In a week dominated by politicians trying to get the public to treat them more kindly, a councillor in Cumbria has just been jailed for sending threats to his own Tory MP and council leader. Peter Little will spend 18 weeks behind bars for abusing Workington MP Mark Jenkinson, including an email reading:

“You and that MP are f***ed”

Passing the sentence, judge Mark Hadfield referred to the death of Sir David Amess, saying “any threat directed towards a public servant is always treated very seriously by the court.” The abuse aimed at Mark Jenkinson was the final straw for the councillor, who had already been on a suspended prison sentence after being convicted in August for a number of public order offences. As he was led away to the cells, the councillor was heard shouting “pigs!” at the police escorting him…