A 76-year-old man has been arrested in connection with an alleged death threat sent to Labour’s MP Chris Bryant.

Officers from South Wales Police were called on Saturday (16 October) afternoon after reports of malicious communications. 

The police said: “A 76-year-old man from Pontycmer, Bridgend, has been arrested on suspicion of malicious communications.”

Mr Bryant, the Labour MP for the Rhondda, said he received the death threat after he had asked people for kindness following the killing of the Conservative MP for Southend West, Sir David Amess.

He had tweeted: “Let’s all send a kind message on Twitter today to a politician we disagree with. Let’s eliminate the negative. #DavidAmess #moreincommon” 

However, hours later he tweeted: “You only have to look through some of the responses to this tweet to see the poison that is infecting British politics. And now I’ve had yet again another death threat.”

Mr Bryant revealed he has had abuse every year since becoming an MP.

Speaking on Radio Wales Breakfast he said: “The year before it was anti-vaxxers, the year before we had Brexit campaigners plastering the word ‘traitor’ all over my office.” 

He said MPs were often reluctant to go to the police about abuse as they knew how busy officers were. 

He added that he hoped “everyone dials down the nastiness in politics”. 

“We need to be nicer to each other,” he said. 

In light of the arrest, Mr Bryant posted on Twitter: “Many thanks to everyone who has sent lovely messages of support.

In a further interview with BBC Breakfast, he said he would not be cowed.

He told the programme: “I’m passionate about wanting to change the world and nobody’s going to stop me.”

Separately, the Justice Secretary Dominic Raab told the BBC he had received “three threats to life and limb over the last two years”.

He said those incidents “all resulted in an intervention”, but did not give further details.

The killing of Sir David at his constituency surgery in a church in Leigh-on-Sea, Essex on Friday is being treated as a terrorist incident by the Metropolitan Police- Service.

It has prompted the Home Secretary, Priti Patel, to order a review into MP’s security. 

Ali Harbi Ali, 25, was arrested on suspicion of murder after the attack at the church.

Mr Ali is being held at a London police station and detectives have until Friday to question him.

Whitehall officials said he is a British man of Somali heritage. 

The BBC was told he had been referred to the Government’s Prevent counterterrorism scheme, several years ago but was “never a formal subject of interest to MI5”.

i has contacted Mr Bryant.