United Kingdom: Ann Widecombe was the victim of a 'targeted attack'

The British police's counterterrorism unit reported Tuesday that the murder of veteran Conservative politician Ann Widdecombe was a "targeted attack," while a man remains in custody on suspicion of terrorism.

A staunch supporter of Brexit, Widdecombe, who was 78, left the Conservative Party in 2019 to join the anti-immigration party Reform UK and was elected to the European Parliament, later becoming its spokesperson.

"It is clear that this was a targeted attack," said Laurence Taylor, head of the Counterterrorism Unit, referring to last week's attack on the woman at her home.

Taylor added that the investigation is still ongoing and that he therefore could not provide many details, but that investigators are pursuing "multiple lines of inquiry."

On Monday, Interior Minister Shabana Mahmood announced that British counterterrorism police had taken over the investigation into Widdecombe's murder.

The politician was found dead last Thursday at her home in Haytor, in the county of Devon, in southwest England.

The politician had sustained "serious injuries," counterterrorism police reported.

A 28-year-old man, described as a "white British citizen," remains in custody, on suspicion of committing, preparing, or inciting acts of terrorism.

The man had been detained as a murder suspect over the weekend in Yorkshire, in northern England — about 480 kilometers from Widdecombe's home — before being arrested again on suspicion of terrorism.

The head of the Counter-Terrorism Unit stated that one "line of inquiry" is to determine whether the suspect targeted other politicians from Reform UK, the anti-immigration party led by Nigel Farage, a leading figure in the Brexit movement.

The politician served as a Conservative Party member of Parliament from 1987 to 2010 and held the position of Minister for Prisons from 1995 to 1997.

Widdecombe is the third British politician to be killed so far this decade in an alleged targeted attack.

Labor MP Jo Cox was murdered in 2016 by a neo-Nazi sympathizer, while Conservative MP David Amess was killed in 2021 in an attack carried out by a supporter of the Islamic State terrorist group.