Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
One of the nicest, kindest and most gentle individuals ever to grace these benches
PM’S emotional tribute to slain MP Sir David Amess
SIR David Amess’s family visited the church where he was stabbed to death as Boris Johnson praised the MP as one of the kindest people ever elected to the Commons.
The politician’s heartbroken wife Julia made an emotional pilgrimage to the scene of the attack where he held a constituency surgery last week.
At Westminster yesterday, the Prime Minister said: “Sir David was taken from us in a contemptible act of violence striking at the core of what it is to be a Member of this House.
“Violating the sanctity of the church in which he was killed and the constituency surgery that is so essential to our representative democracy.
“But we will not allow the manner of Sir David’s death in any way to detract from his accomplishments as a politician or as a human being.
“Sir David was a patriot who believed passionately in this country, in its people and in its future.
“He was also one of the nicest, kindest and most gentle individuals ever to grace these benches.”
Sir David’s widow shed tears as she read messages on floral tributes at Belfairs Methodist Church in Leigh-on-sea, Essex, where he was allegedly murdered by 25-year-old suspect Ali Harbi Ali on Friday,
Julia, who was joined by two of the couple’s five children, Florence and Katie, was comforted by Rev Clifford Newman during their 15-minute visit.
Meanwhile, MPS from all sides wore black as they paid tribute to the Tory, 69, who was stabbed 17 times.
They attended a remembrance service at St Margaret’s, Westminster, yesterday where mourners sang Abide With Me and Cwm Rhondda.
Proceedings in Parliament began with a prayer for the devout Catholic before the Commons, Parliamentary staff and journalists observed a minute’s silence in the chamber.
Sir David’s usual place on the Tory benches was left vacant in his honour, despite the House being packed.
Praising a “seasoned campaigner of verve and grit”, the Prime Minister said the “passing of 72 hours has done little to numb the shock and sadness we all felt when we heard of the tragic and senseless death”. Labour leader Keir Starmer told MPS: “Each tribute paints its own picture of a committed public servant of kindness,
and a man whose decency touched everybody he met.
“These tributes are
a powerful testimony to the respect, the affection and, yes, the love that David was held in across politics, and across different communities.”
Labour’s Kim Leadbeater stood in front of a shield commemorating her sister MP Jo Cox, who was murdered in 2016, as she offered her condolences to the Tory’s relatives.
She said: “It’s been a traumatic few days for many people – none more so than David’s family and friends, and it’s they who remain at the forefront of my mind this afternoon.
“But, sadly, I know from my own all-too-similar experience that in reality there is nothing anyone can say to make things all right for them.”
Conservative MP James Duddridge, who represents Rochford and
Southend East, described Sir David as “a man of faith and convictions”.
He told how on a trip to the Vatican his colleague accidentally had a boiled sweet blessed by the Pope.
Mr Duddridge said: “The Pope took the sweet thinking it was a revered object to be blessed and David had to put it in his pocket – a holy sweet.”
Sir David’s death has triggered renewed fears over MPS’ security, with calls for them to receive protection when they hold weekly constituency surgeries.
Home Secretary
Priti Patel told Parliament a review of policing for politicians was “concluding in the next few days”.
Commons Speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle added: “The circumstances of Sir David’s death are despicable and raise the most fundamental issues about how members of this House are able to perform their vital democratic responsibilities safely and securely.
“I give the House my undertaking I will do everything in my power to ensure these issues are
treated with urgency and with the sense of priority that they deserve.”
Many MPS have warned against allowing the killing to raise barriers between them and constituents.
Justice Secretary Dominic Raab told Sky News: “We don’t let the terrorists win by creating wedges or walls between us and those who vote us in.”
Downing Street said the murder “cannot get in the way of democracy” after suggestions MPS could end faceto-face surgeries with constituents.
Politicians are set to be offered more private guards for these events.
Asked if there would be plainclothes police at the surgeries, Mr Raab said: “It depends on the individual.
“I think we’re more likely to look at things like private security guards –
We won’t let terrorists win by creating walls between us and those who vote us in DOMINIC RAAB ON FEARS OVER CONSTITUENCY SURGERIES
A committed public servant and a man whose decency touched everybody he met KEIR STARMER ON THE TRIBUTES PAID TO SIR DAVID AMESS
there’s already, I believe, money available for that.”
MPS are understood to be able to request private security for their surgeries already, but one told the Mirror it was currently only available if there was a specific threat, on recommendation of police.
Labour’s Chris Bryant said a man has been arrested over a threat on his life in the wake of Sir David’s murder.
He received the warning after a Parliamentary trip to Qatar.
Mr Bryant said: “I got back on Saturday and the first message in my inbox was this death threat,
pretty clear, so I notified the police and they have taken action.”
South Wales Police said a man, 76, of Bridgend, was held on suspicion of malicious communications.
Former MP Lord Nigel Jones, who was severely injured in a 2000 sword attack at his Cheltenham office in which his assistant Andrew Pennington was killed, said it was vital MPS were able to meet the public face to face.
In a tribute read by fellow Lib Dem Baroness Brinton in the Lords, the peer said the death of his “mate” Sir David was “the most unimaginable shock”. He added: “David,
like my friend Andy Pennington and I, was just trying to do the job to the best of his ability.
“Our democracy relies on an open channel between those in power and the people who we represent.
“It’s vital to be able to meet people face to face so they can feel we are here and working for them.”
Meanwhile, the Archbishop of Canterbury said Sir David had a “fairness of spirit and charity of heart” that endeared him to those across the political spectrum.
At a service in his memory, the Most Rev Justin Welby said the “light lit by public service” provided by MPS like the Southend West politician must never be put out. He @benglaze
SUSPECT’S HATE PREACHER OBSESSION: PAGES 6&7
added there is “a unanimous conviction amongst all who knew him” that Sir David had been “of the best”.
The archbishop said he will be recalled alongside other politicians who have been killed in recent years.
He added: “His name will be remembered with Airey Neave, Robert Bradford, Anthony Berry, Ian Gow and Jo Cox, those MPS murdered since 1945, and others, like Andrew Pennington, who have died in the course of public service.
“Public service in politics is a sacrifice that should be honoured and respected even when differences of opinion run very deep.”