Concerns raised about safety of MP surgeries
ASENIOR Westcountry MP has said that Members of Parliament would have to reflect on the way they met their constituents after the killing of fellow long-serving Conservative Sir David Amess.
Sir Gary Streeter, MP for South West Devon, said he was “very close” to Sir David and was “devastated” by his loss.
Sir Gary, who has been in Parliament since 1992, said that attacks on politicians were “not infrequent” during his time – including the murder of Jo Cox in 2016 and near-fatal attacks on Stephen Timms and Nigel Jones.
Asked whether the attack on Friday raised questions about how MPs did their business, he said: “I think it does. We live in very turbulent times. The country is very divided and social media reflects that.
“There are people who hate us [MPs]. We are all committed to the democratic ideal of meeting our constituents but we may have to change the way we hold our surgeries. We are elected to give access to our constituents.
“Until lockdown, I did not give much thought to security. I am sure we will get some advice from the police.”
Labour MP Jo Cox was stabbed to death by a constituent at a surgery in 2016. Liberal Democrat Nigel Jones was attacked and severely injured with a sword in Cheltenham in 2000, when local councillor Andrew Pennington was killed. Stephen Timms, Labour MP for East Ham, was attacked and nearly killed in his constituency in 2010.
Sir Gary said that he was holding a constituency meeting about cycling over Zoom on Friday afternoon when he heard the terrible news from Essex.
Aged 66, three years younger than Sir David, he said that they were on different wings of the Conservative Party. He added: “We certainly have a common cause in our [Catholic] faith. He was a strong family man and committed to speak out for his constituents. He was a committed Brexiteer.
“He had a fabulous sense of humour and was a thoroughly good egg.”
Sir David Amess, aged 69, was reportedly stabbed multiple times at a constituency surgery at a church in Leigh-on-Sea on Friday.
The man arrested on suspicion of murder by police following the killing of the MP has been named as Ali Harbi Ali, understood to be a British man of Somali heritage. The 25-year-old is being held under the Terrorism Act.
Plymouth’s flags were being flown at half mast over the weekend following the killing.
Leader of Plymouth City Council Cllr Nick Kelly has said that although ‘only a small gesture’ the council had arranged for the flags outside council buildings to be lowered to half mast.
In a statement, he said: “On behalf of the city of Plymouth, I would like to send our condolences to the family and friends of Sir David Amess MP and also to the people of Southend, who he so well represented for nearly 25 years.”
Former Plymouth City Council leader Tudor Evans said that the city would stand in ‘solidarity’ with Southend, adding: “Politicians of all stripes and colours should be able to go about their business without fear of being harmed.”
Luke Pollard, MP for Plymouth Sutton and Devonport, has paid tribute to Sir David Amess, saying he had worked with the Southend MP on animal welfare campaigns. Mr Pollard remembered David as a ‘kind, gentle and thoroughly decent man’.
A member of the Conservative Party, Sir David had been an MP since 1983, first for Basildon and since 1997 for Southend West. A long-term and vocal Eurosceptic, he supported Brexit in the 2016 EU referendum and had since been a supporter of Leave Means Leave, a pro-Brexit campaign.
Former Plymouth MP Oliver Colvile has said he is shocked and saddened by the killing. Speaking from Mount Gould Hospital in Plymouth, where he has been recovering from heart surgery, Mr Colvile said: “It is awful that someone going about doing their job, who was being supportive of their constituents, should end up being killed in this manner.”
He added: “I am deeply saddened and shocked.”