The 78-year-old former Tory minister was found dead at her Devon home last week

Incoming Prime Minister Andy Burnham has said a "serious review" into the security given to MPs is needed following the death of Ann Widdecombe.

Ms Widdecombe, 78, was killed at her £600,000 bungalow in Devon last week, with counter-terrorism police now leading the investigation after determining her death a "targeted attack".

The former Tory minister, who defected to the Brexit Party in 2019 and later became a spokeswoman for Reform UK,

Speaking in the House of Commons for the first time since winning the Makerfield by-election last month, Mr Burnham said: “I notice quite a lot of change in the building behind me 10 years away, no more so than on the question of security.

“Actually, I was quite shocked to see how much security now has to be in place, and even so, it may need to be increased further.

“Politics has darkened in the last decade, there’s no getting away from that.

“It’s obviously appalling what happened to Ann. I knew Ann over many years in the House, and you know, we would get along – and everybody would get along.

“But 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.”

The Makerfield MP added: “I do think we need now a serious review of MPs’ security. I certainly am prepared to do that.”

A 28-year-old man, who Devon & Cornwall Police identified as white British, was arrested some 200 miles away from Ms Widdecombe's Devon home on Saturday.

Officers re-arrested him a short while later after finding information which indicated a potential terror motive.

Speaking about the investigation surrounding Ms Widdecombe's death today, Assistant Commissioner Laurence Taylor said: "It is clear that this was a targeted attack.

"We are still working to understand the extent of any planning or preparation, and the motivation that sits behind that attack.

"I don’t want to comment further on that motivation or preparation at this stage of our inquiries."

However, Mr Burnham's comments about MPs came just a few years after two parliamentarians were killed by extremists.

Labour MP Jo Cox was shot and stabbed by neo-Nazi Thomas Alexander Mair shortly before the 2016 Brexit referendum.

Sir David Amess, the veteran Tory MP for Southend West, was stabbed by Islamist terrorist Ali Harbi Ali in 2021.

Concerns about Reform UK leader Nigel Farage have also led Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood to facilitate a meeting about the matter.

Mr Farage today revealed he has received 300 threats a month, including almost 600 death threats since February.

However, a prominent MP suggested Mr Farage is at no greater risk than Tory leader Kemi Badenoch.

Despite Mr Farage being the victim of three assaults in recent years, suspended Labour MP Karl Turner told GB News: "This is the leader of the opposition who is getting some security detail. These things are decided by security personnel, experts in the field."

He added: "Now, Farage is a bigger risk, of course he is, but is he a bigger risk than the Leader of the Opposition? I suspect not."

Mr Farage rejected a downgraded security package last year after Labour cut his detail by 75 per cent.

A Reform UK spokesman said: "Within days of the assassination of Charlie Kirk, at a moment when the threat to public figures on the right was escalating, the security package Mr Farage was offered represented a 75 per cent cut without clear reason.

"Faced with a state offer that no longer matched the threat against him, Nigel declined the downgraded and inadequate package and Reform took the responsible decision to maintain proper protection rather than gamble with his life."