Mazi Chuka Umunna, the popular Igbo politician who is seen as a future British Prime Minister has received a disturbing
photo of a crossbow alongside a message reading “We are ready for civil war… are you?”
The photo was sent to his Twitter account, as well as to that of 3 other members of his Independent Group.
Two people, a man and a woman have been arrested in connection with the incident.
“Twitter accounts belonging to four Independent Group MPs – Anna Soubry, Chuka Umunna, Angela Smith and Sarah Wollaston – and Labour MP David Lammy were tagged in the threat which had a photo of a crossbow hanging from a door, ” Daily Mirror UK reported.
Britain has been facing a difficult time, ever since Brexit took the form of an existential issue.
The tweet was sent last week from an account titled Sheffield and Yorkshire Direct Action Brexit Group.
A police spokesperson said: “A 40-year-old-man and a 33-year-old woman were arrested in Sheffield on suspicion of sending malicious communications. Enquiries are ongoing.”
MPs David Lammy, Anna Soubry, Angela Smith and Sarah Wollaston all of whom – like Mazi Umunna – are championing calls for a second referendum on leaving the EU, including the option to remain in the union – were tagged in the tweet posted in the early hours of March 22.
Many Pro Brexit Britons don’t want to hear anything about a second referendum. They believe the people of the UK have already spoken through the initial referendum, and therefore, a second one is just a move to disenfranchise them.
Mazi Umunna was born in London to an Igbo-Nigerian father and Anglo-Irish mother.
He was educated at St Dunstan’s College before studying at the University of Manchester and Nottingham Trent University.
He then worked as a lawyer in the City of London, first for Herbert Smith and then Rochman Landau. He also wrote articles for the Compass think tank.
After he joined the Labour Party, he also joined the Labour Friends of Israel group.
In 2008 he became Labour’s parliamentary candidate for Streatham and was subsequently elected MP in the 2010 United Kingdom general election.
He withdrew from a Labour leadership contest that would have seen him become leader of the party and candidate for Prime Minister if he had won.
His supporters have retained hopes that the man they call the UK’s Obama one day becomes Prime Minister.
In February this year, he and other centrist Labour MPs withdrew from the Labour Party to form The Independent Group. The withdrawal is widely seen as temporary and as a result of irreconcilable differences with current Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn.
