A number one Lib Dem Rejoiner who was deslected as a Tory MP over her opposition to Brexit has apologised for her household's hyperlinks to slavery.

Antoinette Sandbach, the previous MP for Eddisbury in Cheshire, was deselected by her native Conservative Party affiliation in 2019 after she joined the People's Vote canmpaign for a second referendum to reverse the 2016 vote in favour of Brexit.

She stood in her previous seat as a Lib Dem and has remained within the celebration since then.

The former MP has turn out to be the latesrt public determine to be embroiled within the historic slavery debate after a Cambridge University researcher connected her identify to the vile observe by way of one in every of her ancestors.

Sandbach has stated she has raised issues with the University of Cambridge over fears for her private security and he or she doesn't object to being linked to a historical past "that is absolutely there".

Malik Al Nasir, a poet and writer, who can also be a PhD historical past pupil at St Catharine's College, stated in a TEDx Talk video printed in 2021 that Ms Sandbach is a descendant of Samuel Sandbach, who was in a partnership that traded with the West Indies and owned slaves.

The episode is the most recent in a line of makes an attempt to disgrace public figures and assault British historical past over distant centuries previous hyperlinks to the slave commerce. Recently the descendents of former Liberal Prime Minister William Gladstone apologised for his father's connections to the slave commerce.

Ms Sandbach advised Times Radio she solely learnt about her household historical past three months in the past.

She stated: "We have to look at the ongoing consequences of what we have done as a country. And of course, I apologise for the acts of my ancestors. I'm not responsible for them, but I accept that it was wrong and when we look at it today, it's horrific."

Ms Sandbach added that she was "struggling with a history that for me is very difficult" and stated she would change the previous if she might.

It is known Ms Sandbach, the previous MP for Eddisbury in Cheshire, believes the point out of her identify violated her proper to privateness and that she had been singled out as a politician.

She stated: "I don't object to Malik Al Nasir or Cambridge linking me to a history that is absolutely there. The issue is about my personal safety. So I had numerous death threats. I mean, lots of people were cautioned and one ex-police officer convicted for threatening to kill me."

Ms Sandbach confirmed she might be taking a grievance ahead to the knowledge commissioner.

When requested if the grounds of her grievance have been as a result of her whereabouts have been alluded to, Ms Sandbach stated: "I'm not willing to discuss it. There are very clear policies that Cambridge has.

"If they'd adopted them, I doubt very a lot I'd have been all around the media. As I say, I'm very prepared to interact on the talk about slavery and the legacy of slavery and I've by no means sought to suppress it. I've no understanding of what it have to be prefer to be a descendant of somebody who's enslaved."

Mr Al Nasir, of Toxteth, Liverpool, has spent 20 years looking into his own family's ancestral origins, discovering links to plantations in Demerara, in what was formerly known as British Guiana.

It was during this research he discovered Samuel Sandbach, a former deputy chairman of the Bank of Liverpool and mayor of the city, who he says became wealthy from the slave trade.

St Catharine's College previously said: "St Catharine's is completely dedicated to upholding freedom of speech and making certain all of our college students, together with Malik Al Nasir, are in a position to freely pursue their scholarly pursuits by offering entry to tutorial, pastoral and - the place attainable - monetary help all through their research."

The University of Cambridge said: "This is an ongoing authorized matter and so we're unable to remark."