed witnesses but have so far been unable to identify the culprit.

Mr Sheerman has also been forced to increase security at his home after receiving death threats.

The 83-year-old Labour MP spoke after Prime Minister Rishi Sunak warned that "mob rule is replacing democratic rule" in the UK.

Speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle has also admitted that he changed Commons procedures because he feared for the safety of MPs in a vote about the Gaza conflict.

Mr Sheerman, a father of four with 13 grandchildren, was the victim of a brutal attack in his Huddersfield constituency after enjoying dinner with a friend.

He said: "I went to a very nice pub restaurant that we tend to go to at the end of a Friday. Standing outside, a taxi pulls over. I ran up to check whether it was our taxi.

"Next thing I knew I was lying on the pavement. Somebody helped me up. My nose was streaming with blood."

Mr Sheerman returned to the pub where staff put bandages on his face and a fellow customer, an off-duty nurse, convinced him to go to hospital.