Dame Prue Leith has expressed deep concern for the safety of her son, Danny Kruger, a Reform UK MP, following the targeted murder of fellow Reform party spokeswoman Ann Widdecombe. The 78-year-old former MP was found dead at her home in Haytor, Dartmoor, on Thursday morning after sustaining serious injuries. A 28-year-old white British man remains under arrest on suspicion of both murder and the commission, preparation, or instigation of acts of terrorism. Counter-terrorism police are leading the investigation, describing the attack as deliberate and targeted.
Prue Leith speaks out on safety fears
The 86-year-old Great British Bake Off judge admitted her worries in an interview with Times Radio. 'I haven't even rung him up about it because I don't want him having to add to the worry the fact that his mother is worrying,' she said. Leith acknowledged the inherent dangers of political life but called the situation 'scary'. She added: 'It seems so amazing that this should be happening in the UK, which I've always thought of as the most civilised country about politics. You don't reach for the gun when you don't agree with somebody; you debate it and you vote on it.'
Political climate concerns
Leith noted that she and her son, who defected from the Conservative Party to Nigel Farage's Reform UK last year, often discuss politics and disagree civilly. 'One of the great things is we don't mind disagreeing, it's all perfectly civilised,' she said. The murder has sparked a broader debate about MP safety. Prime Minister-in-waiting Andy Burnham called for a 'serious review' of security measures, stating that protections may need to be 'increased further'. Burnham, the Makerfield MP, told reporters: 'Politics has darkened in the last decade; there's no getting away from that. It feels as though something has changed. It's easy to blame social media, but it feels like it's having some impact in just building that kind of toxicity that's around the political debate.'
