The UK is stepping up lawmakers’ security as tensions flare over the Israel-Hamas war

LONDON — The British government said Wednesday that it is stepping up security for lawmakers after politicians reported threats and intimidation connected to the Israel-Hamas war. The Home Office said a 31 million-pound fund will give every lawmaker a “dedicated named police contact” and provide money for those facing threats to pay for private security protection. The government said some of the money will go more broadly to protecting Britain’s “democratic processes from intimidation, disruption or subversion” ahead of a general election later this year. Conservative lawmaker Mike Freer — who has announced he is is stepping down because of abuse and death threats linked to his support for Israel — said the money announced Wednesday was only “dealing with the symptom” rather than “going to the root cause” of why people feel emboldened to attack politicians. And our whole style of democracy changes.” Home Secretary James Cleverly called on pro-Palestinian demonstrators to halt the mass protests that have drawn hundreds of thousands of people to central London almost weekly to call for a cease-fire in a conflict that has killed close to 30,000 Palestinians, according to the Gaza health ministry in the Hamas-run territory.